TENSE TUESDAY: KEEPING SAME TENSES IN REPORTED SPEECH
17 / 11 / 2015
TENSE TUESDAY: KEEPING SAME TENSES IN REPORTED SPEECH: meaning and examples
Hello everyone! Today's Tense Tuesday is about Reported Speech.
Remember that in Reported Speech, we shift the tense back in time, so that a Direct Speech sentence in the SIMPLE PRESENT will change to a Reported Speech sentence with the PAST SIMPLE, for example. This is called BACKSHIFT. Here is an example:
Sentence 1 (Direct Speech): I am going to the mall.
Sentence 2 (Reported Speech): He said he was going to the mall.
There are times, however, that we DO NOT change the tense. We keep the tense the same if we are talking about a general truth or if the situation has not yet changed.
Example 1: Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday of November.
Example 2: He said that Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday of November.
Example 3: I have to work late for the rest of the year.
Example 4: She said that she has to work late for the rest of the year.
You might remember that we looked at reported speech last month. Click on the following link to see that lesson on CAN and COULD in Reported Speech.
https://www.ziggurat.es/es/lecciones_ingles/index.asp?id=2655
That's all for today! Thank you for reading. We will see you tomorrow for Wordy Wednesday!
Remember that in Reported Speech, we shift the tense back in time, so that a Direct Speech sentence in the SIMPLE PRESENT will change to a Reported Speech sentence with the PAST SIMPLE, for example. This is called BACKSHIFT. Here is an example:
Sentence 1 (Direct Speech): I am going to the mall.
Sentence 2 (Reported Speech): He said he was going to the mall.
There are times, however, that we DO NOT change the tense. We keep the tense the same if we are talking about a general truth or if the situation has not yet changed.
Example 1: Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday of November.
Example 2: He said that Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday of November.
Example 3: I have to work late for the rest of the year.
Example 4: She said that she has to work late for the rest of the year.
You might remember that we looked at reported speech last month. Click on the following link to see that lesson on CAN and COULD in Reported Speech.
https://www.ziggurat.es/es/lecciones_ingles/index.asp?id=2655
That's all for today! Thank you for reading. We will see you tomorrow for Wordy Wednesday!
