Oxford_Guide_to_English_Grammar

33 NOUN CLAUSES

3 The pattern That we haven't any money is a pity

We sometimes use a noun clause as subject.

That everyone got back safely was a great relief.

Which route would be best isn't obvious.

But it is more usual to use Pattern 4.

We do not leave out that when the clause is the subject.

NOTEveryonegotbacksafely wasagreat relief.

NOTE

We can use whether (but not if) when the clause is the subject.

Whether I'll be able to come depends on a number of things.

4 The pattern It's a pity that we haven't any money

We often use the empty subject it. • 50(5)

It was a great reliefthat everyone got back safely.

It isn't obvious which route would be best.

It's hard to say if/whether it's going to rain (or not).

It's nice (that) you've got some time offwork.

NOTE

5The pattern I'm interested in how we can earn some money

A wh-clause or whether can come after a preposition.

The government is looking into what needs to be done.

He made no comment on whether a decision had been reached.

We cannot use if.

We cannot use a that-clause after a preposition. Compare these sentences.

No one told me about Nicola's illness/about Nicola being ill. No one told me (that) Nicola was ill.

NOTE

Sometimes we can leave out the preposition.

I was surprised (at) how cold it was.

There's the question (of) whether we should sign the form.

Other expressions are to ask (about), aware (of), to care (about), certain (of/about), conscious (of), curious (about), to decide (on/about), a decision (on/about),

to depend (on), to inquire (about), an inquiry (about), to report (on/about), sure (of/about), to think (of/about), to wonder (about).

But with some expressions we cannot leave out the preposition.

There was a discussion about when we should leave.

Others are confused about, difficulty over/about, an effect on, an expert on, an influence on/over, interested in, a report on/about, research into, worried about.

6 The pattern I'm afraid that we haven't any money

a We can use a that-clause after some adjectives.

I'm glad (that) you enjoyed the meal.

We were worried (that) there were no life guards on duty. Lucy was sure (that) she could identify her attacker.

Some adjectives in this pattern are:

NOTE

We can often use should. • 242(2)

I was surprised that Tom should be so upset over nothing.

The organizers were anxious that nothing should go wrong.

b We can use a wh-clause after sure and certain. I wasn't sure when the visitors would arrive.

After some adjectives we can use how or what expressing an exclamation.

I was surprised how upset Tom seemed.

Melissa was aware what a difficult task shefaced.

7 The pattern Thefact that we haven't any money is a problem

We can use a that-clause after some nouns, mainly ones expressing speech or thought.

The news that the plane had crashed came as a terrible shock. You can't get around thefact that it's against the law.

Whatever gave you the idea that I can sing?

I heard a rumour that there's been a leak ofradioactivity.

We do not usually leave out that in this pattern.

34

Direct and indirect speech

263 Summary

Introduction to indirect speech • 264

We use direct speech when we repeat someone's words and indirect speech when we use our own words to report what someone says.

Verbs of reporting • 265

We use verbs ofreporting such as say, tell, ask, answer.

Tell, say and ask • 266

Tell takes an indirect object.

Emma told me she likesfootball.

Changes in indirect speech • 267

We have to make changes to the original words when there are changes in the

Tenses in indirect speech • 268

We sometimes change the tense of the verb from present to past, especially when the statement may be untrue or is out of date.

Emma said she likedfootball, but she never watches it. Leon said he was tired, so he had a rest.

Reporting questions • 269

In an indirect question we use a question word or if/whether.

I'll ask the assistant how much it costs.

Vicky wants to know if Emma likes football.

Reporting orders, requests, offers etc • 270

We use a pattern with the to-infinitive to report orders and requests.

PAGE 347 264 Introduction to indirect speech

264 Introduction to indirect speech

1 Direct speech

We use direct speech when we report someone's words by repeating them.

'I'llgo and heat some milk,' said Agnes. (from a story)

Gould was the first to admit "We were simply beaten by a better side.'

(from a newspaper report)

'Made me laugh more than any comedy I have seen in the West End this year' - Evening Standard (from an advertisement)

For an example text and for details about punctuation, • 56(4).

2 Indirect speech

aInstead of repeating the exact words, we can give the meaning in our own words and from our own point of view.

Agnes said she would go and heat some milk.

Gould admitted that his team were beaten by a better side.

Here the indirect speech (or 'reported speech') is a noun clause, the object of said and admitted. We sometimes use that, but in informal English we can leave it out, especially after say or tell.

Tom says (that) his feet hurt.

You told me (that) you enjoyed the visit.

We can sometimes use a non-finite clause.

Gould admitted having lost to a better side. • 270(2d)

They declared the result to be invalid. • 122(2c)

NOTE

aWe use a comma after said, admitted etc and before direct speech, but not before indirect speech.

Fiona said, 'It's getting late.' Fiona said it was getting late.

bSometimes the main clause is at the end, as a kind of afterthought. There is a comma after the indirect speech.

His team were beaten by a better side, Gould admitted.

There will be no trains on Christmas Day, British Rail announced yesterday.

We cannot use that when the indirect speech comes first. c For according to, • 228(1).

b We can report thoughts as well as speech.

Louise thought Wayne was a completefool. We all wondered what was going on.

cWe can mix direct and indirect speech. This is from a newspaper report about a man staying at home to look after his children.

But Brian believes watching the kids grow up and learn new things is the biggest joy a dad can experience. 'Some people think it's a woman'sjob, but I don't think that's relevant any more.'

In indirect speech we do not need to use a verb of reporting in every sentence. This is from a report about a court case. (The names have been changed.)

Prosecutor DavidAndrews said Wilson had stolen a gold wedding ring and credit card and had used the card to attempt to withdraw moneyfrom a bank.

In the second offence Wilson had burgled premises and taken a briefcase containing takings from a shop.

Police had later recovered the bank notesfrom his home.

In the second and third paragraphs we could use a verb of reporting.

The prosecutor also said that in the second offence...

Mr Andrews added that police had...

But it is not necessary to do this because it is clear that the article is reporting what

the prosecutor said.

265 Verbs of reporting

1We use verbs of reporting to report statements, thoughts, questions, requests, apologies and so on.

Polly says we'll enjoy the show.

You mentioned thatyou were going on holiday. 'What's the reason for that?' she wondered.

You might ask the waiter to bring another bottle. I've apologizedfor losing the data.

Some verbs express how a sentence is spoken.

'Oh, not again,' he groaned.

2 These are verbs of reporting.

NOTE

We use talk and speak to mention who was speaking or for how long.

Angela was talking to Neil. The President spokefor an hour.

But we do not use talk or speak as verbs of reporting.

The President said that he was confident ofsuccess.

NOT The President talked/spoke that he was confident ofsuccess.

3A few verbs of reporting always have an indirect object.

No one told me you were leaving.

We informed everyone that the time had been changed.

These verbs are tell, inform, remind, notify, persuade, convince and reassure.

Some verbs of reporting take an indirect object and a to-infinitive.

The police ordered the men to lie down. • 270

4With direct speech we can sometimes invert the verb of reporting and the subject. This happens mainly in literary English, for example in stories and novels.

'Nice to see you,' Phil said/said Phil.

'I'm afraid not,' the woman replied/replied the woman.

We can do this with most verbs of reporting, but not with tell.

We cannot put a personal pronoun (e.g. he, she) after the verb.

'Niceto see you,' he said.

5We can also use nouns such as announcement, opinion, remark, reply, statement.

For noun + that-clause, • 262(7).

The statement that no action would be taken was met with disbelief.

We can also use sure and certain. Polly is sure we'll enjoy the show.

266 Tell, say and ask

1 We normally use an indirect object after tell but not after say. Celia told me she'sfed up. NOT Celia toldshe'sfed up. Andy told me all the latest news.

Celia said she'sfed up. NOT Celia said me she'sfed up Dave never says anything. He's very quiet.

We can use ask with or without an indirect object.

I asked (Celia) if there was anything wrong.

For tell and ask in indirect orders and requests, • 270(1).

We told/asked Celia to hurry up.

NOTE

a We can use athat-clause or a wh-clause.

Celia told me (that) she'sfed up/said (that) she'sfed up.

Celia told me what's wrong.

Say + wh-clause is more common in negatives or questions, where the information is not actually reported.

Celia didn't tell me/didn't say what was wrong. Did your brother tell you/say where he was going?

b Compare ask and say in direct and indirect speech.

c We can use tell + indirect object + about. Debbie told us about her new boy-friend.

With talk about there is no indirect object.

Debbie talked about her new boy-friend.

We use say with about only if the information is not actually reported.

What did she tell you/say about her new boy-friend?

No one has told us anything/said anything about the arrangements.

268 Tenses in indirect speech

1 Verbs of reporting

aA verb of reporting can be in a present tense.

Theforecast says it's going to rain. Karen tells me she knows the way.

I've heard they might close this place down.

Here the present tense suggests that the words were spoken only a short time ago and are still relevant. For written words, • 64(2f).

After a present-tense verb of reporting, we do not change the tense in indirect speech.

'I'm hungry.' Robert says he's hungry.

NOTE

After a present-tense verb of reporting, the past tense means past time.

The singer says he took drugs when he was younger.

b When we see the statement as in the past, the verb of reporting is in a past tense.

Robert said he's hungry.

Karen told me yesterday that she knows the way.

We can use the past even if the words were spoken only a moment ago.

2 The meaning of the tense change

When the verb of reporting is in a past tense, we sometimes change the tense in indirect speech from present to past.

a If the statement is still relevant, we do not usually change the tense, although we can do.

7 know the way.'

'I'm hungry.'

bWe can change the tense when it is uncertain if the statement is true. Compare these examples.

We'd better not go out. Theforecast said it's going to rain.

I hope it doesn't rain. ~ It might. Theforecast said it was going to rain.

The present tense (is) makes the rain sound more likely. We are more interested in the fact of the rain than in the forecast. The past tense (was) makes the rain less real. We are expressing the idea that it is a forecast, not a fact.

c We use the past tense when we are reporting objectively, when we do not want to suggest that the information is necessarily true.

d When a statement is untrue or out of date, then we change the tense.

Karen told me she knew the way, but she took the wrong turning. Theforecast said it was going to rain, and it did.

34 DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH PAGE 352

You said you were hungry, but you didn't eat anything.

Oh, they live in Bristol, do they? I thought they lived in Bath.

You told me years ago thatyou wanted to be a film. star.

3 The form of the tense change

a The tense change in indirect speech is a change from present to past.

NOTE

a We do not need to change a past-tense verb when it refers to a complete action.

Nicola told me she passed/she'd passed her driving test.

But when it refers to a state or a habit, there can be a difference in meaning.

William said he felt ill. And he did look awful.

William said he'd felt ill/he'd been feeling ill. But he'd got over it.

b The past perfect in indirect speech can relate to three different forms.

NOTE

a Sometimes we use different patterns to report sentences with modal verbs. • 270 ' Would you like to comefor tea?' They invited mefor tea.

bShall for the future changes to would. In rather formal English it can change to should in the first person.