Ali said, "It is four o' clock now."

[Tait-ka]

Ali said, "It is four o' clock now."

I have created the above sentence. What's the reported speech of that sentence?

1. Abdul said that it is four o' clock now.
2. Abdul said that it was four o' clock then.

Are both 1 and 2 acceptable as reported speech of the above sentence?

 

[jutfrank]

Can you help us understand why somebody might want to report such a comment?

 

[emsr2d2]

If it was Ali who said the original sentence, why would the person reporting the sentence call him Abdul?

 

[Annabel Lee]

1. Abdul said that it is four o' clock now.
2. Abdul said that it was four o' clock then.

Are both 1 and 2 acceptable as reported speech of the above sentence?

Neither sentence works, in my opinion, but it would be possible to keep now in (2), provided it is positioned elsewhere.

2'. He said that it was now four o'clock.​

Please note that there should not be a space after the apostrophe in o'clock.

 

[Tait-ka]

If it was Ali who said the original sentence, why would the person reporting the sentence call him Abdul?

Sorry. I have edited my post below. Please see it now.

Ali said, "It is four o' clock now."

I have created the above sentence. What's the reported speech of that sentence?

1. Ali said that it is four o' clock now.
2. Ali said that it was four o' clock then.

Are both 1 and 2 acceptable as reported speech of the above sentence?

Now please tell me which reported speech is correct?

 

[emsr2d2]

Now please tell me which reported speech is correct?

Did you read Annabel Lee's response (post #4)?

 

[jutfrank]

You're approaching this grammar point the wrong way, Tait-ka.

 

[Tait-ka]

Did you read Annabel Lee's response (post #4)?

Yes, now I've.

 

[Tait-ka]

You're approaching this grammar point the wrong way, Tait-ka.

Can you explain how I'm? I want to fully understand this grammar point.

 

[jutfrank]

Start with meaning and use. Right now, you're attempting to do this mechanically, like a robot. It seems as if you're simply trying to follow a set of transformational rules. It feels to me that somebody has told you that if you have 'now' in a direct speech sentence, you change it to 'then' in a reported speech sentence. That's not usually right because it's much, much more complicated than that.

Instead, do it like this: Imagine a real situation, where a real person is reporting something to another real person. Imagine what reason that person would have for making such a report, and exactly when the report was made. This is what I mean by 'meaning and use'. A reported sentence is only 'correct' if it's an appropriate sentence to use in a given situation. Understanding the situation properly, and what it means to the people involved, is also how you choose whether to stay in the present tense or backshift to the past tense.

Ali said, "It is four o' clock now."

Why does Ali say this? Who is he talking to? What is he trying to do?

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes, now I've.

In this context, you can't contract "I have". You need either:

1. Yes, now I've read it.
2. Yes, now I have.

 

[Tait-ka]

Why does Ali say this? Who is he talking to? What is he trying to do?

Let me give you a situation.
Let's say,
Ali and Bilal are walking home from school, passing by the ice cream shop that Ali knows closes exactly at four because he lives nearby and often visits it. Ali looks at his watch and says to Bilal, “It is four o’ clock now,” meaning they need to hurry if they want to get ice cream before it closes. Bilal runs ahead to get in line, and just moments later, their friend Sara catches up and asks why he suddenly rushed. Bilal explains by reporting Ali’s words: “Ali said, ‘It is four o’ clock now,’” mentioning Ali because it was Ali’s observation and prompt that caused his quick action; without mentioning Ali, Sara would not understand why Bilal acted so suddenly, since she did not know the shop’s exact closing time and would otherwise think Bilal was rushing for no reason.

 

[jutfrank]

Ali looks at his watch and says to Bilal, “It is four o’ clock now,” meaning they need to hurry if they want to get ice cream before it closes.

Ali won't say this in this situation because that would mean it's too late. He might instead say It's nearly four. Let's hurry!

Bilal runs ahead to get in line, and just moments later, their friend Sara catches up and asks why he suddenly rushed. Bilal explains by reporting Ali’s words: “Ali said, ‘It is four o’ clock now,’”

Bilal would definitely not say anything like that. He might say something like:

Ali said the shop was about to close.
Ali said it was nearly four o'clock, so I had to run because they close at four.

Thank you for attempting to make up a realistic situation, but the mistake this time is that you've done it the wrong way round. Instead of finding language to be used in a certain situation, you've forced a situation onto the language. Always get the meaning first, and then find the words.

 

[5jj]

Always get the meaning first, and then find the words.

I agree.

However, I must compliment @Tait-ka on their ingenious attempt to come up with a context for those words.

 

[emsr2d2]

“It is four o’clock now,”
‘It is four o’clock now,’”

In post #4, Annabel Lee told you that we don't put a space after an apostrophe, yet you made the same mistake twice in this post. Please take notice of our advice.

 

[Tait-ka]

In post #4, Annabel Lee told you that we don't put a space after an apostrophe, yet you made the same mistake twice in this post. Please take notice of our advice.

Sorry I forgot. Next time I will keep this in my mind.

 

[Tait-ka]

It feels to me that somebody has told you that if you have 'now' in a direct speech sentence, you change it to 'then' in a reported speech sentence.

Yes you're right. Our grammar books have this rule.
Do you mean this rule is sometimes not followed by native speakers? If so, can you give me an example of direct and reported speech in which you don't change "now" to "then"?

 

[emsr2d2]

Do you mean this rule is sometimes not followed by native speakers? If so, can you give me an example of direct and reported speech in which you don't change "now" to "then"?

Go back to post #4 (again!)

Ali said it was now four o'clock.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes you're right. Our grammar books have this rule.
Do you mean this rule is sometimes not followed by native speakers?

Yes. In fact, there isn't really a proper rule here at all. Time phrases are very tricky, and reporting them is very complicated and depends on lots of things.

If so, can you give me an example of direct and reported speech in which you don't change "now" to "then"?

Change your approach. If you want to produce some examples of reported speech, my advice is that you get a situation clear in your mind first, and then think about why, how, when and to whom, something is reported.