Scarica Report on Tense Changes and Reported Speech in English e più Dispense in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! REPORTED SPEECH 1 TENSE CHANGES - If the reporting verb is in the present tense, the verbs following do not change. Only the pronouns change. Eg: Direct speech: "I'll be late tonight" Reported speech: Tom says that he'll be late tonight. Direct speech: "I've bought a new car." Reported speech: Rita says that she has bought a new car. - If the reporting verb is past, then the verbs following cannot be present or future. The present tense in direct speech changes to the past, the present perfect changes to the past perfect, and so on. Eg: Direct speech: "I work in a bank." Reported speech: Tom said that he worked in a bank. Direct speech: "I've applied for a new job." Reported speech: Rita said that she had applied for a new job. - Some modal verbs change. Eg: "can" becomes "could" "may" becomes "might" "must" either stays the same or becomes "had to" - Other modal verbs remain the same. - The past perfect doesn't change. Eg: Direct speech: "I had forgotten to water the plants so they died." Reported speech: He said that he had forgotten to water the plants so they had died. - Note the changes with future tenses and conditionals: "will" changes to "would" "I'll be late." He said he would be late. "am / is / are going to" changes to "was / were going to" "We are going to spend the summer in the mountains." They said that they were going to spend the summer in the mountains. The first conditional changes like this: "If you study hard, you'll pass the test." The teacher said that if I studied hard I would pass the test. 2 OTHER CHANGES - pronouns change (as in the examples above) - place reference "here" becomes "there" / "this" becomes "that" - time reference "now" becomes "then" "yesterday" becomes "the day before / the previous day" "tomorrow" becomes "the following day" "next week" becomes "the following week", and so on See pages 430 and 432 for more details. USE OF THE "AGENT" We specify the agent only in cases where it is necessary. Eg: "Oliver Twist" was written by Charles Dickens. Who was "Get Back" recorded by? OTHER PREPOSITIONS USED WITH THE PASSIVE IN / FROM / OF / WITH BMW cars are made in Germany The vase is made of glass. Cheese is made from milk. The painting was stolen from the town's museum The man was killed with a knife. USE OF "GET + PAST PARTICIPLE" To indicate something negative. Eg My computer got stolen last week. Two people got injured during a fight in a bar. VERBS WITH TWO OBJECTS The direct object is usually a thing. The indirect object is usually a person. There are two possible constructions. Eg: They gave Tom a prize for his essay. They gave a prize to Tom for his essay. THE PASSIVE FORM WITH DOUBLE OBJECT VERBS There are two possible constructions: Eg: Tom was given a prize. A prize was given to Tom. THE CAUSATIVE HAVE / GET SOMETHING DONE Tom wants to have / get his eyes tested We had / got our house decorated last year. When are you going to have / get the computer repaired? The causative can also substitute the passive form to indicate something negative. Eg: We had our car stolen while we were on holiday. Note the constructions: To have someone do something = To get someone to do something Eg: I had a lawyer check the contract before I signed it. I god a lawyer to check the contract before I signed it. Compare with “make” and “let”. THE USE OF "NEED + -ING" The form "need + -ing" can substitute the passive Eg: The grass needs to be cut. = The grass needs cutting. THE PASSIVE WITH REPORTING VERBS: "SAY" / "THINK" / "BELIEVE" ETC. When we report information, we often use the following passive forms: "It is said that..." or "something or someone is said to be or to have been." These constructions are common with verbs like the following: "say", "believe", "consider", "expect", "know", "think", "understand" Note the verb tenses used in the following examples: It is said that the house is very old. (= The house is said to be very old) It is understood that the criminals are travelling around the United States. (= They are understood to be travelling around the United States.) It is expected that the bad weather will end soon. (= The bad weather is expected to end soon.) It is thought that the car has been stolen. (= The car is thought to have been stolen.) It is believed that two people died in the accident last night. (= Two people are believed to have died in the accident last night.) EXERCISES PAGE 426 ex 1, 2, 3
