Questions tagged [reported-speech]
For questions about the report of one speaker or writer on the words spoken, written, or thought by someone else.
476
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backshifting wish and would like
I wish I was smarter
"he said he wishes he was smarter"
Is my reported version correct? On average people change "wish" to "wished" but I think that if his "wishing&...
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1
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reported speech unreal past
After a number of expressions such as : if only, would rather, wish and so on we use past tense to describe things in the present. In reported speech they do not backshift, "I would rather you ...
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unreal tenses reported speech
I have found in my book that unreal tenses after wish / if only, would rather / would sooner, it's (high) time and as if / as though do not change in indirect speech. For instance "I would rather ...
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Reported speech and possible changes
Direct speech: He is going to play when she arrives
Indirect speech:
a) He said he is going to play when she arrives = him playing and her arrival are still yet to happen in the future
b) He said he ...
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2
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66
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The context needed to make reported speech easy to understand
Direct speech: "Mark cleaned the room when Kate came in"
Indirect speech: He said Mark had cleaned the room when Kate came in
I have one question concering the meaning of my sentence. I ...
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2
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2
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446
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Backshifting tenses in reported speech
She will do it
a) He said she will do it
b) He said she would do it
As I presented we have to ways to report the original statement. Version A shows that we still believe that she will do something. ...
- 137
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1
answer
56
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Reporting different types of sentences
I will do it when you help me
I'm going to do it when you help me
I drive when she sleeps
Let's say I want to report these sentences. If they are still true or yet to happen I leave them unchanged ...
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1
vote
1
answer
63
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Reported speech changes the meaning?
Direct speech: "He did it when she arrived"
Reported speech: Tom said Joe had done it when she arrived
My question is: Isn't it that when we report the sentence it changes its meaning? In ...
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1
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57
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reporting time clauses in the past and future
When she came I was cooking
I cook when he comes
Am I right that because 1 is in the past we can report that sentence in three was and the meaning wil be the same?
1a. He said he had been cooking ...
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1
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reporting complicated sentences
I was playing when she came
When I came she gave me a hug
I was playing when she was cooking
How do I report such complicated sentences?
He said he had been palying when she had come or he had ...
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51
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Optional backshifting in reported speech
I will do it tomorrow
a) He said he will do it tomorrow
b) He said he would do that tomorrow
I did it yesterday
a) He said he did it yesterday
b) He said he had done it yesterday
I have done it
a)...
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Reported speech may be ambiguous
He said he will do that on Monday
He said he will do that today
Is my understanding correct that 1 is quite ambiguous? I mean it either means that "he" wants to do something on Monday that ...
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4
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77
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Reported speech - pronoun change for "we"
An exercise on reported speech has the following:
Choose the correct answer:
David said, “Can we go tomorrow?”.
A. David said if we can go tomorrow.
B. David asked if we could go the following day.
C....
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3
votes
1
answer
36
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Confusion with reported speech
I was reading through C1C2 Destination when I found this strange sentence.
Paul told me that Dawn hadn't been particularly hardworking when she was at university.
I am wondering why it is she was at ...
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Time clauses reported speech
Time clauses in reported speech. Do we have to change what's in time clause in reported speech? Let me give examples
I will do it as soon as she comes.
She will cook when I tell her to.
He said he ...
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1
answer
33
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Time expressions yet again
"I will do it next month"
He said he would do it the next month or the following moth or the month later or after.
All of those are corrrect. We just have many options.
"I will do it ...
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1
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Is "He said he had had it two previous days" correct?
"I did it yesterday"
He said he had done it the day before/previously/earlier.
He said he had done it the previous day.
In my opinion all those are correct. Do you agree?
"I did it ...
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2
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How to handle “next Monday” in reported speech?
In reported speech we change next week to either
the next week,
the following week,
the week after, or
the week later.
But how should we handle next Monday?
Is there some way of changing it, or do ...
- 555
2
votes
1
answer
44
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Time expressions
In reported speech we change
Tomorrow to the day later or after the following or next day
What about in 4 days
4 days later of after and the following 4 days or the next 4 days?
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1
answer
55
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Time conjunctions reported speech
My book says that we don't have to report sentences after time conjunctions like after, when, as long as even if they aren't true anymore. Examples
I'm happy as long as you work.
He said he was ...
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1
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54
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Time changes in reported speech
Context it's Monday
I will do it today
Now it's Friday
I want to report this setnce
He said he would do it that day
Ok. That's fine but "that day" it's not specific we don't know when ...
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2
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42
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Reported speech11
1 "I am going" she said
If I want to report that sentence using a verb in past simple " said" I can choose if I want to backshift tenses or not ( obviously it is also omportant ...
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vote
2
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Reported speech 12
I will do it in 5 days / in 2 weeks
How do we report these time expressions in indirect speech?
He said he would it - what now?
My grammar books says that I should say 5 days later or 2 weeks later ...
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1
answer
118
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Correct pronoun in reported speech
What is the correct reported speech for
She said to me, "When are we going to leave?"
Is it:
A) She asked me when they were going to leave.
B) She asked me when we were going to leave.
...
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1
answer
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Confusing conversion from direct speech to indirect speech
Convert this sentence to indirect speech-
“The concert starts at 7 PM,” they informed us.
I believe that the potential answers are-
They informed us that the concert started at 7 PM.
They informed ...
Aryan Mane
2
votes
1
answer
32
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Reporting sentences
Reported speech
She said that she's going there
She said that she was going there
Both sentences are fine. 1 is used when something is still true. 2 might still be true or not. Can we do the same ...
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1
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Reported Speech Time Expression
[Direct speech]
We can change the environmental campaign next year?
How should this sentence be written in reported speech?
A: He is saying they can change the environmental campaign next year.
B: ...
MaiP
0
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0
answers
75
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You would say that sam has run/ran/had run a red light
John: What does "running a red light" mean?
(1) Sam: If I were to drive past a red traffic light without stopping, you would say, "Sam has run a red light".
(2) Sam: If I were to ...
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Which of the following sentences is indirect speech, direct speech, free indirect speech?
The next morning, when the alarm went off, he wanted to keep his eyes closed and keep on with the dream he was having. Something about a farmhouse. And there was a waterfall in there, too. Someone, he ...
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2
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Should "before getting" be changed to past tense when converting to reported speech?
The salesman said, "You need to fill in this form before getting the exchange."
Convert this into reported speech
I am very confused if 'before getting...' will also be converted to past ...
lolapie
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2
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98
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What is direct speech form of these sentences? 1. He asked me if I had come by train or by bus 2. She wanted to know who we had invited to the party [closed]
He asked me if I had come by train or by bus
She wanted to know who we had invited to the party
I Know the basics about direct and indirect speech. But I doubt if my answers are correct. I'm new to ...
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2
answers
54
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Convert the following to reported speech [closed]
For this question, does the part "apologize..glass" need to remain in present tense or do we switch it to past tense?
Complete the sentence by correctly reporting Sam’s advice to Marilyn:
...
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2
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I asked who the winner was. OR I asked who the winner had been
I said, "Who was the winner". (Direct)
which would be the correct reported speech for the above direct speech? and WHY?
I asked who the winner was. OR
I asked who the winner had been.
(...
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vote
1
answer
167
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Should I change 'next time' to 'the next time' in reported speech?
In my textbook there's an exercise requiring you to convert direct speech to reported speech. Here are two of the direct sentences:
'I'll pick you up next time.'
'Please, give me another chance next ...
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2
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1
answer
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"He thought his sister was/had been playing with his toys when he wasn't there"
Which of (1) and (2) is (or are) “correct”, and when and why?
Yesterday Rachel said that she was practicing dancing two days ago.
Yesterday Rachel said that she had been practicing dancing two days ...
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1
answer
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The usage of Reported Speech [duplicate]
“I will do it”
He said he would do it
He said he will do it
My question is when can I use these two versions, 1 and 2. In which situations is it correct to use version 1 or version 2?
In other ...
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1
answer
306
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Reported speech for "Let's go out for a walk."
She said to me, "Let's go out for a walk."
She suggested [proposed] to me that we (should) go out for a
walk.
(source)
Is the second sentence a correct reported speech version of the first ...
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vote
1
answer
110
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A past version of "for now" in reported speech
She said to me, "Let's just stay focused on this issue for now."
Question: How would you convert this sentence into a reported speech sentence?
I don't know what I should convert for now ...
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0
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67
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A phrase meaning "by now" in reported speech
(1) Brian said to me, "Karen should be home by now."
(2) Brian told me that Karen should be home by then.
Question: How would you convert (1) into a reported speech sentence?
My intuition is ...
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1
vote
1
answer
83
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The differences between the reporting clause and the reported clause
As the title says, I am quite confused about the reporting clause and the reported clause. What are the characters and different uses, and how do I identify which clause belongs to the reporting ...
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Said + (to me) in Reported Speech
Group A
He said he would be late.
He said to me he would late.
Group B (as in a request)
He said to open the door.
He said to me to open the door.
As I understand it, the second sentence in ...
2
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2
answers
262
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Without context, is there any difference between "had been cancelled" and "was cancelled"?
I have an example sentence that goes like this:
I rang the station, and they told me that the train had been cancelled.
Is there any difference between that sentence and:
I rang the station, and ...
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1
answer
103
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the robber attacked/the robber had attacked
I was taking a test and the test said that 1 is correct. I wonder why 2 is considered wrong (according to the opinion of the author). Is 2 wrong?
1 She said that the robber attacked her when she was ...
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0
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Inconsistent use of backshifting in a reported speech paragraph
Flow, he argued, was a state of mind, a level of concentration
in which outside stimuli, even time itself, seem to fall away.
But flow, he added, cannot be forced. nytimes
The backshifting for ...
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4
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Why does Obi-Wan use 'were' in "He wanted you to have it when you were old enough"?
It's a phrase in Star Wars by Obi-Wan Kenobi: "He wanted you to have it when you were old enough." Why did he use the word "were" instead of "will be"?
(Regardless of the ...
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1
answer
284
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Indirect speech - correct? - "She said he might have missed his train"
I have some doubts as to whether the sentence of the title is correct.
The direct speech reads:
She says, "he may have missed his train."
In my opinion the indirect speech has to be:
She ...
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0
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31
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When to use past tense after reported speech and when to use present tense after it? [duplicate]
He said that he had visited Paris last year.
She said that she is currently working on a new project.
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1
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56
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Reported speech in a sentence with many clauses
When I started learning French, I thought if I lived in Paris, I could speak French fluently.
How to report it?
I said that when I started learning French, I thought if I lived in
Paris, I could ...
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1
vote
1
answer
94
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till/if in the reported speech in the past
He had been following us till we reached our house.
She said that he had been following them till they reached their
house.
or
She said that he had been following them till they had reached their
...
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Reported speech more than 2 verbs in the past
How can I report this sentence:
"I thought u wanted to dance"
He told me :he had thought I had wanted to dance
Or
He told me :he had thought I wanted to dance
Which one?
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