Komountain Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
tense in indirect speech
Hi, everyone.
Please read the following two sentences.
1. He said he gets/got up at 6:00 every morning.
2. He said he watches/watched TV every day.
Both sentences, I feel, represent his habit.
Regarding Sentence 1, which one would you choose, gets or got?
My gut feeling is gets is the right choice for the sentence.
Am I wrong?
In Sentence 2, however, I am torn between the two choices.
For some reason, I feel either one is okay.
If watched is chosen, does that mean he no longer watches TV?
I would appreciate your explanations.
Best regards,
Please read the following two sentences.
1. He said he gets/got up at 6:00 every morning.
2. He said he watches/watched TV every day.
Both sentences, I feel, represent his habit.
Regarding Sentence 1, which one would you choose, gets or got?
My gut feeling is gets is the right choice for the sentence.
Am I wrong?
In Sentence 2, however, I am torn between the two choices.
For some reason, I feel either one is okay.
If watched is chosen, does that mean he no longer watches TV?
I would appreciate your explanations.
Best regards,
Top answer
1. He said he gets up at 6:00 every morning. (correct) You need here the present simple since the sentence is supposed to express a genral truth - that he gets up every morning at a certain hour.
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1. He said he gets up at 6:00 every morning. (correct)
You need here the present simple since the sentence is supposed to express a genral truth - that he gets up every morning at a certain hour. The simple past could be used "He said he got up at 6:00 today in the morning" - here you talk about an event from the past.
2. He said he watches TV every day. (cor
You need here the present simple since the sentence is supposed to express a genral truth - that he gets up every morning at a certain hour. The simple past could be used "He said he got up at 6:00 today in the morning" - here you talk about an event from the past.
2. He said he watches TV every day. (cor
00
I think all four are OK, Mav. The ones with past tense can also refer to the present, because they are reported speech. (Of course, this doesn't hold if you add past markers like yesterday.)
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