0
Chopsticks1942 Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Indirect Speech present tense
According to my grammar book, we use the Indirect Speech without any change of tense when the introductory verb is in the present or future tense.
"We are having a wonderful time here," the children say happily.
The children said happily that they were having a wonderful time.
I am wondering why the tense of the above indirect speech sentence is past tense(were) instead of present(are).
I think the correct indirect speech should be below:
The children say happily that they are having a wonderful time there.
"We are having a wonderful time here," the children say happily.
The children said happily that they were having a wonderful time.
I am wondering why the tense of the above indirect speech sentence is past tense(were) instead of present(are).
I think the correct indirect speech should be below:
The children say happily that they are having a wonderful time there.
Top answer
chopsticks1942 I think the correct indirect speech should be below:The children say happily that they are having a wonderful time there. It depends when they say/said the words. We'd use 'say' only if we report this as the children are still playing.
- chopsticks1942 I think the correct indirect speech should be below:The children say happily that they are having a wonderful time there.
- It depends when they say/said the words.
- We'd use 'say' only if we report this as the children are still playing.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
1 Answers
0
chopsticks1942I think the correct indirect speech should be below:The children say happily that they are having a wonderful time there.It depends when they say/said the words. We'd use 'say' only if we report this as the children are still playing.
0
Related Questions