Modal changes in indirect speech
Similarly to tenseA grammatical category that is marked by verb inflection. To express when an event or action happens in time or when a state exists, we use tenses. changes, if the reported sentence is still true at the timeA concept which is related to our perception of reality; that part of existence which is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc. of reporting, no changes are made. If, however, the reported sentence is out of date, the following changes occur.
| original utteranceSomething that somebody says in a specific context. | reported sentence |
|---|---|
| can (present reference) | could |
| can (future reference) | would be able to |
| may (uncertainty) | might |
| may (permission with present reference) | was allowed to |
| may (permission with future reference) | would be allowed to |
| will | would |
| needn’t | didn’t need to/didn’t have to |
| must (obligation) | had to |
| must (certainty) | must |
| could | could |
| would | would |
| might | might |
| mustn’t | mustn’t |
| had better | had better |
| ought to | ought to |
| should | should |
| used to | used to |
Note that some modals (must (deduction), could, would, might, mustn't, had better, ought to, should, used to) do not change.
Related topics
The following topics are closely related to the one you are viewing.
Topics with similar tags
The following topics share one or more tags with the one you are viewing and may also be interesting.
- Modals expressing present and future unlikelihood
- Modals expressing past unlikelihood
- SHALL for determination
- Present subjunctive
- Tenses in indirect speech
- WISH, WOULD RATHER, IT'S (HIGH) TIME in indirect speech
- Third conditional in indirect speech
- Second conditional in indirect speech
- First conditional in indirect speech
- Zero conditional in indirect speech
Comments and questions
if we have this "i may have
if we have this "i may have to cancel the party" how could we change it
Changes are usually made to
Changes are usually made to the leftmost element, so "have to" remains, "may" is converted into "might".
He said he might have to cancel the meeting.
Post new comment