2 Verbs and conjunctions used for reporting

a In statements, say and tell are the most common reporting verbs.

He said it was true. Not: He told it was true.

He said it was true. Not: He said me it was true.

He said to me (that) it was true. Not: He told tome (that) it wan true.

These verbs can be followed by that, but it is not necessary.

b In questions, ask and want to know are common reporting verbs.

c In Yes/ No questions the verb is joined to the reported words with if or

whether.

She asked/wanted to know

if whether

it was true (or not).

d In Wh- questions, we do not need if or whether.

‘What do you think?' → He asked me what I thought.

3 Word order in reported questions

The word order in reported questions is the same as in normal statements.

‘Can you come early?’→ She asked if I could come early.

‘Did you see anything suspicious?’ → The police officer wanted to

know if we had seen anything suspicious.

Conditionals

Conditionals are clauses introduced with if. There are three types of conditional clauses: Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3. There is also another common type, Type 0.

	If-clause	Main clause
Type 0	if + present simple	present simple
	If the temperature falls below 0°	water turns into ice.
Type 1	if + present simple	will + infinitive
	If he doesn’t pay the fine,	he will go to prison.
Type 2	if + past simple	would + infinitive
	If he were here,	he would know what to do.
Type 3	if + past perfect	would + have + infinitive
	If she had studied harder,	she would have passed the exam.

Type 0 Conditionals

They are used to express something which is always true. We can use when (=whenever) instead of if.

If/When the sun shines, snow melts.

Type 1 Conditionals

They are used to express real or very probable situations in the present or future.

If he doesn’t study hard, he won’t pass his exam.

Type 2 Conditionals

They are used to express imaginary situations which are contrary to facts in the present and, therefore, are unlikely to happen in the present or future.

If I got up earlier, I would not be late for classes.

Type 3 conditionals

They are used to express imaginary situations which are contrary to the facts in the past. They are also used to express regrets and criticism.

If John hadn’t got up late, he wouldn’t have missed the train.