48 Part 1 IWritingaParagraph
SequenceofTem;e§Rule§
Ifthereportingverbis ina pasttense,theverbsinanindirectquotationmaychange
tenseaccordingtothefollowingrules.Also,pronouns(andsometimestimeexpres-
sions)maychange.> >i,{ ,"
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Simplepresentchanges Susansaid,"Theexamisat Susansaid(that)theexam
tosimplepast. eighto'clock." wasateighto'clock.
Simplepastandpresent Shesaid,"Wedidn'thave Shesaid(that)theyhadn't
pertectchangetopast timetoeatbreakfast." hadtimetoeatbreakfast.
pertect. Hesaid,"Theexamhas
Hesaid(that)theexam
juststarted." hadjuststarted.
Willchangestowould, Sammentioned,"TodayIwill Sammentionedthattoday
cantocould,maytomight, eatChinesefood,and hewouldeatChinesefood
andmusttohadto. tomorrowI'lleatFrench andthattomorrowhe'deat
foodif I canfinda good Frenchfoodifhecould
restaurant." finda goodrestaurant.
Timeexpressionsmay Theteachersaid,"Youmust Theteachersaidthatwe
changeif themeaning finishthetestrightnow." hadtofinishthetestright
requiresit. then."Therearethreeexceptions:- Whentherep0l1ingverbis simplepresent,presentperfect,orfuture,the
verbtenseinthequotationdoesnotchange.
Hesays,"Icanfinishittoday."
Hesaysthathecanfinishittoday.- Whenthereportingphraseisaccordingto,theverbtensedoesnotchange.
Thelawyersaid,"Myclientisinnocent."
Accordingtothelawyer,hisclientisinnocent.- Whenthequotedinformationis a factora generaltruth,theverbtensein
thequotationdoesnotchange.
Hesaid,"Waterboilsatalowertemperatureinthemountains."
Hesaidthatwaterboilsatalowertemperatureinthemountains.Foradditionalexamplesofindirectquotations,lookat Chapter12:NounClauses.