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ESL forum >
Ask for help > A grammar doubt
A grammar doubt
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joycemon
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A grammar doubt
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Hi everybody! I was wondering if you could help me, we are doing reported speech in class and today I had a problem with a sentence:
"Have you fed the cat yet" she asked - which answer is correct?
a) she asked if I had fed the cat yet
b) she asked if I had already fed the cat
Thanks a lot in advance! |
11 May 2011
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Kate (kkcat)
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I �d go for option B, since the reported sentence doesn �t form the question itself
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11 May 2011
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rangel
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I would also choose option B because "already" doesn �t exist in the original sentence. |
11 May 2011
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yanogator
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I don �t understand either of the answers from Kate and rangel, and both options sound OK to me. I have a feeling that there �s a "rule" that says that you can �t use "yet" in this situation (because of the past perfect or something), but I don �t really know that there is such a rule. If it exists, it probably has to do with "already" referring to the past (which the reported speech is), and "yet" referring in a sense to the future. I �m sorry that I can �t really help. Bruce
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11 May 2011
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alexcure
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Yes, Bruce. According to the British grammar rules only the option B is correct.
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12 May 2011
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Jayho
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I �m with Bruce - both sound ok in natural speech but option B must be the grammatically correct option becasue of the yet/already scenario |
12 May 2011
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sirhaj
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I will go for option B because the statement contains the word "yet", an adverb which refers to a particular temporal expectation and there is no adverb to complement option A when the statement is converted to a question. Option B, however, contains adverb "already" which refers to a particular expectation on time, so i think, it is much a better answer.
when we say " have you fed the cat" we refer to the action, whether it is done or not, when we say " have you fed the cat yet" we refer to the action and whether it had met our expectation ( we expect it to have already been done). Thus, option B incorporates the expectation with the addition of "already".
Sincerely,
Sirhajwan
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12 May 2011
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Emanuel22
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That �s right! Option B is grammatically correct
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12 May 2011
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Apodo
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LOL English is even more difficult than I thought- I would have got this wrong.
It sounds OK to me, just as it does to other native speakers.
�Have you fed the cat yet? � she asked.
Reported speech: She asked if I had fed the cat yet.
�Have you already fed the cat? � she asked.
Reported speech: She asked if I had already fed the cat.
@ sirhaj: If I ask �Have you fed the cat yet? � I realise the cat may have been fed, and I don �t want to feed it twice. I don �t expect that the cat has been fed.
There is more expectation of the task being done if �already � is used in direct speech.
I can �t find the yet/already �rule � in my English usage/ grammar books.
I �ve searched for examples of reported speech and the sentences I found used yet if that was what was in the direct speech.  |
12 May 2011
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douglas
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I �m with Apodo--as a native speaker I would have gotten this one wrong. |
12 May 2011
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saratbl
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I also would have gone for Option A.
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12 May 2011
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