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Nsfs2 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Reported speech

Hi,

'When we write in the future, we should pay more attention to punctuation.'

When reporting the sentence using 'They agreed...',which of the following would correct?
1.They agreed that when they write in the future, they should pay more attention to punctuation.
2.They agreed that when they wrote in the future, they should pay more attention to punctuation.

Does 'should' change in past reported speech?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

They agreed that when they wrote in the future, they should pay more attention to punctuation . nsfs2 Does 'should' change in past reported speech? No.

— Mister Micawber

  • They agreed that when they wrote in the future, they should pay more attention to punctuation .
  • nsfs2 Does 'should' change in past reported speech?
  • No.
  • It carries the action into the past of the past.
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3 Answers
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They agreed that when they wrote in the future, they should pay more attention to punctuation.
nsfs2Does 'should' change in past reported speech?
No. It carries the action into the past of the past.
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Mister MicawberThey agreed that when they wrote in the future, they should pay more attention to punctuation.nsfs2Does 'should' change in past reported speech?No. It carries the action into the past of the past.
Would 1# be possible if the 'writing' is likely to happen in the future.
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I don't think that the exercise on conversion into reported speech is concerned with likelihood, though I know that real speakers might say either 'write' or 'wrote' there.
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