Exceptions In Reported Speech 6u1y2l

There is no change in verb tenses in Reported speech when: 1. the sentence expresses a general truth or permanent states and conditions 2. the introductory verb is in the Present, future, or Present Perfect tense 3. the verb of the sentence is in the Unreal past (eg. 2nd or 3rd type conditionals) 4. the following verbs are used: had beter, could, would, used to,should, might and ought to, mustn’t 5. Past Simple changes to Past Perfect or or remains the same. When the reported sentence contains a time clause, the tenses of the time clause remain unchanged. The sentence expresses something which is believed to be true. In this case the verb tense can either change or remain unchanged. However, if the sentence expresses sth which is not true, then the verb changes.

Direct speech My mother said, ‘It gets dark earlier in the winter’

Reported speech My mother said that it gets dark earlier in the winter

She says/ will say/ has said, ‘I can cook well’

She says/ will say/ has said that she can cook well.

He said, ‘If I had time, I would help you’

He said that he would help me if he had time.

He said, ‘They should try a little harder.’

He said that they should try a little harder.

He said, ‘She came round to my house while I was doing my shopping.’

He said that she had come/ came round to his house while he was doing his shopping.

He said, ‘Ethiopia is a thirdworld country.’ (true)

He said that Ethiopia is/ was a third-world country

He said, ‘Ethiopia is a highly developed country’ (false)

He said that Ethiopia was a highly developed country.

Can - could (present) - would be able to (future) Must - had to (obligation)

He said, ‘you must try harder’ He said that I had to try harder - would have to (future) He said, ‘I must get my hair cut’ He said that he would have to get his hair cut. - must (possibility)

Will/ shall – would May – might, could Shall - should(asking for advice) Would (asking for information)

Turn the following into reported speech 1. ‘When I first came here, I had a hard time with the language,’ Susan said. ________________________________________________________________________ 2. ‘I couldn’ believe my ears when I heard they’ split up,’ she said to him. ________________________________________________________________________ 3. ‘Although I ‘m afraid I must reject your offer,’ Paul said to Philip ________________________________________________________________________ 4. ‘You mustn’t ask such silly questions or you will find yourself in serious difficulties one day,’ she said to me. ________________________________________________________________________ 5. Although I won’t be able to let you know until tomorrow, I might be able to come,’ he said to Sarah ________________________________________________________________________ 6. The assistant said, ‘Shall I wrap this for you?’ ________________________________________________________________________ 7. ‘Is he going to accept thejob offer?’she asked ________________________________________________________________________ 8. She said, ‘Be very careful with that knife. It’s very sharp.’ ________________________________________________________________________ 9. ‘We know you were involved in the robbery,’the police said ________________________________________________________________________ 10. The teacher said, ‘You mustn’t make that mistake again.’ ________________________________________________________________________

11. Sandra said, ‘When shall I see him again?’ ________________________________________________________________________ 12. ‘I’ve heard her claim that she may give up her job and open a restaurant,’she said ________________________________________________________________________ 13. ‘I really must get going,’ Jane said to the family, ‘or I might miss the train.’ ________________________________________________________________________ 14. ‘I’m the one who broke the window,’ she said. ________________________________________________________________________ 15. ‘I’m sorry that I didn’t phone you yesterday,’ said Jane, ‘but you see I had to take my dog to the vet’s.’ ________________________________________________________________________