[Grammar] if-clause in Reported Speech

[hellokitty]

Dear teachers,

I need your help! I've been wondering if a real conditional (the first conditional) clause changes its verb tense in a reported speech sentence.

For example,
Amy said to me, "if you can make it before 6 o'clock, you will be able to see our performance."
Then, I need to tell my co-worker why I left early the day.
Should I say
A) I had to leave early because my friend Amy told (or had told) me if I can make it before 6 o'clock, I will be able to see their performance.
or
b) I had to leave early because my friend Amy told (or had told) me if I could make it before 6 o'clock, I would be able to see their performance.
?


Kitty

 

[Tullia]

Dear teachers,

I need your help! I've been wondering if a real conditional (the first conditional) clause changes its verb tense in a reported speech sentence.

For example,
Amy said to me, "if you can make it before 6 o'clock, you will be able to see our performance."
Then, I need to tell my co-worker why I left early the day.
Should I say
A) I had to leave early because my friend Amy told (or had told) me if I can make it before 6 o'clock, I will be able to see their performance.
or
b) I had to leave early because my friend Amy told (or had told) me if I could make it before 6 o'clock, I would be able to see their performance.
?


Kitty

The tense of the reported speech changes depending on the tense of the main verb in the sentence.

Amy (has) told me that if I can..., I will be able to... .
Amy (had) told me that if I could...., I would be able to... .


You would use the first if the possibility was still open; i.e. you hadn't made yet it before 6 o'clock but you still had time to do so!

You would use the second if the possibility is further in the past and now closed i.e. it is after 6 o'clock - it doesn't matter if you did or didn't make it in time!

 

[hellokitty]

Tullia, thank you so much for the explanation!
Can I ask one more question?
Which is correct?
A) When I started learning English, I thought if I live in the U.K., I can speak English fluently.
B) When I started learning English, I thought if I lived in the U.K., I could speak English fluently.
It's still possible for me to live in the U.K., but it doesn't matter because now I know just living there doesn't automatically make me speak English fluently. I also wonder if B) sounds like unreal (the second) conditional.