reported speech

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reported speech

D@N! P

reported speech

Hello, Dear teachers.

Once more a need you help. Can you help me with Reported Speech? Iï¿½m confused about the changes in the Present Simple tense. It may look stupid, but I found 2 books with 2 different explanations. One says that present tense does not change. The other one says that it does change and give 2 possibilities.

Iï¿½m tired. ï¿½ She says she is tired.

ï¿½ She said she is tired. / She said she was tired.

I suppose the sentences donï¿½t change if we are reporting sentences just after theyï¿½ve been spoken. I can see why the books says that the sentence: ï¿½she likes taking care of plantsï¿½ changes to past and the sentence ï¿½ he likes cookingï¿½ doesnï¿½tï¿½.

And how can students now the difference in a worksheet? Iï¿½m really confused, guys.

Can you give a hand here, please?

Sorry if itï¿½s too stupid, but I really want to know.

Thanks.

11 Jun 2010

imelda

no question is stupid...thanks how we all learn

im tired.

she says she is tired.

she said she was tired.

we backshift when the principle verb is in past in this case said.

present changes to past

i love pizza------- she said she loved pizza

past to past perfect

i did my homework ---- she said she had done her homework

present continuous to past continuous

i am studying for my exam ------- she said she was studying for her exam

present perfect to past perfect

i have seen the movie twice ------- she said she had seen the movie twice.

present perfect continuous to past perfect continuous

i have been working alot lately -------- she said she had been working alot lately

will changes to would

i will go to france ----- she said she would go to france

can changes to could

i can dance well ------- she said she could dance well

may changes to might

i may go to the party. ------she said she might go to the party

must changes to had to

i must work today ---- she said she had to work today.

i hope this is useful for you and if anyone would like to add

ime

11 Jun 2010

MarianaC

As far as I understand, with statements that mention something that continues to be true, or that still is in the same way at the time of reporting it, we may choose to keep the present tense or to change it.

For example: "Where ï¿½s the toilet?"

S/He asked where the toilet was. (changing tense to respect the grammar rules)

S/He asked where the toilet is (to show the toilet is still in the same spot, it hasn ï¿½t been moved, so in this case there ï¿½s no need to change tense, but you can change it if you want to!).

In your example, "She said she is tired" would be to show she still is, while "She said she was tired" is merely reporting the statement.

I hope this helps!

Cheers

Mariana

11 Jun 2010

sp.watson

I agree with Mariana, if the reported speech is still true and relevant at the time of reporting it then we can choose not to change the tense.

For example:

"What did he say to you just now?" - "He said he is happy to be here"

"What did he say to you when you saw him yesterday?" - "He said he was happy to be there"

The other thing that I point out to students is that the tense changes are often ignored by native speakers.

For example:

"I watched that film yesterday" ...

"He said that he had watched the film" (grammatically correct)

"He said that he watched the film" (what many people actually say)

For the purposes of passing exams obviously the first one should be sued, but in the real world the second does not detract from clear communication and in my opinion is acceptable.

Hope that helps.

11 Jun 2010

bienke

When the reporting verb is in the present nothing changes: She says she is tired but she said she was tired. When you report a fact nothing changes: e.g. The teacher said that water boils at 100ï¿½C

11 Jun 2010