What was Tom's last name? - English example sentence

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{{vm.sentence.expandLabel}} Fewer translations

CK July 17, 2014, edited July 17, 2014 July 17, 2014 at 7:33:12 AM UTC, edited July 17, 2014 at 7:50:34 AM UTC

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Annotation:

This most likely means that the speaker likely knew it, but can't remember it right now, so he is asking whoever is with him to remind him what Tom's last name is.

Depending on the context, there is a very slim chance that Tom has changed his last name and the speaker wants to know what his previous last name was.

Compare:

[#1886678] What's Tom's last name? (CK) *audio*
[#2544491] What's Mary's maiden name? (CK) *audio*
[#2541622] What's your wife's maiden name? (CK) *audio*
[#2540743] What's your mother's maiden name? (CK) *audio*
[#1096129] Mary went back to using her maiden name. (CK) *audio*

Selena777 July 17, 2014 July 17, 2014 at 8:25:14 AM UTC

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"Depending on the context, there is a very slim chance that Tom has changed his last name and the speaker wants to know what his previous last name was."

Does "What was Mary's last name?" sound more natural in this context? Or one would use "maiden name"?

Selena777 July 17, 2014 July 17, 2014 at 8:37:58 AM UTC

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Thanks.