My Direct Speech to Put into Indirect

Question

Hello again dear Teachers,

I would like to change my direct question to an indirect question.

When I registered my aunt at the gym, I asked them, “Are you going to give her money back if she doesn’t like it?”

How do I do to switch further back the verb tense of “if she does not like it?”

When I registered my aunt at the gym, I asked them if they would give her money back if she "????" not like it, and they answered, "Yes".

A thousand thanks,

SFB

Waïti · Accepted Answer

Not that I will necessarily contribute towards an answer to your question... But merely to keep the ball rolling until someone seizes it...

My 2 cents (eurocents) guess would be :
'... if they would give her money back if she did not like it..'

But this sounds like too many 'ifs'.
So let me suggest a 5 cents option :
'... if they would give her money back, should she not like it...'
And you can keep the change, should you not like my counter-proposal :-)

Clive · Answer

Hi Waiti,

I agree about if she did not like it..

I also agree that two if's like this is not beautiful English. However, we do say that kind of thing a lot. Your suggestion with should she not ... is correct grammar, but sounds very formal. More common might be something like ... whether they would give her money back, if she didn't like it...

Best wishes, Clive

SpoonfedBaby · Answer

Hello everybody,

I'm working on the rules of the reported speech and the ones on the future in the past.

A practical English Grammar reported speech:
He said, ‘Ann will be in Paris on Monday.’ >>> He said that Ann would be in Paris on Monday. (Future >>> Conditional)
‘I never eat meat,’ he explained >>> He explained that he never ate meat. (Present simple >>> past simple)

How English Works future in the past:
When we are talking about the past, we often want to say that something was still in the future at that time. To express this idea, we can use the past progressive (was …ing), was going to …, would, or was to.
As the Duchess had said, the fact that Emily was marrying a general was a very adequate excuse for such ceremony at the wedding.

Pevious threads My initial direct speech sentence:
When I registered my aunt at the gym, I asked them, “Are you going to give her money back if she doesn’t like it?”

My sentence transformed into a reported speech sentence:
When I registered my aunt at the gym, I asked them whether they would give her money back, if she didn't like it.

Now, here my sentence is changed into what I would say if I had to talk about the past:

As they said when I registered her at the gym, the fact that the gym had this policy she would be reimbursed if she was to not like it.

Please, tell me if my last sentence is right. Do I understand the right way the reported speech and the future in the past?

I'm very grateful for your help.

SFB

Clive · Answer

Hi again,

As they said when I registered her at the gym, the fact that the gym had this policy she would be reimbursed if she was to not like it.

I'd say

As they said when I registered her at the gym, the fact was that the gym had this policy that (or by which/under which) she would be reimbursed if she were not to like it. (or if she didn't like it - a more common way to say it)

Despite these corrections, I think your basic understanding of how to say this in this way is OK.

Best wishes, Clive

SpoonfedBaby · Answer

Clive
As they said when I registered her at the gym, the fact was that the gym had this policy that (or by which/under which) she would be reimbursed if she were not to like it. (or if she didn't like it - a more common way to say it)

How English Works
future in the past:
When we are talking about the past, we often want to say that something was still in the future at that time. To express this idea, we can use the past progressive (was …ing), was going to …, would, or was to.
As the Duchess had said, the fact that Emily was marrying a general was a very adequate excuse for such ceremony at the wedding.

Hello Clive,

Once again, thanks for your corrections.[F] I was so sure about myself.

I made the mistake of trying to rewrite my sentence following the pattern of “future in the past sentence”. I should have followed the pattern of the conditional sentence type 2.

…she would be reimbursed (conditional passive) if she were (unreal past tense “subjunctive”) not to like it.

Anonymous · Answer

0"we can have peace in the world if all people-from the educated to illiterate,from the rich to poor-are able to expand their horizons in this way,"he concluded.0-

Mister Micawber · Answer

0 .02br
00We are not a reported-speech factory, Anon. Please try yourself.0-

Anonymous · Answer

yesterday and turn into the previous day its synonyms so why we used indirect

Anonymous · Answer

the mous is ated by the cat

My Direct Speech to Put into Indirect

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