Indirect Speech/help

Indirect Speech/help
Message from jedi56 posted on 21-05-2013 at 18:39:21 (D | E | F)
Hello,

could someone tell me if the sentence
He told me, 'I was reading a book when the explosion occurred'." can be said using the same tense or I have to use the past perfect continuous
"He told me that he had been reading a book when the explosion had occurred."
I thought it could be said in both ways. Am I wrong?
Thanks in advance for your answers.

-------------------
Edited by lucile83 on 21-05-2013 21:45

---

Re: Indirect Speech/help from lemagemasque, posted on 21-05-2013 at 18:55:04 (D | E)
Hello!

"He told me he was reading a book when the explosion occurred" sounds more natural to me.

Yet, I think you could also say "He told me he had been reading a book when the explosion had occurred" but something sounds awkward to me...

See you!

---

Re: Indirect Speech/help from hushpuppy, posted on 21-05-2013 at 19:11:09 (D | E)
Hello,
Yes, the two are perfect just as you have written them. The first one is usually seen in writing, to describe a dialogue to the reader, and the second is used in both, for conversation especially since we can't speak quotation marks which is why you'll hear someone say, "He said to me, and I quote, 'I was reading a book when the explosion occurred.'"

---

Re: Indirect Speech/help from lemagemasque, posted on 21-05-2013 at 19:17:06 (D | E)
Hello Hushpuppy,
I think he was asking whether "He told me that he had been reading a book when the explosion had occurred" and "He told me that he was reading a book when the explosion occurred" were OK or not.

---

[POST A NEW REPLY] [Subscribe to this topic]

Forum > English only