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Chompipe Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

reported speech with and without backshift

Hi everyone,

Suppose I have the following sentence:
  • I will not go to the cinema.
If I now convert it to reported speech, I'd have to say:
  • He said he would not go to the cinema.
What if I want to do it without a backshift in tense? Would "will not" still become "would not" or just remain the same?
In other words, does "will" become "would" only with a backshift or does "will" always become "would" when used in reported speech?

So, which of the following would be correct?
  • He says he will not go to the cinema
Or
  • He says he would not go to the cinema





  

Top answer

Hello I too am a learner. What I understand about reported speech is as follows. ( o ) Five days ago he said he would not go to the cinema the next day.

— Paco2004

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7 Answers

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Hello

I too am a learner. What I understand about reported speech is as follows.

(o) Five days ago he said he would not go to the cinema the next day.
(x) Five days ago he said he will not go to the cinema the next day.
(o) This morning he said he would not go to the cinema tomorrow.
(o) This morning he said he
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Hi Paco, thanks for the reply.

I believe my question might have been a little vague, let me expand a little. Without a backshift in tense, we usually express general truths or situations that still hold true.

So, without adding any words to the sentence, if someone were to say "I will not go to the cinema." and if this were interpreted just as a regular statement, I coul
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If the reporting verb is in the present tense, the reported part stays in the same tense as when it was pronounced:

He will be 40 next week >

I say he will be 40 next week

I said he would be 40 the following week.
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ChompipeHi everyone,

Suppose I have the following sentence:

  • I will not go to the cinema.
If I now convert it to reported speech, I'd have to say:

  • He said he would not go to the cinema.
What if I want to do it without a backshift in tense? Would "will not" still become "would not" or just remain t
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hi, i have a question. If we say: I've caused an accident while running away from the crime sceene
and in the reported speech we would say; He said that he had caused an accident while running away?
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