reported speech?

Question

0  Hi,    Is this the right reported speech?    I was told that if I can prove that I can speak politely, we get to eat lunch for free. -- If the kind of conditional part as the one here maintains current relevancy and applies to the persons involved and/or situations currently, then would you say that changing tenses is not needed?     Not needed to be this?  I was told that if I could prove that I could speak politely, we would get to eat lunch for free.    Other possible cases for not needing to back-shift due to current relevancy???  1) I was told that we get to eat lunch for free from now on.  2) I was told that an inflation is likely to occur in the near future.  3) I was told that mothers in this country need to do more.  4) I was told that more demand for this product is likely to occur in the near future.       0-

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

1blockquote

01cite10Anonymous12cite10then would you say that changing tenses is not needed?12blockquote

10Yes, not needed, and it's probably better without any backshifts. From what I read in your post, I think you got the general idea behind backshifting right. 050010id1

Anonymous · Answer

0  Hi,    Do you need to back-shift here? I don't the first one is a reported speech case:  1) They found the students are split on the college's policy. -- still split, thus no back-shifting necessary???   2) He told us that he opposes illegal immigration. -- still opposes, thus no back-shifting necessary??? 0-

Kooyeen · Answer

0You are right. In cases like those, it's not necessary. But remember that even if it's not necessary, it wouldn't be wrong to backshift. 050010id1

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