reported speech

[hela]

Dear teachers,

If in an exam we are given a sentence such as:

"Mohammad Ali was the greatest boxer ever."
She considers...

How should we transform it in reported speech:

1) She considers Med Ali TO HAVE BEEN the greatest boxer ever.

2) She considers THAT Med Ali WAS the greatest boxer ever.
(no tense backshift)

3) She considers THAT Med Ali HAD BEEN the greatest boxer ever.

4) She considers Med Ali AS the greatest boxer ever.

5) She considers Med Ali the greatest boxer ever.

6) She considers Mohammad Ali TO BE the greatest boxer ever.

Thank you for your help.
Hela

[Tdol]

1) She considers Med Ali TO HAVE BEEN the greatest boxer ever.

2) She considers THAT Med Ali WAS the greatest boxer ever.
(no tense backshift) This doesn't sound very natural to me

3) She considers THAT Med Ali HAD BEEN the greatest boxer ever.

4) She considers Med Ali AS the greatest boxer ever. 5 works better

5) She considers Med Ali the greatest boxer ever.

6) She considers Mohammad Ali TO BE the greatest boxer ever.

[hela]

Dear tdol,

- How come you accept both #1 & 6, even though they haven't the same infinitive form?

- Do you think that #4 & 5 can be used in reported speech or thought ?
And what do you think of:

7) She considers Med Ali AS BEING the greatest boxer ever. (Does this abide by the rules of reported speech transformation ?)

Shouldn't we say "AS HAVING BEEN" instead?

All the best,
Hela

[Tdol]

6 would be fairly common, even though he has retired. We often don't use the perfect infinitive when it isn't that important to show the completion. I don't like 4. 5 is OK- it depends what you are looking for. It's not standard mechanical reported speech, but the mechanical conversions students are taught don't always reflect the ways we actually report.

[Fazzu]

2) She considers THAT Med Ali WAS the greatest boxer ever.
(no tense backshift) This doesn't sound very natural to me

Dear tdol,

May I know why it doesn't sound natural?

[Tdol]

With 'that', I'd use a different verb- thinks/reckons/believes that...