Indirect speech/ indirect question
Forum > English only || BottomMessage from mohammad51 posted on 27-09-2021 at 13:58:57 (D | E | F)
Hello
I wish you help lest be confused with this grammar book and its author.
Thank you very much in advance
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The author of this book (English Grammar and Writing Skills) tells or not only him but at least two others:
Grammar: indirect questions
When we report a question, it is not necessary to change the tense of a verb if the action in the original question has not happened or finished yet, e.g. direct question:
The stranger asked me, 'When does the procession start?'
indirect question: The stranger asked me when the procession starts. or: The stranger wants to know when the procession starts. direct question: 'When is Uncle leaving for Miami?' Karen asked her mother.
indirect question: Karen asked her mother when her uncle is leaving for Miami. But if we knew that Uncle had already gone, we would report the question like this: indirect:
Karen asked her mother when her uncle was leaving for Miami.
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More examples from the same books :
Direct question Reported question The following are questions and their answers
Direct question Reported question
Direct : 'Is she the head of the group?' Peter asked
Indirect : Peter asked if she is the head of the group.
Direct : 'Are there many people in town?'
Indirect : Tom asked Tom asked if there are were many people in town.
Direct : 'When are we living for Freetown?' He asked
Indirect : He asked when we are living for Freetown.
Direct : 'Do you know who owns the school?'
Indirect : He asked He asked if you know owner of the school.
Direct : 'Can you drive a car?' Asked Tom
Indirect : Tom asked if you could/can drive a car perfectly.
Direct: 'Where are your friends?' the man asked
Indirect : The man asked for the whereabouts of my friends.
Direct : 'Where are my pens?' Jones asked
Indirect : Jones asked where his pens were
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Firstly I know that there is slight difference between the reported questions and indirect question
Indirect questions are mainly used to express politeness, and we usually begin our sentences with ( Do you know \ I wonder \ Could you tell me as well as ( I asked some used )
Please tell me : Are all the above examples correct examples ?
Is it a new way on grammar or what ?
I feel odd to these examples !!
My regards
Re: Indirect speech/ indirect question from gerondif, posted on 29-09-2021 at 08:45:01 (D | E)
Hello
I wouldn't agree with such grammar, which makes legal not changing the tenses when reporting a speech.
Re: Indirect speech/ indirect question from mohammad51, posted on 29-09-2021 at 11:01:01 (D | E)
Hello
Thank you very much dear teacher gerondi
It is being a new piece of information recently has been added
As much as we learned we know that when only a sentence statement tells about facts and \ or the reporting verb is a present form (says not said )
I myself also got confused first or likely astonished, but when I searched latter, I found :
No backshift
We don’t need to change the tense in indirect speech if what a person said is still true or relevant or has not happened yet. This often happens when someone talks about the future, or when someone uses the present simple, present continuous or present perfect in their original words:
He told me his brother works for an Italian company. (It is still true that his brother works for an Italian company.)
She said she’s getting married next year. (For the speakers, the time at the moment of speaking is ‘this year’.)
He said he’s finished painting the door. (He probably said it just a short time ago.)
She promised she’ll help us. (The promise applies to the future.)
Cambridge \ English Grammar Today
link : Link
Although most people can get confused or turn not satisfied, such a matter is being agreed by authors.
In my opinion,a way of reporting speech is used to repeat the speaker words after a period of time.
So we convey something is told previously ( past ) and that's
Such a way telling that it is ( reported ) may not be included with this subject
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