Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[custo]

Hi people, how are you?

Does anybody know what happens to the 2nd conditional in Reported Speech?

waiting for your help,

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Custo

[redset]

Well, using direct speech you could say:

He said, 'If we went to the restaurant I would get pasta.'

In indirect (reported) speech it would become:

He said that if we went to the restaurant he would get pasta.

So basically it remains the same (apart from modifying pronouns - for example you'd use they if the person speaking in the second sentence was not part of the we in the first). It can change for 'unreal' situations though:

She said, 'If I had any money I'd buy you a drink.'
becomes
She said if she had had any money she would have bought me a drink.