Search results for 'tag:Present tenses tag:TOEFL' matching tags 'Present tenses' and 'TOEFL'

Re: tense in reported speech

Heidita — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:54:59 GMT

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? Other books give only the 'is' version.

Hi Yoong, here we talk about "universal truths" as it were. So, I would also consider only the present tense possible.

Neverless, I wouldn't think so if the sentence was: He said: My brother is an idiot. Is this supposed to be a universal truth or a moment of anger? I don't think, just like in the original sentence of this post, that in a sentence like "He said: Muy brother is honest." we can talk about a universal truth.

Both in Spanish and in Germa the same "problem" exist. In German reported speech should be reported in subjunctive mode, which most of the people completely ignore. It is normally reported in idicative mode. However, in an exam, this would not be accepted. The same here, in my opinion and in my experience.

I have checked a grammar book (Thompson and Mrtinet), and several on-line, and they state explicitly that present becomes past, except for universal truths.

The rule stated one of the "Toefl" pages:

We do not change the tense of verbs in Direct Speech if they make a statement which is always true or if the action is still continuing and a change of tense would give the wrong meaning.

(http://www.myenglishgrammar.com/english/lesson-5-indirect-speech.html)

Re: tense in reported speech

Kooyeen — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:36:00 GMT

Hoa Thai wrote:
Yoong Liat wrote:
You're right. In an exam, it is advisable to use a verb in the past tense. However, in fact, if the marker is knowlegeable, he will not mark the answer as wrong.

Hi Yoong Liat,

I agree. I have had a chance to discuss this issue with many English teachers, friends of mine. Once they see the explanation, many of them think hard on multiple-choice examinations that might cause confusion / raise debatable issues.

Hi,
I just wanted to say that I don't agree at all. I really don't think there is anything wrong with using the present tense, so I think telling learners to avoid the present in reported speech on exams is quite misleading. They might think there's some weird grammar rule to remember.

What did she just say? Did she say her name is Kelly?

I wonder what kind of teacher would consider that incorrect on a TOEFL.
This is just my opinion.

Re: Page 1: Please answer the following questions...

Wanwo — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 04:01:40 GMT

Jackson6612 wrote:

1: The TOEFL is produced and administered by Educational Testing Service, a professional test development organization in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

Couldn't the above be written as:

The TOEFL is produced and administered by Educational Testing Service, a professional test developing organization in Princeton, New Jersey, USA?

No. The organization's business is 'professional test development'. You can't say developing in that context.

2: In the Writing section, students write in response to two questions. One question is about a reading passage and a lecture, and the other question is about a general topic.

Is reading being used as an adjective in the above sentence?
That's a good question. I think you might be right but I'm not sure. Sorry not much help here.

3: The content of the new TOEFL test reflects the language that is used in real academic settings. The content is based on a collection of spoken and written language that Educational Testing Service obtained from educational institutions throughout the United States. The spoken language came from lectures, class discussions, office hours, study groups, and service interactions such as conversations at the library. The written language was collected from textbooks and other course materials.

Couldn't the above be written as:

The content of the new TOEFL test reflects the language that is used in real academic settings. The content is based on a collection of spoken and written language that Educational Testing Service obtains from educational institutions throughout the United States. The spoken language come from lectures, class discussions, office hours, study groups, and service interactions such as conversations at the library. The written language is collected from textbooks and other course materials.
Change 'come' to 'comes' and yes, it can be re-written as you have done. What you are doing is putting it all in the present tense. But it may be better to express it in the past tense. A new TOEFL test has been created. It's finished. So how it was created concerns things that happened in the past.