Help/Reported Speech

Help/Reported Speech
Message from shaaraf posted on 27-06-2013 at 12:24:10 (D | E | F)
Hello,

Could you help me please?
I know the rules of the reported speech and I wrote all the answers according to rules and situations, but still my answers were wrong that's why I am confused...
I am talking about lying.For example:
Direct speech:
Elliot lives in Detroit.
Reported speech:
But he told me he lived in New York.
Now please tell me what will be the right answers be in the following sentences?
1:He stayed home on his last vacation.
But he told me .........?(Paris)
2:They were happy for her daughter's wedding.
But they told me ...............(unhappy).
3:He doesn't have any children.
But he told me ............(have).
4:He slept on the sofa last night.
But he told me...............(five star hotel)

Please help me!
Thanks to all in advance!

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Edited by lucile83 on 27-06-2013 17:57
Please don't change the title which can't be a question or a whole sentence; thanks.

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Re: Help/Reported Speech from dolfine56, posted on 27-06-2013 at 14:08:59 (D | E)
Hello,
What do you suggest?

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Re: Help/Reported Speech from shaaraf, posted on 27-06-2013 at 17:28:26 (D | E)
I suggested:

1:He stayed home on his last vacation.
But he told me he had gone Paris.(Paris)
My teacher's answer was "But he told me he went Paris".

2:They were happy for her daughter's wedding.
But they told me they had been unhappy for her daughter's wedding.(unhappy).
Teacher's answer was "But they told me they were unhappy for her daughter's wedding".

3:He doesn't have any children.
But he told me he had some children.(have).
Teacher's answer "But he told me he has children".

4:He slept on the sofa last night.
But he told me he had stayed at a five star hotel.(five star hotel)
Teacher's answer:"But he told me he was staying at a five star hotel.

I am so confused because what I know about the reported speech rules is :
Present.........Past
Present perfect.......Past perfect.
Past.......Past perfect
Present continuous........Past continuous.
Past continuous.......Past perfect continuous
And two more rules:
1: There is no tense change if the reported verb is in present:
Example:
The train will be late
He says the train will be late.

2:The reported speech about something is still true:
Example:
Rain forest are being destroyed.
She told him that rain forest are being destroyed.

I don know more than that,I have given you enough description because I wanted to know how I am wrong in the previous sentences.
I have also provided you with my teacher's answers,so perhaps now you can really help me?
I tried to search, but I still didn't find.
Please help and teach me how to build those sentences according to the rules.

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Edited by shaaraf on 27-06-2013 17:29

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Edited by lucile83 on 27-06-2013 18:00

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Re: Help/Reported Speech from hushpuppy, posted on 27-06-2013 at 20:04:20 (D | E)
Hello,
This isn't changing from direct to indirect (i.e. "He said, 'I stayed home.'" -> He said that he had stayed home), this is, instead, the continuation of a thought, so those rules don't apply here.
The clues are going to be the verb form used in the first part, which we keep the same throughout the thought in English :

1:He stayed home on his last vacation. past simple
But he told me he had gone to Paris. wrong - past perfect
"But he told me he went to Paris". correct - past simple
The complete thought will look similar to : "He stayed home during his last vacation, but he told me that he went to Paris.

The same idea should remain true for the remaining exercises :

2:They were happy for her daughter's wedding. simple past
But they told me they had been unhappy for her daughter's wedding. wrong - past perfect
"But they told me they were unhappy for her daughter's wedding". correct - simple past

But, as you can see, your teacher deviated for #3,4 :

3:He doesn't have any children. present + auxilary
But he told me he had some children. wrong - simple past
"But he told me he has children". in my opinion, this should've been "but he told me that he does have children."

4:He slept on the sofa last night. simple past
But he told me he had stayed at a five star hotel. wrong - past perfect
"But he told me he was staying at a five star hotel. in my opinion, this should've been "but he told me that he stayed at a five-star hotel."

I would present these last two to your teacher, othewise I don't understand how you are supposed to follow this exercise with any kind of precision.
Hope that helps !

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Re: Help/Reported Speech from notrepere, posted on 28-06-2013 at 06:48:01 (D | E)
Hello

If you had to turn the initial sentence into reported speech, then you would use time backshift:

Direct: He stayed home on his last vacation.
Reported: He told me he had stayed home on his previous vacation.

That is not the purpose of this particular exercise.

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Re: Help/Reported Speech from shaaraf, posted on 28-06-2013 at 12:07:51 (D | E)
Hello,

I know those formulas we only use in reported speech,
I just want some different points of view so I can understand better.
Despite I have mentioned rules and situation of reported speech still I can't understand
I wrote them again to understand from your points of view.
Please share your views regarding my particular sentences as many as you all can!

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Edited by shaaraf on 28-06-2013 12:08
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Edited by lucile83 on 28-06-2013 12:25

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