ГРАММАТИКА ЭКЗАМЕН / 4 SEQUENCE OF TENSES

SEQUENCE OF TENSES

The sequence of tenses is a dependence of the tense form of the predicate in a subordinate clause on the tense form of the predicate in its principal clause.

The verb of a subordinate clause is made to agree with a principal verb according to the following rules:

1. Principal verbs in the present or the future tenses take subordinate verbs in any tense:

He says he has to go/ will go/ had to go.

He will understand that he has been in the wrong/was in the wrong.

2. Principal verbs in the past-time tenses should be followed by subordinate verbs that denote past time (Past Indefinite, Past Perfect, Past Continuous or Future-in-the-Past):

He said he had to go/ would go.

He said that he had won.

He had tried hard in order that he might win.

3. If the subordinate clause expresses a general truth – a fact that is true for all time – a past tense in a principal clause is followed by a present tense in a subordinate clause:

John said that Minsk is the capital of Belarus.

SEQUENCE OF TENSES
He lives in New York. I thought that he lived in New York.	Simultaneous action (одновременное)	Я думал, что он живет в Нью Йорке.
She is sleeping. I knew that she was sleeping.	Simultaneous action (одновременное)	Я знал, что она спит.
He has returned from London. He said he had returned from London.	Prior action (предшествующее)	Он сказал, что он вернулся из Лондона.
He bought a new car. I heard he had bought a new car.	Prior action (предшествующее)	Я слышал, что он купил новую машину.
He will send us a letter. He said he would send us a letter.	Posterior action (последующее)	Он сказал, что отправит нам письмо.

The rules of Sequence of Tenses are especially active in Reported Speech when speakers need to introduce grammatical changes to show the differences between their current situation and the situation they are reporting.

Reported Speech

Direct Speech is the exact words someone said: “I’ll go to London,” she said. Quotation marks (“…”) are used in Direct speech.

Reported Speech is the exact meaning of what someone said but not the exact words: She said she would go to London. Quotation marks are not used in Reported Speech.

The verbs most commonly used to introduce the Reported Speech are to tell and to say.

The verb tell is used to mention the hearer (the person spoke to): Sarah’s boss told her she could leave early. Daniel tells me he is ready.

The verb say is used when one doesn’t mention the hearer: Sarah’s boss said she could leave earlier. Daniel says he is ready.

Sometimes to is used after say, especially when the words are not reported: The boss wanted to say something to Sarah. What did Matthew say to you?

REPORTED STATEMENTS

To report statements a reporting verb (say, tell, explain, etc.) followed by a that-clause is used. In spoken English that can be omitted: He said, “I feel sick. He said (that) he felt sick.

Pronouns and possessive adjectives change according to the context.

Direct Speech: Reported Speech:

He said, “I’ll lend you my car”. He said he would lend me his car.

Verb Tenses and time expressions change in Reported Speech:

1. when the introductory verb is in a past tense: She said that she was leaving the following week.

2. in out-of-date reporting: When I saw Alec he said he was going to England the next month.

3. when there is a difference between what was said and what is really true: You said you liked (not ‘you like’) chocolate, but you aren’t eating any.

When the reporting verb is in the past, the verb tenses change according to the rules of Sequence of Tenses as follows:

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Present Indefinite 	Past/Present Indefinite
“He likes walking,” she said.	She said he liked/likes walking.
Present Continuous 	Past Continuous
“He is watching TV,” he said.	He said he was watching TV.
Present Perfect 	Past Perfect
“He has just left,” she said.	She said he had just left.
Past Indefinite 	Past Indefinite/Past Perfect
“I went home early,” she said.	She said she went/had gone home early.
Future 	Future-in-the-Past
“He’ll be back in an hour,” she said.	She said he would be back in an hour.
Present Perfect Continuous 	Past Perfect Continuous
“I’ve been typing since night,” she said.	She said she had been typing since night.

NOTE 1:

If the statement is still up to date when reported, then there is a choice. You can either leave the tense the same, or you can change it:

John said he is/was going to Rome in April.(a future event is expressed)

NOTE 2: If the verb is Past Perfect or Past Perfect Continuous, it stays the same: “My money had run out.” Daniel said his money had run out.

There are no changes in the verb tenses in Reported Speech when the direct sentence expresses a general truth.

“The Earth is a planet,” he said. He said the Earth is a planet.

The change of some words and time expressions
Now	then, at that time
today, tonight	that day, that night
Yesterday	the day before, the previous day
Tomorrow	the next day, the following day
this week	that week
last week	the week before, the previous week
next week	the week after, the following week
Ago	before
Here	there
this year	that year
these days	those days

REPORTED QUESTIONS

General questions
“Do you like rock music?” he asked us.	He asked us if/whether we liked rock music.
Special question
“Where do you live?” he asked us.	He asked us where I lived.

COMMANDS. REQUESTS. INSTRUCTIONS.

Commands
“Stop the car!” the policeman said to me.	The policeman ordered me to stop the car.
Requests
“Will you open the window, please?” I said to Ann.	I asked Ann to open the window.
Instructions
“Don’t disturb me”, the boss said to us.	The boss told us not to disturb him.