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Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..."



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..." #1 (permalink) Tue Apr 01, 2008 19:22 pm   Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..."
 

Hi

Yesterday I read a sentence in Oxford Idioms which confused me a bit. Can we use I'll with the past tense without speech marks?

Quote:
The dentist told me I'll have to have this tooth out.


Please shed some light on this.

Tom
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Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..." #2 (permalink) Tue Apr 01, 2008 19:25 pm   Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..."
 

Hi Tom,

Probably the purist in you wants to say: 'I'd have to ...', which would follow the usual pattern. But by using 'I'll have to ..' the statement becomes more immediate and relates more closely back to what the dentist actually said. Does that help at all?

Alan
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Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..." #3 (permalink) Tue Apr 01, 2008 19:32 pm   Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..."
 

I am grateful, Alan

So am I to understand that past tense+ will is not a grammatical mistake at all? Can I use this form frequently? For example:

Quote:
1-She said I'll have to vacate the house.

2-The driver said she will have to wait for a while


Of course I understand the said work is yet to be done i.e vacate and wait

Tom
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Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..." #4 (permalink) Thu Apr 03, 2008 20:44 pm   Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..."
 

Hello

Anyone there? :shock:

Tom
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Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..." #5 (permalink) Fri Apr 04, 2008 0:19 am   Expression: "The dentist told me that I'll have to..."
 

Quote:
1-She said I'll have to vacate the house.

2-The driver said she will have to wait for a while

Hi Tom

If the action is still in the future, you're likely to hear 'will' rather than 'would'. However, I wouldn't rule out the use of 'would' even if the activity is still in the future.

I can also easily imagine the words will and would being omitted completely:

- She said I have/had to vacate the house.
- The driver said she has/had to wait for a while.
.
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