Question

1. If your friend has bad grades, what would you say to help her get better grades.

2. If your friend had bad grades, what would you say to help her get better grades.
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Which one is grammatical? Do we have to use 'has' or 'had'? Are both grammatical? What is the difference between them?

Answer 1

The two sentences mean about the same thing. The first one reads better because of the verb tenses. The second isn't incorrect, just very awkward.