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 Mon Sep 11, 2006 21:04 pm Rules of reported speech |
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Hi teodora65
The sentence basically follows the rules of reported speech (indirect speech).
He was wondering (something) means he was asking himself (something) --- similar to He asked.
Direct question (quote):
"What prompted him to take no notice at all?"
When you report the question above, prompted has to move back a tense to the past perfect:
He was wondering what had prompted him to take no notice at all.
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Amy
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Yankee
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| Tue Sep 12, 2006 13:01 pm Rules of reported speech |
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He wondered what had prompted him to take no notice at all.
He was wondering what prompted him to take no notice at all. |
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teodora65
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| Tue Sep 12, 2006 14:02 pm Rules of reported speech |
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Hi teodora65
Wondered and was wondering are both past tenses (past simple and past continuous).
Have you already had a look at Alan's write-up?
ESL Lesson: Indirect Speech
http://www.english-test.net/lessons/6/index.html
Amy
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English |
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Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 7781
Location: USA
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| Sat May 05, 2007 16:32 pm Rules of reported speech |
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He was wondering what promted him to take no notice at all - is it always incorrect?
Could it be so that the direct question was: "What does prompt him to take no notice at" in the sence that he usually takes no notice at all. And in this case you can use Past Simple instead of Past Perfect, can't you?
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Snoopy_Blah_Blah
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| Tue Aug 28, 2007 15:49 pm Rules of reported speech |
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Hi,
Could you explain what prompt sy to do sg means?
Thanks,
Ildiko |
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ildiko
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| What does this idiom mean: "I'll eat my hat." | Meaning of ecliptic |
