I asked «Who came to meet you at the airport?»
I asked them who came to meet them at the airport.
He asked «When did it happen?»
He asked me when it had happened.
Backshift refers to the changes we make to the original verbs in indirect speech because time passed between the moment of speaking and the time of the report.
| Direct speech | Indirect speech | |
| present simple She said «It’s cold» | → | past simple She said that it was cold. |
| present continuous She said «I'm teaching English online» | → | past continuous She said she was teaching English online. |
| present perfect simple She said «I've been on the web since 1999» | → | past perfect simple She said she had been on the web since 1999. |
| present perfect continuous She said «I've been teaching English for seven years» | → | past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching English for seven years. |
| past simple She said «I taught online yesterday» | → | past perfect simple She said she had taught online the day before. |
| past continuous She said «I was teaching earlier» | → | past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching earlier. |
| past perfect She said «The lesson had already started when he arrived» | ↔ | past perfect (no change) She said the lesson had already started when he arrived. |
| past perfect continuos She said «I'd already been teaching for five minutes» | ↔ | past perfect continuos (no change) She said she'd already been teaching for five minutes. |
| future (will) She said «I'll teach English online tomorrow » | → | future-in-the-past (would) She said she would teach English online the next day. |
Typical changes to demonstratives, adverbs and adverbial expressions.
| direct | indirect | |
| this | → | that |
| these | → | those |
| now | → | then |
| yesterday | → | the day before |
| tomorrow | → | the next/following day |
| two weeks ago | → | two weeks before |
| here | → | there |
Unit 5. Conditionals
Conditional Sentences also known as Conditional Clauses or If Clauses are used to express that the action in the main clause (without if) can only take place if a certain condition (in the clause with if) is fulfilled.
There are three types of Conditional Sentences.
a) Conditional Sentences Type 1
It is possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form: if + Simple Present, will-Future
Example: If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.
The main clause can also be at the beginning of the sentence. In this case the comma is not used.
Example: I will send her an invitation if I find her address.
b) Conditional Sentences Type 2
It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form: if + Simple Past, Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)
Example: If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.
c) Conditional Sentence Type 3
It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.
Form: if + Past Perfect, Conditional II (= would + have + Past Participle)
Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.
Wish + to infinitive
When we use wish followed by a verb in the to-infinitive form, wish means the same as want, but it is more formal. We do not normally use wish in the continuous form when we use it with a to-infinitive:
I wishto speak to Mr Hennessy, please.
We can use an object (underlined), before the to -infinitive:
I did not wish my family to know about Sara, so I told them nothing.
When we use an object after wish, we must also use a verb in the to -infinitive form. Alternatively, we can say want or (more politely) would like:
We wish to have a table near the window, please. (or We would like a table near the window, please.)
Wish + verb forms in the that -clause
The verb forms we use in that -clauses after wish are similar to the verb forms in conditional clauses after if. We use a past verb form for present and future meanings.
I wish we had a bigger car.
I wish I knew how to use this DVD player.
When we wish something about the past, we use the past perfect after wish:
I wish I had known Charlie was coming. I would have invited Jane. (I didn’t know it and did not invite Jane.)
I wish I hadn’t said that. I can see I’ve upset you. Sorry. (I did say it; it would have been better if I had not said it.)
Wish + would
We can use wish + would if we are annoyed about something that is or is not happening, or about something that will or will not happen:
I wish you ’d stop making so much noise! (You are making a noise; it would be better if you didn’t.)
I wish you wouldn’t come through the kitchen with your dirty boots on. (You do come through the kitchen; it would be better if you didn’t.)
Unit 6. MODAL VERBS
We use modal verbs to show if we believe something is certain, probable or possible (or not). We also use modals to do things like talking about ability, asking permission making requests and offers.