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Malinka Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Reported speech

Hello everyone! I need your help. One of my books contains the following examples of the reported speech:
1. "Why is the world round?" asked the little girl.
The little girl wanted to know why the world was round.

2. "Smoking is bad for you", the teacher told us.
The teacher explained that smoking was bad for us.

I know that we do not usually change a simple present tense if the statement is always true. So, my questions are:
1) can I leave the present simple here unchanged, e.g. The little girl wanted to know why the world is round.
e.g. The teacher explained that smoking is bad for us.

2) OR maybe both variants - past and present simple - are possible here.

Thanks in advance.
If you can, please give some explanations.
  

Top answer

Both are possible. The back shift is always okay in reported speech. Keeping it in the present for those "universal truths" is also okay.

— BarbaraPA

  • Both are possible.
  • The back shift is always okay in reported speech.
  • Keeping it in the present for those "universal truths" is also okay.
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2 Answers
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Both are possible.

The back shift is always okay in reported speech. Keeping it in the present for those "universal truths" is also okay.
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