Need help. Reported Speech.

Question

Hi Teachers,Are all these reported speech sentences possible?a) The old lady said (that) she was sorry to Coke.b) The old lady said to Coke (that) she was sorry.a) The old lady said (that) she was sorry.Thanks in advance

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Please change the other person's name first.  'Coke' refers so obviously and oddly to the soft drink that it is difficult to determine naturalness.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Mister MicawberPlease change the other person's name first.

That's the name in the story 'Edward Coke'.

'The man who escaped' is the tittle.

CalifJim · Answer

Thinking Spaina) The old lady said (that) she was sorry to Coke.
b) The old lady said to Coke (that) she was sorry.

Not very idiomatic English. When you mention the person spoken to, you normally switch to the verb "tell":

The old lady told Coke (that) she was sorry.

Thinking Spaina) The old lady said (that) she was sorry.

Fine. And incidentally, when the person spoken to is not mentioned, as you have here, you can't switch to "tell".

_____________

Compare:

I said I was leaving at 8.

I told her I was leaving at 8.

Karen said that Henry was ill.

Karen told me that Henry was ill.

William says that we have to be ready by 6.

William told us that we have to be ready by 6.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

Thinking Spainis the tittle.

is the title.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tittle

CJ

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi CaliJim,

Thank you so much for your detailed reply, but I have seen a few times in books and on the web this explanation:

You say something (to somebody). Here somebody is optional.

You tell somebody something.

You say to somebody something

I guess one thing are books and the other is the real life.

TS

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Uphs! That's my mistake. Thank you so much for your correction.<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/10.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/10.gif' alt='Emotion: embarrassed'/>

CalifJim · Answer

Thinking SpainYou say to somebody something

This one in particular seems strange to my ear!

Thinking SpainI guess one thing are books and the other is the real life.

Unfortunately for the learner, there are thousands and thousands of sentences that are technically correct in terms of grammar, but only a small subset of them are used in 'real life', and many websites focus only on theoretical grammaticality.

CJ

Tenacious Learner · Answer

CalifJimUnfortunately for the learner, there are thousands and thousands of sentences that are technically correct in terms of grammar, but only a small subset of them are used in 'real life', and many websites focus only on theoretical grammaticality.

I really agree with you CalifJim. Thanks to webs like this one and people like you, we can know it.

Need help. Reported Speech.

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