При переводе прямой речи в косвенную, временные формы глаголов сдвигаются на шаг в кроме следующих случаев:
1. Слова автора в настоящем или будущем времени: He will say that he has been there before.
2. Действие в Past Perfect (Continuous) или Future-in-the-Past: He said that he felt happy after he had done it.
3. Обстоятельства времени не изменились: He said that he bought it yesterday.
4. Выражение всегда верно: The teacher said that the sun rises in the east.
5. Выражение верно длительный период времени: He said that he loves you.
6. Сообщение повторяется сразу: He said that the food is delicious.
7. Условные предложения 2 типа: He said that if he were you, he wouldn’t do it.
8. Желаемые события: She said she wished she were younger.
9. Глаголы should, ought to: She was said that he ought to quit smoking.
10. Must, если это совет, предположение или приказ: He guessed that they must be at home.
Временные формы могут не изменяться в случае:
1. Когда непосредственно указано время действия: They said that they began/had begun studying English in 2010.
2. Когда косвенно указано время действия: She said that she met/had met him when they were neighbours.
3. Когда излагающий согласен с мнением цитируемого: He said that India is a rich country.
(при несогласии: He said that India was a rich country).
При сдвиге временной формы глагола в в косвенной речи, по ситуации, изменяются обстоятельства места и времени, местоимения, а также, происходит отстранение от эмоций:
this – that, these – those, here – there, now - then (at that moment, at once, immediately), come – go, today – (on) that day, yesterday – the day before(earlier), tomorrow - (on) the next (following) day, last week – the week before, ago - before(earlier), next week – the next (following) week, now that – since, so – very, yes/no – answered in the positive/negative, he - that man, we - they.
Если из прямой речи лицо не известно, используется местоимение they, а в словах автора wanted to know:
He said: “Come here”. – He told them to come up to him.
He said: “Where are you going?” – He wanted to know/wondered where they we going.
Кроме слова said используются глаголы, выражающие характер прямой речи:
Для передачи общих вопросов используется if или whether.
Вопросительные предложения передаются с прямым порядком слов: He asked me if/whether they were at home.
В вопросительном предложении с глаголом-связкой порядок слов может быть обратным: He asked me what was the price.
I admire my grandfather Stepan Leonidovich. He is the best grandfather one can imagine. He is very kind and patient, knows millions of different stories and songs, he is very hardworking and can repair every broken thing. He is 84 years old, but still he is very active. During the WWII his farther, two uncles and three cousins died, and by the end of the war he was the only man from his family left. He told me that since 11 years he felt himself responsible for his mother and two little sisters, and he spent all his life working for the good of the family. He didn’t get any education, but did everything for his sisters, and they both graduated from universities and became teachers. When his mother got sick and had to give up working he worked in three places to earn enough for the family. He once told me that in those hard years he didn’t know exactly what haircuts had his sisters, because he didn’t see them for weeks, put he knew they had food and everything they needed. When his sisters got married one by one, he helped them both to build houses for their new families, and these houses are still standing and he is still repairing them. He himself was the last to marry, and my grandmother says that there has been no day, when he wouldn’t tell her that she’s the light of his life. Since childhood my grandfather was surrounded and brought up by women, but he became the ideal of man for all the people who knew him, and for me too. I have never heard my grandfather complaining and have never seen him in a bad mood. I truly admire him.