255 revision of indirect speech 1 Change these sentences to indirect specch (reported some time later). He's ill. (She thought) Til be back tomorrow. (He said) I don't like this music. (She said) Where's the bus station? (She asked me) Have you finished? (Lasked him) Nobody loves me. (felt) Do you want tea or coffee? (He asked her) Vllclean the fat. (She offered) When is the car going to be ready? (I asked) What am I doing here? (I wondered) ‘The earth is not flat. (He proved) ‘These figures can’t be right. (I knew) Her cat understands everything she says. (She thought) What does the boss want? (I asked) Did Mary phone back? (I wondered) Did dinosaurs lay eggs? (I wondered) ‘You ought to see the doctor. (He advised me) Would you like a drink (She asked him) 2 Choose the correct forms of the cartoon captions. ‘Don't ask me—I thought they (are / were | would be) yours. Bit c “Well, now, Swinnerton, nodoubtyou're wondering (why did Isend/ why Isent/ why Ii send) fr you.indirect speech: special cases Past tenses are changed to past perfect tenses after past reporting verbs, but only ifthis is necessary in order to make the time relations clear. Compare: DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH Isaw Penny a couple of days ago. Inhis letter, he said he'd seen Penny a couple of days before, Dinosaurs were around for 250 million years. This guy on TV said dinosaurs were around for 250 million years Change these to indirect speech. saw him once before in London. (knew) Shakespeare didn't speak French. (The professor said) He died two years ago. (When I got there, [found out) ‘Three thousand years ago there were tigers in England. (It said on this TV programme) 5 Somebody threw a bomb at the Prime Minister. (Itsaid on this morning's news) 6 The ancient Romans suffered from lead poisoning. (I read in a magazine) Usually unchanged after past reporting verbs: past perfect, had better, would, could. should, ought, might, must. DIRECT SPRECH INDIRECT SPEECH Thadn't seen him before. She said she hadn't seen him before. You'd better go. He said I'd better go, ( A A 2 Change these to indirect speech. f Would you like drink? (She asked me) {couldn't help it. (1 sad) We should be home about six. (They thought) Iemight rain. (The forecast said) ‘She must be joking. (Everybody said) Thada't seen the notice. (I explained) - C — » T thought you'd lke to know thatthe day after you died you won a $22.5 million lottery.’