Questions tagged [reported-speech]
For questions about the report of one speaker or writer on the words spoken, written, or thought by someone else.
326
questions
-1
votes
1answer
24 views
Reported Speech: switching from present to the past
Below there are two examples using direct speech with two options each. The main question here that I'm taking the action from the present to the past, so I would like to know which answer is better ...
-1
votes
1answer
24 views
Change of narration [closed]
What is the indirect speech of the following sentence?
"The vendor is creating chaos, with sellers asking, How many kilos of fish were given?"
0
votes
1answer
18 views
Is this change of speech correct?
She said, "I'd like to see it again."
I changed its speech into:
She said she wanted to see it again.
Is this a correct change in speech?
Why or why not?
0
votes
0answers
17 views
Converting Direct speech to Indirect speech- if the subject of the reported clause is “You”
I understand this rule that while converting direct speech to indirect speech, if the subject of the reported clause is 'You' then it would convert according to the person of the object of the ...
0
votes
1answer
15 views
The past in the future reported speech
When I'm telling about the future but refering to the past which is not the past yet, which tense should I use? Please, tell me, what you, as a native speaker would use, and what do other people use. ...
0
votes
0answers
31 views
Can you change “I told her to … if …” to “I told her if … to …”?
I told her to take care of the children if anything happens to me.
In this sentence, can you move the if-phrase after her?
I told her if anything happens to me to take care of the children. (?)
-1
votes
2answers
30 views
“He asked how old I was” vs “He asked how I was old”
He asked how old I was
vs
He asked how I was old
Is there any difference between these two sentences? Is the second sentence is grammatically correct or we can use adjectives only after question ...
0
votes
0answers
28 views
Is it right to not change “tomorrow“ into “the next day” when it is indirect speech?
Is that sentence right or it is necessary to change “tomorrow”?
He said that he would travel tomorrow.
He said that he would travel the next day.
0
votes
0answers
3 views
Confused about reported speech and reporting speech
Look at the following example:
David said, “I’m baking a chocolate cake for you.’’
Some says the sentence between the inverted commas is called reporting speech.
and some says it reported speech.
...
0
votes
1answer
27 views
“that” in indirect speech
In indirect speech it is more common for the reporting clause to come first. When the reporting clause is first, we don’t put a comma between the reporting clause and the reported clause.
She told me ...
1
vote
0answers
36 views
Complex sentences with when and until in reported speech – a problem with back-shift
Could anyone explain to me why, according to the key provided by my teacher, sentences below should be rendered in reported speech with no back-shift of certain verbs:
"When I first came here," ...
1
vote
0answers
21 views
How much time does it take to be an English master [closed]
How much time does it take to be an English master I mean how to speak English like your native language and how much time does it take???
1
vote
1answer
29 views
Reported Speech - Backshifting or not?
I've seen a lot of exceptions for the reported speech and I would like to debate and thereby clear the things that are on my mind regarding this subject.
I've seen these types of "Rules" of ...
0
votes
1answer
18 views
How to narrate a story or a situation?
When I want to narrate or tell someone about a conversation that I or some people were involved in, it seems wrong to me to represent the participants with, for instance,
Sam said...blah blah blah
...
0
votes
0answers
19 views
Direct indirect speech
He said "I am going to India tomorrow".
So which one is the correct indirect speech:
1) he said that he was going to India the next day.
2) he said that he would be going to India the next day.
0
votes
2answers
28 views
Changing tense in reported questions
In a book published by Merriam-Webster, the direct question When is she seeing them again? has been changed to a reported question as following:
He asked when she would be seeing them again.
My ...
1
vote
1answer
46 views
“he told them, but he forgot to…” vs. “he had told them, but he forgot to…”
Should I use past simple or past perfect? (Cloze test)
He ____ all students to do it, but he forgot to do so.
had told
told
My friends answered 2. because they think that it is parallel structure ...
1
vote
1answer
114 views
Reported speech: When to not change “was” to “had been”?
Recently, I was studying about reported speech and while thinking about a few "directly" reported constructions came to mind.
I'm trying to change those sentences to reported speech.
Barbara ...
-1
votes
1answer
18 views
Clarifying a quote
I would like to quote a shortened version of the following piece of text.
Explicit minimal times have been given for 2D systems (and lower
bounds are given in [7] for the heat equation).
...
1
vote
1answer
26 views
The usage of past perfect
Can you please tell me whether or not it is pertinent to use pluperfect tense here:
I thought that more time than that had passed.
Is the sentence grammatically correct?
To give you a context: I ...
0
votes
1answer
15 views
Direct and indirect narration
How to change the following direct sentence into indirect?
He said, "I can not help you."
The problem I face is that there is no object in the reporting sentence.
0
votes
1answer
42 views
Which tense is correct for a subordinate clause in indirect (reported) speech?
Here are a couple of examples with which I'm struggling.
He said that they had been living separately for 2 months before they
got divorced (or had got divorced) in June.
Should it be either of ...
1
vote
1answer
159 views
How to change reported speech referring to the quality of a person to indirect speech
Direct speech - He said to me, "You are honest."
I've read from many sources where this narration is written in indirect speech as...
Indirect speech - He told me that I was honest.
So as a ...
0
votes
0answers
58 views
“…tell he is coming” vs "…tell he was coming
Didn't Max tell he is coming to class today?
or
Didn't Max tell he was coming to class today?
What's the correct way to ask this and what is the difference of these two?
0
votes
1answer
42 views
Direct speech and indirect speech
Mahesh: What are you doing here?
Krishna: I am searching for my rank on the notice book.
Change into reported speech
0
votes
2answers
25 views
if the situation has remained the same as the beginning when I report it, is backshift mandatory?
Please do not send them until the other records from the series have come out.
if I want to put this sentence in reported speech
I told you not send them until the other records from the series ...
0
votes
1answer
29 views
Is it possible in this case not to backshift
I wrote this request to a supplier:
Please don't send the order before all records from the series have been out
I now want to write:
After I ordered both records, I wrote you not to send the ...
0
votes
0answers
35 views
am I obliged to backshift if I believe but am not sure that the situation is still true
"please do not send the parcel until the record(vinyl) has been out"
reported speech
I told you not to send the parcel until the record had been out
This is the message I received, so could the ...
0
votes
1answer
42 views
Grammar narration
What is the perfect answer of this question ?
Direct: He said to me "what is your name"?
Indirect: He asked me what my name is.
This indirect speech is correct or wrong. Please help me providing ...
0
votes
1answer
46 views
“ago” used with a past tense
Alice: "I moved to Rome four years ago."
Last year, Alice said she had moved to Rome [...]
Alice: "I moved to Rome long ago."
Last year, Alice said she had moved to Rome [...]
Would ...
1
vote
2answers
111 views
future in reported speech when reporting verb is in the past
I have read the following sentence:
He said he will follow me to the end.
AFAIK in reported speech, the future tense is replaced with the conditional tense when the reporting verb is in the past. ...
1
vote
1answer
12 views
Past tense phrase with indirect speech
I am struggling to construct correctly a sentence with an indirect speech describing an event that occured in past and more in past.
The manager said he was skeptical initially and he had not ...
2
votes
1answer
14 views
Past simple in specific reported speech
I'm writing a short story for a C2 Creative Writing course, and I couldn't help but come across this question regarding reported speech.
My main question is this: consider someone says, "I ate the ...
0
votes
0answers
105 views
“Thank someone for doing something” or “will thank someone to do something”
Mary, "John won't like your interfering his business."
=Mary said that John wouldn't thank me for interfering his business (Indirect speech) (1)
= Mary said that John wouldn't thank me to interfere ...
2
votes
2answers
34 views
Is the comma in this context grammatical
Russian military officers hacked Democratic servers to steal thousands of emails in 2016, the intelligence community and the special counsel found.
Is the comma above grammatical?
I think it isn't ...
0
votes
2answers
278 views
We asked him what was his name - reported speech
Is the following sentence incorrect?
We asked him what was his name.
Should I put the verb after the subject because I'm using reported speech (ie We asked him what his name was) ?
0
votes
1answer
33 views
What is the correct way to refer to future that is spoken about in the past?
I want to talk about a moment in the future that I though about in the past. Is any of these sentences correct and why?
I thought we might become more than just friends in the far future, when our ...
0
votes
1answer
478 views
They asked me where I live. Is that question correct?
I know in reported speech we have to change the present simple to the past simple but this question really makes me wonder if I can write it like
They asked me where I live.
Since it's something ...
1
vote
1answer
40 views
Meaning of had better
I have to convert the following sentence into its imquoted indirect form for narration.
"You'd better leave the dog alone," the man said.
Which one of the following two is correct?
The man ...
0
votes
1answer
86 views
“This” vs. “That” in reported speech
1- Let's suppose that Mary is saying this on September 2019, and I'm reporting her words in November of the same year; can I keep (this winter) in the reported speech, or should I stick to the rule ...
0
votes
0answers
235 views
What do they vs What they
I wonder ____________. ---Pandas.
A. what do they call these animals.
B. what they call these animals.
C. what they do call these animals.
I guess if it is a personal conversation, it would be "...
0
votes
1answer
144 views
“If he were” or “if he would be”?
Direct:
He said, "If I were a bird!"
Indirect:
***** He wished that he would be a bird.
OR
***** He wished that he were a bird.
I'm confused whether the former or the latter is correct.
...
0
votes
1answer
28 views
How a sequence of sentences is reported?
For example this.
Jack: Federer will play against Nadal today. That will be their 4th
meeting on grass. Federer will probably win.
How that is reported?
Jack said that Federer would play ...
0
votes
0answers
37 views
Correct tense with reported speech?
From a multiple choice question in my English assignment:
He will probably want to know if you
A. will have been drinking
B. didn't drink
C. had drunk
D. have been drinking
I heard ...
0
votes
0answers
26 views
Is this sentence rewritten correctly?
"What do you usually do on Fridays?" she asked.
I have to rewrite this sentence using did.
She wanted to know what I usually did on Fridays.
Is this sentence correct?
0
votes
0answers
20 views
Reported Speech for thinking about past
We use would have past participal for hypothetical/imagination sentences. Do we need to use them in a reported speech?
Direct:(Talking to myself) Probably this would be the last time I am here.
...
1
vote
2answers
48 views
Converting “Give my best to Alex” into indirect speech
Suppose somebody told me: "Give my best to Alex".
How do I convey this to Alex (i.e., transform into indirect speech)? I think something like "Sue gave her best to you" would be okay, but when I ...
0
votes
1answer
37 views
How do I write this sentence in reported speech?
Jason doesn't like reading so he won't study literature .
How will it go ?
Will it be :
He said Jason didn't like reading so he won't study literature .
Thank you in advance
0
votes
2answers
33 views
Past simple in reported speech
In the following sentence, both “spoke” and “was” are in past simple.
The first language I spoke was Japanese”
The solution I came up with is:
She said that the first language she had spoken was ...
0
votes
1answer
39 views
Should I use 'Told' instead of 'Said' in the following Indirect Narration Speech?
My classmate said to me,"Good morning,You have finished your homework".
My classmate wished me good morning and told me/said that I had finished my homework.
which is appropriate to be used?
