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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Indirect speech

A. He said, "I might/could capture the city". To 'He said that he could have captured the city'.
B. He said, "I might/could capture the city". To 'He said that he could/ might capture the city'.
I think both are correct but what's the difference in meaning between them? Does the first indirect sentence mean it was possible but didn't happen and what about the second one? Please help. Confused.
  

Top answer

Hi, 'B' is the correct choice since "could,might,should,must(deduction)" never change in reported speech. If you change "could" to "could have captured" then you're changing the meaning as well. In your sentence "I might/could capture the city" you're using 'could ' as past ability which is not so in 'could have captured'.

— Imantaghavi

  • Hi, 'B' is the correct choice since "could,might,should,must(deduction)" never change in reported speech.
  • If you change "could" to "could have captured" then you're changing the meaning as well.
  • In your sentence "I might/could capture the city" you're using 'could ' as past ability which is not so in 'could have captured'.
  • I hope it helps, Cheers, Iman
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1 Answers
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Hi,
'B' is the correct choice since "could,might,should,must(deduction)" never change in reported speech.
If you change "could" to "could have captured" then you're changing the meaning as well.
In your sentence "I might/could capture the city" you're using 'could' as past ability which is not so in 'could have captured'.

I hope it helps,
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