Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[sleeper]

Hi, there.

Look at the following sentence.

This morning he said to me, ' I came back from New York yesterday.'

When you use a report structure and rewrite the sentence above,
which of the following is most frequently used?

#1. This morning he told me that he had come back from New York yesterday.
#2. This morning he told me that he had come back from New York the day before.
#3. This morning he told me that he came back from New York yesterday.
#4. This morning he told me that he came back from New York the day before.

I'm waiting for your answers.

Thanks.　

[cgage2]

Use "yesterday". "the day before " is vague.

Both "came" and "had come" are correct. You must choose the correct tense to indicate exactly what you mean. Please study the difference between past perfect tense and past tense.

However, from what you have written, I would say that number 3 is correct.

P.S. Although commas are being used less and less in the English language, I would suggest that you put one after "This morning"