Sequence of Tenses

1. Translate into your native language, pay attention to tenses:

1. I knew that you were ill. 2. I knew that you had been ill. 3. We found that she left home at eight o’clock every morning. 4. We found that she had left home at eight o’clock that morning. 5. When he learnt that his son always received excellent marks in all the subjects at university, he was very pleased. 6. When he learnt that his son had received an excellent mark at university, he was very pleased. 7. We did not know where our friends went every evening. 8. We did not know where our friends had gone. 9. She said that her best friend was a doctor. 10. She said that her best friend had been a doctor.

2. Rewrite the following sentences in the Past tense:

1. My uncle says he has just come back from the Caucasus. 2. He says he has spent a fortnight in the Caucasus. 3. He says it did him a lot of good he spent most of the time on the beach. 4. He says his wife and he spent most of the time on the beach. 5. He says he feels better now. 6. He says they did a lot of sightseeing. 7. He says he has a good camera. 8. He says he took many photographs while traveling in the Caucasus. 9. He says he will come to see us next Sunday. 10. He says he will bring and show us photographs he took during his stay in the Caucasus.

3. Open the brackets and chose necessary tense:

1. He said he (is staying, was staying) at the “Ritz” Hotel. 2. They realized that they (lost, had lost) their way in the dark. 3. He asked me where I (study, studied). 4. I thought that I (shall finish, should finish) my work at that time. 5. He says he (works, worked) at school t years ago. 6. Victor said he (is, was) very busy. 7. My friend asked me who (is playing, was playing) the piano in the sitting-room. 8. He said (will come, would come) to the station to see me off. 9. I was sure he (posted, had posted) the letter. 10. I think the weather (will not change, would not change) for the worse.

4. Open the brackets and chose necessary tense:

1. He said he (to leave) tomorrow morning. 2. She says she already (to find) the book. 3. He stopped and listened: the clock (to strike) five. 4. She said she (can) not tell me the right time, her watch (to be) wrong. 5. I asked my neighbour if he ever (to travel) by air before. 6. The policeman asked George where he (to run) so early. 7. The delegates were that the guide just (to go) out and (to be) back in ten minutes. 8. I knew they (to wait) for me at the metro station and I decided to hurry. 9. I didn’t know that you already (to wind) up the clock. 10. I was afraid that the little girl (not to be) able to unlock the front door and (to go) upstairs to help her.

Reported speech

1. Rewrite the following imperative sentences into reported speech:

1. “Go home,” said the teacher to us. 2. “Buy some meat in the shop,” said my mother to me. 3. “Sit down at the table and do your homework,” said my mother to me. 4.”Don’t forget to clean your teeth,” said granny to Helen. 5. “Don’t sit up late,” said the doctor to Mary. 6. The doctor said to Pete: “Don’t go for a walk today.” 7. “Don’t eat too much ice-cream,” said Nick’s mother to him. 8. “Explain to me how to solve this problem,” said my friend to me. 9. The doctor said to Nick: “Open your mouth and show me your tongue.” 10. “Take this book and read it,” said the librarian to the boy.

2. Rewrite the following narrative sentences into reported speech:

1. “My friend lives in Moscow,” said Alec. 2. “You have not done your homework well,” said the teacher to me. 3. The poor man said to the rich man: “My horse is wild. It can kill your horse.” 4. The rich man said to the judge: “This man’s horse has killed my horse.” 5. “This man spoke to me on the road,” said the woman. 6. “I can’t explain this rule to you,” said my classmate to me. 7. The teacher said to the class: “We shall discuss the subject tomorrow.” 8. The woman said to her son: “I am glad I am here.” 9. Mike said: “We have bought these books today.” 10. She said to me: “Now I can read your translation.”

3. Rewrite the following reported speech into direct speech:

1. He said that while crossing the English Channel they had stayed on deck all the time. 2. The woman said she had felt sick while crossing the Channel. 3. She said she was feeling bad that day. 4. Tom said he would go to see the doctor the next day. 5. He told me he was ill. 6. He told me he had fallen ill. 7. They told me that Tom had not come to school the day before. 8. I told my sister that she might catch cold. 9. She told me she had caught cold. 10. The old man told me the doctor that he had just been examined by a good doctor.

4. Write the following special questions into reported speech:

1. I said to Nick: “Where are you going?” 2. I said to him: “How long are you going to stay there?” 3. I said to him: “How long will it take you to get there?” 4. Pete said to his friends: “When are you leaving St.Peterburg?”5. He said to them: “Who will you see before you leave here?” 6. They said to him: “What time does the train start?” 7. Ann said to Mike: “When did you leave London?” 8. She said to Boris: “When will you be backing home?” 9. Boris said to them: “When will you be backing home?” 10. Mary asked Tom: “What time will you come tomorrow?”

5. Rewrite the following special questions into reported speech; begin them with the words in brackets:

1. Where is he going? (He didn’t tell anybody…) 2. Where has he gone? (Did you know …) 3. Where is he? (Did you know…) 4. When is he leaving school? (I wanted to know…) 5. When is he leaving school? (I wanted to know …) 6. When will he come back? (She asked them …) 7. How much did she pay for it? (I had no idea …) 8. Where did I put the book? (I forgot…) 9. Who has given you this nice kitten? (She wanted to know …) 10. Where can I buy an English-Russian dictionary? (He asked me …) 11. How long will it take your brother to get to Madrid? (He wondered …)

6. Right the following questions into reported speech.

1. I said to Boris: “Does your friend live in London?” 2. I said to the man: “Are you living in a hotel?” 3. Nick said to his friend: “Will you stay at the ‘Hilton’?” 4. He said to me: “Do you often go to see your friends?” 5. He said to me: “Will you see your friends before you leave St.Petersburg?” 6. Mike said to Jane: “Will you come to the railway station to see me off?” 7. She said to me: “Have you sent them a telegram yesterday?” 8. I said to Mike: “Have you packed your suitcase?” 9. I said to Kate: “Did anybody meet you at the station?” 10. I said to her: “Can you give me their address?”

7. Write the following general questions into reported speech, beginning with the words in brackets:

1. Have you found the book? (She asked me…) 2. Are there any more books here? (The man asked …) 3. Did she go shopping yesterday (I wanted to know …) 4. Has she bought the dictionary? (He did not ask her …) 5. Does she know the name of the man? (I doubted …) 6. Did Boris see the man this morning? (I asked …) 7. Have they sold the picture? (I did not know …) 8. Do they know anything about it? (I wondered …) 9. Has Jack given you his telephone number? (She asked me …) 10. Is he coming back today? (I was not sure …)

8. Restore the following sentences in reported speech into direct speech:

1. I asked if they had taken the sick man to hospital. 2. I asked my friend if he had a headache. 3. I wanted to know when he had fallen ill. 4. I wondered if he had taken his temperature. 5. I asked him if the doctor had given him some medicine. I asked him if he was feeling better now. 6. I asked the man how long he had been in London. 7. I asked him if he was going to a health-resort. 8. We asked him if her father was still in Moscow. 9. I asked the girl what sort of work her father did. 10. John asked Mary if she was afraid of thunderstorm.

9. Answer the following questions, using reported speech:

e.g.: “I like novels written by Dickens,” said Nina to her friend Vera. “I have read

many of them”

What did Nina say to Vera?

Nina told Vera that she liked novels written by Dickens and that she had

read many of them.

1. “My favourite books are ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ and ‘Robinson Crusoe’,” answered Vera. “And now I am reading a novel by Walter Scott.”

What did Vera answer Nina?

2. “Last year we learnt some poems by Byron and Shelly, they are so beautiful,”

What did Nina say?

3. “I know many poems by these great poets. I have read some books about

Byron and Shelly, too,” said Vera.

What did Vera tell Nina?

4. “This year we shall read a play by Shakespeare in English,” said Nina.

What did Nina say?

10. Write the direct speech into reported speech:

1. “I’ve bought tickets for a Saturday performance,” I said. 2. “We had a good walk in the country yesterday,” my sister said to me. 3. “Mr. White is going to fly abroad next week,” they said. 4. “Every passenger goes through the Customs when he comes from abroad,” said the Customs official. 5. “At what time will the plane land?” asked the passenger. 6. “Shall we take a taxi to get home?” my friend asked me. 7. “At what institute did your sister study?” my friend asked me. 8. “Who gave you instructions to get the materials ready?” asked the director. 9. “I must go through the mail now,” I said. 10. “I’m glad to do business with your firm,” Mr. Smith said to us.

Read the text

Carmen Day – romantic novelist

In an interview Carmen said she had written another romantic novel because she found romantic fiction easy to write, but that her next novel would be something different, possibly a detective story.

Carmen said that the character of Bradley was based on her first husband, Clive Maingay, the actor, who had made her very unhappy. But she added that she was now married to Tony Marsh, the politician. She said that they had been married for nearly ten years and that they were very happy together.

She told me that she had now written five novels, and also that she had written three stories for children. She said she would never stop writing, not even when she was an old lady.

Answer these questions:

1. Why has she written another romantic story? 2. Who is the character of Bradley based on? 3. How many times has been married? 4. How many novels has she written so far? When does she think, she’ll stop writing?

Retell the text

11. Write the following sentences into reported speech:

1. “Let’s play badminton,” said Nina. “All right,” said Mike. “I like to play badminton very much.” 2. “Let’ run a race,” said Bill. “No,” said Jack. “I hurt my foot three days ago and now I cannot run.” 3. “Will you show me your new flat?” said Tom. “Of course,” said Becky. “Come to our place tomorrow.” 4. “I shall go to see my friend tomorrow,” said Kate. “Will you come with me?” “Yes, I shall,” said Pete. “I want to see your friend tomorrow.” 5. “Does your friend always come to school so early?” said Victor. “No,” said Mary. “She came so early this morning because she is on duty today.” 6. “There is a new film on at our cinema,” said Mike. “I shall be busy.” 7. “What shall we do with Nick?” said Ann. “He has got a bad mark again.” “Let’s help him with his Russian,” said Pete. “I am sure we can do it.” 8. “Let’s go to the Opera House. There is a good opera there tonight, ” said Walter, “Oh, very good,” said Robert. “I haven’t been to the Opera House for a long time.”

Conditional sentences

1. Open the brackets, write each sentence three times, forming conditional sentences I,II,III types:

e.g.: If you (to be) free, I (to come) to see you.

If you are free, I shall come to see you.

If you were free, I should come to see you.

If you had been free, I should have come to see you.

1. If you (to be) busy, I (to leave) you alone.2. If I (to lived) in Moscow, I (to visit) the Tretyakov Gallery every year. 3. If I (to get) a ticket, I (to go) to the Philharmonic. 4. If I (to live) near a wood, I (to gather) a lot of mushrooms. 5. If my father (to return) early, we (to watch) TV together. 6. If she (to know) English, she (to try) to enter the university. 7. If my friend (to come) to see me, I (to be) very glad. 8. If mother (to buy) a cake, we (to have) a very nice tea party. 9. If we (to receive) a telegram from him, we (not to worry). 10. If you (not to work) systematically, you (to fail) at the examination.

2. Rewrite each following sentences twice, forming sentences II and III types:

1. If I am not too busy, I shall go to the concert. 2. If no one comes to help, we shall be obliged to do the work ourselves. 3. If you put on your glasses, you will see better. 4. What shall we do if they are late? 5. Will you be very angry if we don’t come? 6. Will he be very displeased if I don’t ring him up? 7. They will all be surprised if I make such a mistake. 8. If he doesn’t come in time, shall we have to wait for him?

3. Open the brackets, using verbs in necessary forms:

1 I should be delighted if I (to have) such a beautiful fur-coat. 2. If it (to rain), we shall have to stay at home. 3. If he (to work) hard, he would have achieved great progress. 4. If it is not too cold, I (not to put) on my coat. 5. I (to write) the composition long ago if you had not disturbed me. 6. If he (not to read) so much, he would not be so clever. 7. If my friend (to be) at home, he will tell us what to do. 8. If he were not such an outstanding actor, he (not to have0 so many admirers. 9. If you (to give) me your address, I shall write you a letter. 10. If she (not to be) so absent-minded, she would be a much better student.

4. Form the conditional sentences:

1. You did not ring me up, so I did not know you were in trouble. If… 2. You felt the child alone in the room, so he hurt himself. If …. 3. They spent a year in the tropics, so they got very sun-tanned. If … 4. It rained heavily, so we got drenched to the skin. If… 5. Why didn’t you watch the cat? It ate all the fish. If … 6. A huge black cloud appeared from behind the forest, so we had to turn back and hurry home. If … 7. The travelers had no camera with them, so they could not take photos of the beautiful scenery. If … 8. There was no sugar left, so we had to go to the shop late in the evening. If … 9. This house is very nice and comfortable, but it is not very god for living because it is situated close to a chemical plant and the air around is very bad. If … 10. He is an excellent specialist, but I cannot ask his advice because I am not acquainted with him. If ….

5. Make and read all possible conditional sentences I type:

6. Make and read all possible conditional sentences type II:

7. Open the brackets, using appropriate form of conditional mood after “ I wish”: