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Reporting modal words and phrases
Claire: That man
may be
Edward Johns.
Nicholas:
I'm going to
talk to him.
Claire: I
will go
with you.
Nicholas: No. You
should stay
here. He
might be
crazy.
Claire said that the man
might be
Edward Johns. Nicholas said that he
was going to
talk to him. Claire said that she
would go
with Nicholas. Nicholas told her that she
should stay
there because Johns
might be
crazy. |
Notice how the modals are pushed back one step when reported.
may be---->might be
am going to---->was going to
will go---->would go
The modal words
should
,
ought to
and
might
do not change when they are reported.
should stay---->should stay
might be---->might be
>>
"Can
you
come
to the party?"
Heather asked if I
could come
to the party.
>>
"Bernie
has to stay awake
while he's driving."
Lara said that Bernie
had to stay awake
while he was driving.
Here are more modal words and their forms in reported speech:
can come---->could come
must be---->had to be
has to stay awake---->had to stay awake
>>
"You
must be
at the gallery opening."
My agent said I
had to be
at the gallery opening.
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