Why do you think girls are smarter than boys?
It is often stated that.......................
Why is it that ..................................
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Thread: indierct question
- 02-Jul-2007, 09:34 #1rahhal Guest
indierct question why are girles smarter than boys? (direct)
..................................? (indirect)
- 02-Jul-2007, 11:13 #2
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Re: indierct question
- 02-Jul-2007, 12:50 #3
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Re: indierct question (What did he say/ask?)
Originally Posted by rahhal 
He asked why girls are smarter than boys. - indirect (reported) speech
I use the present tense 'are' since I believe you are stating a general truth about girls being smarter than boys.
Last edited by bianca; 02-Jul-2007 at 13:09.
- 02-Jul-2007, 13:03 #4
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Re: indierct question In my opinion, it is absolutely all right to follow the rules of indirect speech and put the verb 'are' into 'were' - there's no change in meaning at all, and it still expresses the same idea. Originally Posted by bianca (What did he say/ask?)
He asked why girls are smarter than boys. - indirect (reported) speech
I use the present tense 'are' since I believe you are stating a general truth about girls being smarter than boys.
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Bear in mind I'm not a teacher!
- 02-Jul-2007, 13:12 #5
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Re: indierct question Originally Posted by engee30 In my opinion, it is absolutely all right to follow the rules of indirect speech and put the verb 'are' into 'were' - there's no change in meaning at all, and it still expresses the same idea.
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Bear in mind I'm not a teacher!
...and one of the rules of indirect speech is that, when stating a general truth (i.e. smth that holds true even in the present/ at the moment of reprting the speech) you use the present tense.
- 02-Jul-2007, 13:20 #6
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Re: indierct question Yes, I do know that. Originally Posted by bianca ...and one of the rules of indirect speech is that, when stating a general truth (i.e. smth that holds true even in the present/ at the moment of reprting the speech) you use the present tense.
But as I stated above, changing the verb keeps the same sense, conveyed in the initial sentence.
He asks why girls are smarter than boys.
He asked why girls were smarter than boys.
- 02-Jul-2007, 14:04 #7
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Re: indierct question He?
Ex: The person asked why girls are/were smarter than boys.
- 02-Jul-2007, 14:05 #8
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Re: indierct question Welcome, MikeCollins. Originally Posted by MikeCollins 
Your contributions are most welcome, and if you are not a teacher you will need to state that clearly in your posts.
All the best
- 02-Jul-2007, 14:08 #9
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Re: indierct question I was influenced by bianca's example sentence. Let it be person then. Originally Posted by Casiopea He?
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