I have two questions concerning indirect speech:
1.Eddie asked Steve who he had been to the cinema with.
So:
a.Who did you go to the cinema with ?-asked Eddie.
Why can’t it be:
b. Who had you been to the cinema with? -asked Eddie.
Thank you very much for help.
Both (a) and (b) are possible. (a) is a more common thing for someone to say, however.
Both (a) and (b) are possible, depending on whether it was said in the morning or later in the day.
You ought to put quotation marks around your direct speech examples.
Hi Dozy. I’d like to add that answers a. in both problems were right as the answers of the test. my question is which things did the creator of the tests head towards, that according to him/her the answers b. were incorrect?
many thanks again.
Hi Saneta,
In 1b, there is no justification for the use of the past perfect, and I would therefore view it as incorrect in the context.
I agree with Dozy that both 2a and 2b can be viewed as being correct. In theory, 2a is better if the morning were not yet finished when the statement was uttered, and 2b might be viewed as better if the statement was uttered sometime after 12 noon that day (i.e. after ‘morning’ was finished).
I do not really agree with Esl Expert that (1b) is “incorrect in the context” since no context is given. As far as I can see, there is no reason why Eddie could not have said “Who had you been to the cinema with?” All we have to guide us is the fact that (1b) is, in general, a less common thing to say, as I mentioned. So, if the question asks “which is most likely?” or similar, then the answer must be (1a). If it implies that only one answer is possible then I think it is a faulty question.
Hi Dozy,
That was exactly my point, though. The only context is the sentence itself. Absent any additional context, there is no justification for using the past perfect in 1b (the direct speech).
Esl Expert, but the past perfect in 1b in direct speeach doesn’t change and stays still past perfect in indirect speech, so why are you ruling 1b out and consider as incorrect ?
thanks
In my opinion, in order to set this example in a real-life context, some background has to be imagined for either answer. Even in the case of (1a) Eddie has to know that Steve went to the cinema with someone, for example. The background required for (1b) just happens to be less usual, that’s all.
OK, Dozy. Let’s just agree that 1b is far less likely.
Hi Saneta,
Your test asked you to revert indirect speech back to original direct speech – not the other way around.
When we use the past perfect in direct speech, the usual reason for its use would be to clarify that one past action happened before another past action. Since there is only one verb in the indirect question (be) that will end up in the direct question, there is no justification provided for the use of the past perfect in the direct speech.
If your test had asked you to convert direct speech that used past perfect into indirect speech, then of course it would be correct to also use the past perfect in the indirect speech. However, that is not what your test asked you to do.
‘Esl Expert has written: ‘Since there is only one verb in the indirect question (be) that will end up in the direct question,’’
indirect speech: 1.Eddie asked Steve who he had been to the cinema with.
correct direct speech: a.Who did you go to the cinema with ?-asked Eddie.
As you see, the verb ‘be’ in the indirect question ends up as ‘go’ in the direct speech, not ‘be’ again. so I still don’t understand the choice a. and not b.?
Ok, i got it! you meant the only one verb ‘be’ in the sentence 1b. with not comparison to another past action.
Many thanks !