Question on grammar punctuation marks to be removed from direct to reported speech.

learning54 said:

Hi teachers,
Do you agree with this explanation? Could it be better?
When we change a sentence from direct speech to reported speech we always remove quotation marks, periods, commas, question marks, and exclamation marks from the original. This would work for simple sentences.

Thanks in advance.

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learning54 said:

Hi teachers,
Do you agree with this explanation? Could it be better?
When we change a sentence from direct speech to reported speech we always remove quotation marks, periods, commas, question marks, and exclamation marks.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

emsr2d2 said:

Can you give us an example of a sentence in direct speech and then in reported speech, just so that we can see an example you might give you students and show how it fits your instruction?

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charliedeut said:

Note that the reported sentence willneed its own punctuation, so what you do is modify the punctuation in the original. Also, there may be embedded/subordinate clauses in hte original, whose punctuation you may want to keep, just changing the verb tense.

Greetings,

charliedeut

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learning54 said:

Reported speech
1. Joan said (that) he had to find a better job. IMO, this one sounds ambiguous. It looks like Joan is the one who has to find a new job (also keep in mind that, while "Joan" is a male name in certain areas of Spain, it is a female name to most English speakers, which might lead to misunderstandings in hte answers you are likely to get.

1. Joan told Arthur (that) he had to find a better job. :tick: Make sure your students learn other verbs which fit in here ("advised, suggested, etc) instead of always using "told" all the time.
2. Tina asked if the manager knew Julia often came late. :tick: I would use "arrived" instead of "came" in the reported sentence, and would include "that" before "Julia".
3. Rose answered that he didn’t. :tick:
4. Frank asked what he did. Same case as #1: like this, it seems Frank doesn't know what he's doing. "Frank asked Tom what he did" sounds better.
5. Tom answered that he was an architect. :tick:
6. Tim thought (that) perhaps it was time to go home. :tick:

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1. Joan said (that) he had to find a better job. IMO, this one sounds ambiguous. It looks like Joan is the one who has to find a new job (also keep in mind that, while "Joan" is a male name in certain areas of Spain, it is a female name to most English speakers, which might lead to misunderstandings in hte answers you are likely to get.

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learning54 said:

Hi,
Thanks a lot for your correction and information. It is really important to add, 'from the original'. Maybe it is a good idea to start this explanation with, 'In general, when we change ...'

L.

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learning54 said:

Point taken! But if you don't mind for the meantime I will go step by step. Of course, I just made a suggestion. How and when to introduce variations depends on you alone: you are the one who knows your students' real level. So no, I don't mind at all :-D

Even though it sounds much better, why do I have to use 'that'? This is the original sentence, “Does the manager know Julia often comes late?” Tina asked. What should I tell the students in order to use 'that' in the reported speech sentence?
Yes, I didn't quite realize until you mentioned it. Maybe you should include "that" in hte original too: I remember it did help me; I myself got confused often while learning. If I saw something like "if the manager knew Julia often came late" my brain needed a little while to figure the real meaning; it concentrated on "the manager knew Julia" first of all. That's why I mentioned it.;-)

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Raymott said:

Yes, and I'd remove "always" from the rule as well. It's not necessary and it's simply an incitement to your better students to find counter examples.

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Even though it sounds much better, why do I have to use 'that'? This is the original sentence, “Does the manager know Julia often comes late?” Tina asked. What should I tell the students in order to use 'that' in the reported speech sentence?
Yes, I didn't quite realize until you mentioned it. Maybe you should include "that" in hte original too: I remember it did help me; I myself got confused often while learning. If I saw something like "if the manager knew Julia often came late" my brain needed a little while to figure the real meaning; it concentrated on "the manager knew Julia" first of all. That's why I mentioned it.

Click to expand...