SEQUENCE OF TENSES

=Indirect Speech=

1. If in the main clause the verb is in the PRESENT ,PRESENT

PERFECT, FUTURE ,tenses in the Direct Object clause are used in
a logical way.
Eg. I know that he agrees with me. (simultaneity )
……………he will agree with me . (posteriority )
……………he agreed with me. (anteriority )
The only changes which appear are within the persons.
Eg. “I ‘ll go to the sea”, says Mary.
Mary says that she ‘ll go……
2. If in the main clause the verb is in the past , in the subordinated
clause the tenses are used as follows:
PRESENT – PAST TENSE
PAST TENSE –PAST PERFECT
PRESENT PERFECT- PAST PERFECT
FUTURE –FUTURE IN THE PAST
CAN- COULD
MAY- MIGHT
WILL- WOULD
Eg. “I am very busy “,said John.
John said that he was very busy.
“I’ll talk to you “, said John.
John said that he would be……
“I was very busy.”
John said that he had been ……..

Other TRANSFORMATION:
THIS –THAT
THESE-THOSE
HERE-THERE
NOW-THEN
TODAY-THAT DAY
YESTERDAY-THE DAY BEFORE
THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY-TWO DAYS BEFORE
TOMORROW-THE NEXT/FOLLOWING DAY
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW –TWO DAYS LATER/IN TWO
DAYS’ TIME
NEXT WEEK –THE NEXT /FOLLOWING WEEK
LAST WEEK-THE PREVIOUS WEEK/ THE WEEK BEFORE
A YEAR AGO-A YEAR BEFORE/THE PREVIOUS YEAR

Eg. “ He visited me yesterday.”----Mary said that he had visited her

the day before.
3. When the action in the sub. cl. expresses a general truth or
characteristic ,the present tense used in it remains unchanged
even if the main verb is a past one .
Eg. I knew that the sun rises in the East.

Exception
 TYPE 2,3 conditional remains the same in Indirect Speech .
 Modal verbs: could, might, should , ought to, would , MUST (had
to ,would have=as obligation ),had better, used to remain the
same.
 Past tense in Temporal Cl. may stay the same.

Imperative sentences appear in Indirect Speech under the form of:

To + v
Not to +v ,after verbs such as : say, tell , order, command, ask,
request, urge, beg, warn, advise, recommend.
Eg. Clean the window!
Mary told him to clean the window.
Do not talk to me like that !
Mother asked John not to talk to her…….

Interrogative Sentence in Indirect Speech takes the form of an

declarative sentence (s+ v ) .
Why is Tom angry ?
Mary asked why Tom was angry.

WHO, WHAT, HOW MUCH, HOW MANY are the subject of the
sentence ,the order stays the same :
Eg. Laura wants to know how many people arrived last night .

WHO, WHAT, WHICH, WHEN, WHERE, HOW, WHY… are kept

Eg. The teacher has asked how we spell this word.
IF ,WHETHER –for alternative
Eg. Tom asked his sister whether she was going to the cinema or
not.