Could you correct these sentences, please?

[Ana Laura]

Hello,
I had to report this sentences but I don't know if all of them are correct. Please correct me if not.

1) 'I am not a punk-never have been and never will be'
Reported: Polly insisted agressively that she wasn't a punk and never will be.

2) 'Mrs. Thompson, would you care to look through the plans before the meeting?'
reported: The secretary asked Mrs. Thompson politely if/wether she would care to look through the plans before the meeting.

3) 'don't mention this matter to anyone, Frank. It's extremely delicate!'
reported: The managing director tactfully ordered frank not to mention the matter to anyone and he added that it was extremely delicate.

4) 'Prime minister, may I put to you that your policies have failed! why doesn't the Goverment admit it has made mistakes!
reported: The leader of the opposition angrily accused the Prime Minister of failure and suggested that he admit he had made mistakes.

5) 'well, if pressed, I would probably have to say that I am not in favour of the new anti-terrorist measure.'
Reported: The Ambassador reluctantly replied that if pressed he would probably admit he wasn't in favor of ...

6) 'I've never, well, er..., given marriage any serious thought'.
reported: sally hesitantly confessed that she had really given marriage any serious thought.

7) 'That's it! I'm sorry but I've had enough. I just can't take any more.
reported: the secretary furiously complained that she had had enough and added that she couldn't take any more.

8) ' If I were you, I'd take the lift,' said the porter to the hotel guest
reported: the porter generously suggested that the guest should take the lift OR the porter generously advised the hotel guest to take the lift.

Thank you very much for the patience.

ana

[sneakyabby13]

The answer to the first question would be : Polly insisted that she wasn't a punk and never WOULD be.

[RonBee]

Hello,
I had to report this sentences but I don't know if all of them are correct. Please correct me if not.

Try:

I had to change these direct quotes into reported speech. Please find any mistakes and offer corrections.

1) 'I am not a punk-never have been and never will be'
Reported: Polly insisted agressively that she wasn't a punk and never will be.

Try:

Polly insisted aggressively that she isn't a punk and never will be.

2) 'Mrs. Thompson, would you care to look through the plans before the meeting?'
reported: The secretary asked Mrs. Thompson politely if/wether she would care to look through the plans before the meeting.

Try:

The secretary asked Mrs. Thompson to look through the plans before the meeting.

3) 'don't mention this matter to anyone, Frank. It's extremely delicate!'
reported: The managing director tactfully ordered frank not to mention the matter to anyone and he added that it was extremely delicate.

Say:

The managing director insisted that Frank not mention the matter to anyone, adding that it was an extremely delicate issue.

(Although tactfully ordered is used, it is somewhat uncommon, and I suggest that you avoid it.)

4) 'Prime minister, may I put to you that your policies have failed! why doesn't the Goverment admit it has made mistakes!
reported: The leader of the opposition angrily accused the Prime Minister of failure and suggested that he admit he had made mistakes.

That's good.

5) 'well, if pressed, I would probably have to say that I am not in favour of the new anti-terrorist measure.'
Reported: The Ambassador reluctantly replied that if pressed he would probably admit he wasn't in favor of ...

That's good.

6) 'I've never, well, er..., given marriage any serious thought'.
reported: sally hesitantly confessed that she had really given marriage any serious thought.

Say:

Sally hesiatantly confessed that she had not given marriage any serious thought.

7) 'That's it! I'm sorry but I've had enough. I just can't take any more.
reported: the secretary furiously complained that she had had enough and added that she couldn't take any more.

That's good.

8) ' If I were you, I'd take the lift,' said the porter to the hotel guest
reported: the porter generously suggested that the guest should take the lift OR the porter generously advised the hotel guest to take the lift.

Use either. (But you don't need "generously" in there.)

[RonBee]

The answer to the first question would be : Polly insisted that she wasn't a punk and never WOULD be.

That is okay too.

[Coffa]

That is okay too.

I must disagree. Surely it ought to be "Polly insisted that she wasn't a punk, never had been a punk, and never would be one"?

The originally sentence says "I am not a punk - never have been and never will be..."

In standard usage, reported speech translates the simple present tense to the simple past tense ('I am not' to 'she was not'), the present perfect tense to the past perfect tense ('never have been' to 'never had been') and the simple future tense to 'would'.

The only exceptions to that rule are:

1) The reporting verb is in the simple present, present perfect or simple future tenses - in this case, the clausal verb is unchanged: "Polly insists/has insisted/will insist that she isn't a punk, never has been..."

2) The reported sentence deals with a general truth: for example, if "Polly insisted that day follows night." That she is not a punk is not an example of a general truth, though.

3) The report is IMMEDIATE: for example, I ask you "What did Polly say?", and you reply immediately "She insisted that she is not a punk,..." There is no indication of this in the example.

4) You are reporting a clause in the future tense that expresses a future EVENT, and the statement is still true at the time of the report: for example, "Polly insisted that she will wash her hair tomorrow." However, being a punk is not an event in this context, so this exception doesn't apply either.

[RonBee]

Okay.

Polly insisted that she was not a punk, never has been and never will be one.

[Coffa]

Okay.

Polly insisted that she was not a punk, never has been and never will be one.

Why change horses midway through the sentence? The second and third phrases are no more correct there than on their own, are they?

[RonBee]

This could be an AE/BE difference. I am not sure. In any case, I have no problem with either the past tense ("Sally insisted that she was not a punk....") or the present tense ("Sally insisted that she is not a punk...."). I am sure that if an ESL speaker used either one that people around here would understand him. (BTW, I see a lot of ESL speakers every day.)

Perhaps a survey on the question would yield some interesting results.

[RonBee]

Quote: "I could be wrong. I have often been wrong."
Reported speech: Ron said that he could be wrong and that he has often been wrong.

[Westley Mark]

Polly insisted that she was not, had never been, and will never be, a punk.