Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Shall in indirect reports

direct report

indirect report

‘I’m not even certain this year whether I 

He said he wasn’t even certain this year whether 

shall bother.’

he 

would bother.

‘

Shall I try it?’

She asked if she 

should try it.

Can

Can

changes to could.

Can in indirect reports

direct report

indirect report

‘I 

can do it on Monday.’

She said she 

could do it on Monday.

Other modal verbs

Could

, might, should, would, ought to and used to do not change. 

Other modal verbs in indirect reports

direct report

indirect report

‘I 

could come here seven nights a week.’

He said he 

could come here seven nights a week.

‘I 

might need that money.’

She said she 

might need that money.

‘Everybody 

should have a copy.’

He said everybody 

should have a copy.

‘I 

would like a refund if possible.’

She said she 

would like a refund if possible.

‘They 

ought to get an accountant to sort 

He said they 

ought to get an accountant to sort 

it out.’

it out.

‘I 

used to take the dogs for a walk on the 

He said he 

used to take the dogs for a walk on 

path there.’

the path there.

812 | Speech representation

Cambridge Grammar of English

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In the case of could, might, should, would and ought to, backshift does not

require a shift to the perfect infinitive of the lexical verb. Such a change, if made,

may produce a different meaning. Compare:

She said she 

would like a refund.

(report of what she wished for at the moment of speaking but had not yet

received)

She said she 

would have liked a refund. 

(understood: but they didn’t give her one; report of what she had wished for but

she did not in fact get it)

Personal pronouns

493d

References to people using personal pronouns in indirect reports depend on

whether the person reporting the speech and the person(s) whose speech is

reported are the same or different.

Examples of personal pronouns in indirect reports

direct report

indirect report

‘

I’m spending the day in Glasgow with a 

She said she was spending the day in Glasgow 

school friend,’ 

she said.

with a school friend. 

(reporting someone else’s

words)

‘

You can use the cotton dressing gown as a 

I told her she could use the cotton dressing gown 

nice tablecloth if 

you don’t want to wear it,’ 

as a nice tablecloth if 

she didn’t want to wear it. 

I said to her.

(reporting one’s own words)

‘

I have been in the valley for forty-seven 

He said that he had been in the valley for forty-

years,’ 

he said.

seven years. 

(reporting someone else’s words)

‘

I’ll mention it,’ I said. 

I said I’d mention it. (reporting one’s own

words)

Û

also the table in 493a

REPORTS OF STATEMENTS

494

That

is often omitted in the reported clause, especially in informal contexts:

She said (

that) she was going to Majorca on a walking holiday.

I suggested (

that) she actually invites a group of people back.

When the report is the complement of the noun-form of a reporting verb, it is

normal to include that:

And what about 

the suggestion

that George might get an earlier appointment?

Occasionally, especially in less formal spoken language, that may be omitted after

a reporting noun:

There’s 

a hint

the government’s going to change its policy on house-building.

Û

539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

Speech representation | 813

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REPORTS OF QUESTIONS 

495

Reports of polar (yes-no) and alternative questions

495a

When a yes-no question or an alternative question (a question involving a choice

of x or y) is reported indirectly, if or whether is used with a declarative clause

structure. In all the examples in the table below, if and whether can be used with

no change in meaning.

Examples of reported yes-no and alternative questions