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Yogi2005 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
Reported speech
0 hello, 02 br
02 br
00 please, could you tell me the sentence is correct? 02 br
02 br
00 She said , she couldn't come to the door because she was just washing her hair. 02 br
02 br
00 if the above is correct, 02 br
00 could you tell me if in everyday speech 'backshift in time' is neccessary? i.e. woudl the sentence below be correct? 02 br
02 br
00 She said , she can't come to the door because she is just washing her hair. 02 br
02 br
02 br
00 thank you. 0-
02 br
00 please, could you tell me the sentence is correct? 02 br
02 br
00 She said , she couldn't come to the door because she was just washing her hair. 02 br
02 br
00 if the above is correct, 02 br
00 could you tell me if in everyday speech 'backshift in time' is neccessary? i.e. woudl the sentence below be correct? 02 br
02 br
00 She said , she can't come to the door because she is just washing her hair. 02 br
02 br
02 br
00 thank you. 0-
Top answer
12 blockquote 12 br 00 This one is correct. "Could" can be taken either as a past tense modal or as a present tense modal, depending on the context. In this case one might take it as a past tense modal.
- 12 blockquote 12 br 00 This one is correct.
- "Could" can be taken either as a past tense modal or as a present tense modal, depending on the context.
- In this case one might take it as a past tense modal.
- 12 blockquote 12 br 00 This one would be valid only if you speak it immediately after you have heard what she said.
- But usually, in such a situation, I will say like; 02 br 00 "She says (that) she cannot come to the door because she is just washing her hair".
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3 Answers
0
0 01 blockquote
00 This one is correct. "Could" can be taken either as a past tense modal or as a present tense modal, depending on the context. In this case one might take it as a past tense modal. 02 br
02 br
01 blockquote
00 She said (that) she couldn't come to the door because she was just washing her hair. 12 blockquote12 br
00 This one is correct. "Could" can be taken either as a past tense modal or as a present tense modal, depending on the context. In this case one might take it as a past tense modal. 02 br
02 br
01 blockquote
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0 She said (that) she couldn't come to the door because she was just washing her hair. 02 br
02 br
00 Paco: 02 br
00 This one is correct. "Could" can be taken either as a past tense modal or as a present tense modal, depending on the context. In this case one might take it as a past tense modal. 02 br
02 br
00 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 02 br
0
02 br
00 Paco: 02 br
00 This one is correct. "Could" can be taken either as a past tense modal or as a present tense modal, depending on the context. In this case one might take it as a past tense modal. 02 br
02 br
00 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 02 br
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0 EXAMPLE: She said (that) she cannot come to the door because she is just washing her hair. 02 br
02 br
00 Paco wrote: 02 br
00 This one would be valid only if you speak it immediately after you have heard what she said. But usually, in such a situation, I will say like; 02 br
00 "She says (that) she cannot come to the door because she is just washing h
02 br
00 Paco wrote: 02 br
00 This one would be valid only if you speak it immediately after you have heard what she said. But usually, in such a situation, I will say like; 02 br
00 "She says (that) she cannot come to the door because she is just washing h
0
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