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Reported speech
"Edward Johns
is
a major talent on the modern art scene," the gallery owner said.
The gallery owner
said
that Edward Johns
was
a major talent on the art scene.
"Edward Johns
has
the imagination of a five-year old," the newspaper stated.
The newspaper
stated
that Edward Johns
had
the imagination of a five-year old. |
If the reporting verb (see list in Lesson 51) is in the past tense, the tense in the reported speech will be pushed back one step into the past.
>>
Ben
asked
"What
is
going on?"
Ben
asked
what
was
going on.
The reporting verb
asked
= past, the verb
is
becomes
was
.
>>
The students complained, "The university
does
not have enough classrooms."
The students complained that the university
did
not have enough classrooms.
Reporting verb
complained
= past, the verb
does
becomes
did
.
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