reported speech

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Meghna, I was going to tidy the flat today, but I didnt have time." confessed Arjun.

In reported speech, I would write: Arjun cofessed to Meghna that he was going to tidy the flat that day, but he didnt had time.

Am I correct?

Many thanks.

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Re: reported speech

Yoong Liat wrote:

In reported speech, I would write: Arjun cofessed to Meghna that he was going to tidy the flat that day, but he didnt had[/b] time.

"Had" should be changed to "have."

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Thanks, Shapeless

It was a careless mistake. I,ve amended it.

"Meghna, I was going to tidy the flat today, but I didn't have the time." confessed Arjun.

In reported speech, I would write: Arjun cofessed to Meghna that he was going to tidy the flat that day, but he didnt have time.

On second thoughts, I wonder whether backshifting is required.

Arjun cofessed to Meghna that he was going to tidy the flat that day, but he had not had the time.

Many thanks.

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Re: reported speech

Yoong Liat wrote:

Meghna, I was going to tidy the flat today, but I didnt have time." confessed Arjun.

In reported speech, I would write: Arjun cofessed to Meghna that he was going to tidy the flat that day, but he didnt had time.

Am I correct?

Many thanks.

Because the sentence doesn't end with "time," you need to change the period to a comma.

Meghna, I was going to tidy the flat today, but I didnt have time," confessed Arjun.

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Thanks, Roberta.

What is the correct way to report the speech?

Many thanks.

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Re: reported speech

Yoong Liat wrote:

Meghna, I was going to tidy the flat today, but I didnt have time." confessed Arjun.

In reported speech, I would write: Arjun cofessed to Meghna that he was going to tidy the flat that day, but he didnt had time.

Am I correct?

Many thanks.

Opening and closing quotation marks. If something follows the quotation, even if the quotation is a complete sentence, you don't use a period. You use a comma. Note that this does not apply to question marks and exclamation points. No comma with these.

The U.S. way of dealing with quotation marks is to put the punctuation inside.

"Meghna, I was going to tidy the flat today, but I didnt have time," confessed Arjun.

"Meghna, did you say you were going to tidy the flat today?" asked Arjun.

Note that the question mark stays inside the quotation marks when the quotation is a question. I believe that this applies to the both the U.S. and British ways of handling this. It goes outside when the quotation is not a question:

Did Meghna say, "I'm not going to tidy the flat today"?

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For this situation to require "confessing" you should make it clear that he broke his promise to straighten the flat.

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Roberta, the questioner asked how to write in reported speech what Arjun said to Meghna, which he showed in direct speech.

Direct speech: "I'm cold, Mother", said John.

Reported speech: John said to his mother that he was cold.

Yes, Yoong Liat, you are nearly correct.

Tenses need "backshifting" in reported speech, as you see below.

Arjun confessed to Meghna that he had been going to tidy the flat that day, but he hadn't had time.

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Oops, missed that. Sorry.

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Never mind. You raised an interesting point about UK vs US punctuation in or out of quotes. I believe this sentence is punctuated the British way?

"I'm cold, Mother", said John.

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contrex wrote:

Never mind. You raised an interesting point about UK vs US punctuation in or out of quotes. I believe this sentence is punctuated the British way?

"I'm cold, Mother", said John.

Yup, definitely the British way. I'm working on a book now that was written and originally edited in India. The British way is everywhere. I'm moving all those commas inside the quotation marks. BORING!

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contrex wrote:

Never mind. You raised an interesting point about UK vs US punctuation in or out of quotes. I believe this sentence is punctuated the British way?

"I'm cold, Mother", said John.

I believe this sentence is punctuated the British way?
I think it is neither the American nor British way. Correct me if I'm wrong.

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Yoong Liat wrote:

Quote:

I think it is neither the American nor British way. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Why do you say that? Please give reasons!

American

"I'm cold, Mother," said John.

British

"I'm cold, Mother", said John.

Note position of comma after the word "Mother".

Rolling Eyes

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Hi Contrex

British

"I'm cold, Mother", said John.

I was never taught that the above is the British way by any English teacher. I was taught the comma should be inside the quotation marks.

I hope you will excuse for being surprised.

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You are correct. I apologise.

The (UK) Guardian style guide says:

Quote:

Place full points and commas inside the quotes for a complete quoted sentence; otherwise the point comes outside:

"Anna said, 'Your style guide needs updating,' and I said, 'I agree.' "
but: "Anna said updating the guide was 'a difficult and time-consuming task'."

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contrex wrote:

You are correct. I apologise.

The (UK) Guardian style guide says:

Quote:
Place full points and commas inside the quotes for a complete quoted sentence; otherwise the point comes outside:

"Anna said, 'Your style guide needs updating,' and I said, 'I agree.' "
but: "Anna said updating the guide was 'a difficult and time-consuming task'."

You need not have apologised, but the fact that you did shows that you're a gentleman, and I respect you for that.

Best regards

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My mother once said to me, "You may not be a gentleman, but you should always act like one."

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I don't believe you're acting, but it is a sincere apology. Once again, I would like to say I respect you for that. I don't like native speakers who are condescending.

Regards.

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I meant "act" in its meaning of "behave", not "pretend". (I think!) In snobbish England (as opposed to the rest of Britain, I think) the status of "gentleman" was a question of birth, (to be of "gentle" birth means to have been born to a family which had upper-class status) so that what my mother meant was "You may not have been born a gentleman, but that does not excuse you from always striving to behave like one." or perhaps she meant "You may be an utter cad, but if you behave like a gentleman, you will get on in life." Alas, she has been dead these forty years, so I cannot ask her.

So I thank you for your kind remarks.

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contrex wrote:

Tenses need "backshifting" in reported speech, as you see below.

Arjun confessed to Meghna that he had been going to tidy the flat that day, but he hadn't had time.

"Tenses" do not need to be backshifted for every reported speech situation.

Meghna, I was going to tidy the flat today, but I didn't have time." confessed Arjun.

In reported speech, you could write:

Arjun confessed to Meghna that he was going to tidy the flat that day, but he didn't have time.

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reported speech

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