In Direct speech^x, Verbs^x

According to Radford (Transformational Grammar):Direct speech: "Will I get a degree?" John wondered.Indirect speech: John wondered whether he would get a degree.Semi-indirect speech: John wondered would he get a degree.(Semi-indirect speech is so called because it shares features of...

Yes, you are absolutely right! It is indeed indirect speech (I realized it later after reading more) and then we don't use auxiliary "do" in indirect questions.But I found this to be a tricky one. Yes, I have Swan's book but he doesn't mention that we can use auxiliary do...

If we try and use the same approach:- DIRECT: Why do I have two cars?- INDIRECT: You may wonder why I have two cars. (NOT ... why do I have two cars.)

Hello Dawnstorm,The terminology is not happy, admittedly; "middle voice" and "ergative" belong to other linguistic contexts, as has been mentioned; but I think it can be disentangled. It may be the case that "ergative" usage was once much more common in English....

I'm not a native speaker but I am pretty sure the version with the present tense "I though I know" sounds quite odd. You could hear something similar when "I know" is reported as direct speech, or is not really linked to "I thought":There was this girl, you know,...

Thanks, Clive.I have another sentence written as indirect speech that I wish to verify: 'I said that so do I'. Do you think I can write so or should I write 'I said that I do so'? In case of affirmative sentences like 'So do I', written as indirect speech do I have to...

Hello. Sorry to hear you're feeling uncomfortable with this type of activity. But you're not alone: I would be, too!The sentences lack context, which makes it difficult to tell when tense changes are necessary and when they are not (among other things).There is one sentence that is wrong...

My take: Indirect speech structure. You tell us what others told. So, using past, "was", is okay but you can use "is " too if the condition or situation is still true and valid or if a lot of time has not passed after what has been told.

Yoong Liat wrote: The teacher said, "The world is round." In reported speech, it would be The teacher said that the world is round. One of my English usage books says it can be reported as The teacher said that the world was round. ( was consistent with said in tense) What do you think? ...

Hi Pres1dentYou should break up long posts such as this one into several short posts. That way it's much easier for other people to comment.I've made suggestions. Some of the sentences in these exercises don't sound terribly natural, so there are also suggestions in places where there were no...