Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[fw]

An English grammar book at hand says that you can change quoted speech(1) into both reported speech(2) and reported speech(3).

(a)
(1) I said to her, �Hurry up, and you�ll be in time.�
(2) I told her that if she hurried up she would be in time.
(3) I told her to hurry up and she would be in time.

(b)
(1) She said to me, �Shut up, or you�ll be sorry.�
(2) She told me that if I didn�t shut up I would be sorry.
(3) She told me to shut up or I would be sorry.

I understand the sentence(2)-type above, but I don�t quite understand the sentence(3)-type. Are sentence(a-3) and sentence(b-3) above grammatically correct, and do they make sense?

Fw

[Kristea]

FW -

Both 3a and 3b are correct.

Sentences eliminate the conditional markings (if this than that) from the statements. 3a and 3b come closer to reporting the quote, and ultimately both senteneces are more true to the original quotes too.

Hope that helps - Kristi
_________________
"That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much." R.L. Stevenson

[fw]

Thank you, Kristea, for your help.

fw