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reported speech in wish-clause



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
convince vs persuade | "were" with He, She and It
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reported speech in wish-clause #1 (permalink) Wed Jun 25, 2008 16:34 pm   reported speech in wish-clause
 

Hi,
Please have a look at this:

"I wished I would have a new house"
=> She said... (reported speech)

=> She said she had wished she would have a new house

My questions:
1. In my original sentence, the wish-clause is kept intact (type 1) though the verb "wish" in the main clause is in past tense. So is it correct?
2. When I change it into reported speech, I use the verb "wish" in past participle (because it refers to an earlier action), but the wish-clause is still kept in tact, and is it correct, too?

Many thanks
Nessie.
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reported speech in wish-clause #2 (permalink) Wed Jun 25, 2008 22:45 pm   reported speech in wish-clause
 

I wished I would have a new house", said she...

=> She said she had wished to have a new house.
Haihao
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reported speech in wish-clause #3 (permalink) Thu Jun 26, 2008 11:27 am   reported speech in wish-clause
 

Thanks a lot, Haihao :)

I think I've known about that way of transforming the sentence: wish + to V. However here I just want to ask about the way of transforming it without changing the structure: wish + that...
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reported speech in wish-clause #4 (permalink) Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:01 pm   reported speech in wish-clause
 

By the way, with the static verbs, such as "have, be" we use the past form of the verb after "wish".
For example,

I wish I had a million dollars.
I wish I were a millionare.

So, your original sentence needs correction.
Lost_Soul
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reported speech in wish-clause #5 (permalink) Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:08 pm   reported speech in wish-clause
 

Hi Nessie,

You should bear in mind that the 'saying' and the 'wishing' are in the same tense - She said she wished she had a new house.

Alan
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reported speech in wish-clause #6 (permalink) Thu Jun 26, 2008 23:28 pm   reported speech in wish-clause
 

Hello Nessie,

nessie wrote:
"I wished I would have a new house"
=> She said... (reported speech)

=> She said she had wished she would have a new house


I think the progression would be as follows:

1. I wish I had a new house!
2. I wished I had a new house.
3. She said she wished she had a new house.

All the best,

MrP
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reported speech in wish-clause #7 (permalink) Fri Jun 27, 2008 0:28 am   reported speech in wish-clause
 

Quote:
She said she wished she had a new house.


Do native speakers really speak in that way?
Molly
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reported speech in wish-clause #8 (permalink) Fri Jun 27, 2008 0:41 am   reported speech in wish-clause
 

.
Yes.
.
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reported speech in wish-clause #9 (permalink) Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:44 am   reported speech in wish-clause
 

Yankee wrote:
.
Yes.
.


Commonly? Sounds quite EFLese to me.
Molly
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reported speech in wish-clause #10 (permalink) Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:33 am   reported speech in wish-clause
 

Alan wrote:
Hi Nessie,

You should bear in mind that the 'saying' and the 'wishing' are in the same tense - She said she wished she had a new house.

Alan


Thanks a lot, everybody :)
I think now I understand that all tense in the wish-clause must be kept in tact in reported speeches. However, as for "the "saying" and the "wishing" are in the same tense", is this a fixed rule (thus we never say "She said she wished she had a new house)? Or does it depend on the situation?

Please have a look at this situation:

Yesterday Mary came to visit John and on chatting, she said: "In the past, I wished I had a new house". Today John meets Jack and he says "Yesterday, Mary said she had wished/wished she had a new house (in the past)"

So, in this situation, the "saying" and the "wishing" are not in the same tense, aren't they?
_________________
:(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...
Nessie
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Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 1102

reported speech in wish-clause #11 (permalink) Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:44 am   reported speech in wish-clause
 

Hi Nessie,

I think you have to change direct to indirect speech mindful of the situation in which the direct speech is delivered. In your example I would say something like: Mary said in the past she used to wish .... In my earlier reply when I said the 'saying' and the 'wishing' are contemporaneous, I was assuming that when she said what she said it was the same as saying she wished.

Alan
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reported speech in wish-clause #12 (permalink) Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:49 am   reported speech in wish-clause
 

Hi Nessie

I agree with Alan.

I might choose to use the past perfect in your sentence if she no longer wished/wanted to have a new house. (Note Alan's suggestion of "used to".)
.
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reported speech in wish-clause #13 (permalink) Sat Jun 28, 2008 0:27 am   reported speech in wish-clause
 

I agree with Alan And Amy and am absolutely convinced wtih their excellent AAA assessment. O I'm sorry for the uninteresting joke.
Haihao
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reported speech in wish-clause #14 (permalink) Sat Jun 28, 2008 15:38 pm   reported speech in wish-clause
 

Thanks a lot, everybody, I got it now :)
_________________
:(... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. :(

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...
Nessie
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 1102

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