reported speech

[ridvann]

Hello,

I have 3 questions about reported speech.

1) it is time

He said ‘It is time you swam.’
He said (that) it is time I swam vs He said (that) it was time I had swum.

2)The verb 'be'

He said ‘I was at home.’
He said (that) he was at home vs He said (that) he had been at home.


3)If clause (type 2 & 3)
He said ‘If I were rich, I would buy that car.’
He said that if he were rich he would buy that car vs He said that if he had been rich he would have bought that car.

Thanks...

[emsr2d2]

Hello,

I have 3 questions about reported speech.

1) it is time

He said ‘It is time you swam.’
He said (that) it is time I swam vs He said (that) it was time I had swum.
He said that it was time that I swam.
However, I prefer "He said that it was time for me to swim". This doesn't exactly fit though, I admit.

2)The verb 'be'

He said ‘I was at home.’
He said (that) he was at home vs He said (that) he had been at home.
He said that he was at home.
If his exact words were "I had been at home" then it would become "He said that he had been at home".


3)If clause (type 2 & 3)
He said ‘If I were rich, I would buy that car.’
He said that if he were rich he would buy that car vs He said that if he had been rich he would have bought that car.
He said that if he were rich, he would buy that car.
If his exact words were "If I had been rich, I would have bought that car" then it would become "He said that if he had been rich, he would have bought that car".

Thanks...

See above.

[ridvann]

Thanks all the answers, but I couldn't understand the first one.

He said ‘It is time you swam.
He said that it was time that I swam.

My question is why didn't you change the verb 'swam' which is past simple to past perfect tense?

He said that it was time I had swum. (Is that not ok?)

Thanks...

[emsr2d2]

Thanks all the answers, but I couldn't understand the first one.

He said ‘It is time you swam.
He said that it was time that I swam.

My question is why didn't you change the verb 'swam' which is past simple to past perfect tense?

He said that it was time I had swum. (Is that not ok?)

Thanks...

The basic reason is the same as the others.

If he actually said "It was time that you had swum", then I would convert that to "He said it was time that I had swum".
However, he said "It is time you swam", which converts to "He said it was time that I swam".