- •В.В. Левченко
- •Reported Speech
- •SEQUENCE OF TENSES
- •REPORTED STATEMENTS
- •REPORTED QUESTIONS
- •REPORTED REQUESTS AND COMMANDS
- •REPORTED EXCLAMATIONS
- •EXERCISES
- •What the stars say – your horoscope
- •REPORTED QUESTIONS
- •Exercise 34.
- •REVIEW EXERCISES
- •Папа сказал, что он, возможно, также вернется позднее, так как у
- •A HEALTHFUL CLIMATE
- •WHO HAS THE LAST DAY?
- •TRIP TO STRATFORD
- •HILL CLIMB
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II.Some words are replaced in the reported speech:
Speaker’s words |
Reported Speech |
here |
there |
this, these |
that, those |
now |
then |
today |
that day |
tonight |
that night |
tomorrow |
the next day/the following day |
yesterday |
the day before/(on) the previous day |
next Monday |
the following Monday |
last Monday |
the previous Monday |
ago |
before |
a year ago |
a year before |
last night |
the previous night |
the day before yesterday |
two days before |
the day after tomorrow |
two days later |
such, so |
very, exceedingly |
(in exclamatory sentences) |
|
e.g. |
|
She said, “Jane plays the |
She said Jane played the piano very |
piano so well!” |
well. |
She said, “Jane is such a |
She said Jane was an exceedingly |
good pianist!” |
(very) good pianist. |
Note. If the speaker speaks in the same place and at the same time as the speaker whose words are reported, the adverbs are not changed, e.g.
An hour ago he said he would come here tonight.
I told him I wouldn’t give him an answer till tomorrow.
III.If the verb in the principal clause is in the past tense, the tenses are changed according to the rule of the sequence of tenses (согласование времен).
SEQUENCE OF TENSES
Direct Speech |
Indirect/Reported Speech |
Present Indefinite |
Becomes Past Indefinite. |
She said, “We often write letters”. |
She said they often wrote letters. |
Present Continuous |
Becomes Past Continuous. |
She said, “We are writing a letter”. |
She said they were writing a letter. |
|
|
|
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|
|
Present Perfect |
Becomes Past Perfect. |
She said, “We have just written a |
She said they had just written a |
letter”. |
letter. |
Present Perfect Continuous. |
Becomes Past Perfect Continuous. |
She said, “We have been writing |
She said they had been writing for |
for an hour”. |
an hour. |
Past Indefinite. |
Becomes Past Perfect. |
She said, “We wrote a letter last |
She said they had written a letter on |
night”. |
the previous night. |
Past Continuous. |
Remains unchanged, or is replaced |
She said, “I was writing at 5 |
by the Past Perfect Continuous. |
o’clock”. |
She said she was (had been) writing |
|
at 5 o’clock. |
Past Perfect. |
Remains unchanged. |
She said, “We had written the letter |
She said they had written the letter |
by 5 o’clock”. |
by 5 o’clock. |
Past Perfect Continuous. |
Remains unchanged. |
She said, “We had been writing for |
She said they had been writing for |
an hour by 5 o’clock”. |
an hour by 5 o’clock. |
Future Indefinite. |
Future Indefinite in the Past. |
She said, “ We’ll write a letter |
She said they would write a letter |
tomorrow”. |
the next day. |
Future Continuous |
Future Continuous in the Past. |
She said, “We’ll be writing at 5 |
She said they would be writing at 5 |
o’clock”. |
o’clock. |
Future Perfect. |
Future Perfect in the Past. |
She said, “We’ll have written the |
She said they would have written |
letter by 5 o’clock”. |
the letter by 5 o’clock. |
Future Perfect Continuous. |
Future Perfect Continuous in the |
She said, “We’ll have been writing |
Past. |
for 2 hours by 5 o’clock”. |
She said they would have been |
|
writing for 2 hours by 5 o’clock. |
Notes. 1) The Past modals “could, would, should, might” do not change in reported speech, e.g.
“You could be right” |
I said he could be right. |
“You should see the film. |
They told me I should see the film. |
“Must” either does not change or it takes the past form “had to”, e.g.
“I must go” – He said he must go/he had to go.
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2) If we report something that is still true now or express a habitual action we sometimes use the same tense as the speaker, e.g.
Speaker’s words |
Reported Speech |
“The population of London is about |
He said that the population of |
9 million”. |
London is about 9 million. |
“My wife drinks coffee in the |
He said that his wife drinks coffee |
morning”. |
in the morning. |
3) Indirect Speech with conditional sentences after a past tense reporting verb, real situations include tense changes.
“If we leave now, we’ll catch the train”.
I told him that if we left we’d catch the train.
In reported hypothetical situations, tense changes are not made if the event has reference to a possible future.
“If you came back tomorrow, I’d be able to help you”
She said that if I came back the next day, she’d be able to help me.
If the event is clearly hypothetical and impossible, time changes are made.
“If I had a spanner(гаечный ключ), I could fix this. He said that if he had a spanner he could have fixed it.
Hypothetical past conditional sentences do not change.
4) Reporting suggestions, advice etc.
Suggestions: “Let’s go out”
1.Tony suggested going out.
2.Tony suggested (that) we (should) go out.
Advice: “You’d better phone the police”
Mrs. Dell advised me to phone the police.
Warnings: “Don’t be late”
I warned you not to be late.
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Threats: “If you don’t go, I’ll call the police”
I threatened to call the police.
Insisting: “We simply must take a taxi”
Mr. and Mrs. Beal insisted on taking taxi.
Refusals: “ I’m not going to wait any longer”
Mrs. Janner refused to wait any longer.
Promises: “I’ll send you a postcard”
He promised to send us a postcard.
Offers: “ Can I get you a taxi?”
Eric offered to get the visitors a taxi.
Invitations: “Would you like to have lunch with us?”
The Updikes invited us to lunch.
REPORTED STATEMENTS
“Say” and “tell” are reporting verbs which report statements or thoughts. We also use the following verbs:
to mention, (упоминать) to explain(объяснять), to answer, to be sure, to know, to inform (сообщать), to think (думать), to assure (убеждать, заверять), to assert (утверждать), to admit (признавать), to point out (указывать), to confess (сознаваться), to promise (обещать), to suspect (подозревать), to boast (хвастаться), to claim (претендовать), to reply (отвечать), to warn
(предупреждать), to swear (клясться), to murmur (бормотать), to announce (объявлять), to declare (объявлять), to notify (ставить в известность), to agree (соглашаться), to thank (благодарить), to insist (настаивать), to protest (протестовать).
1. “The table is laid,” says Mother. |
Mother informs us that the table is |
|
laid. |
2. “Thank you, dear, for a most |
Father thanks Mother for a most |
delicious dinner,” says Father. |
delicious dinner. |