Lesson 9

Sequence of Tenses.

Direct and Indirect Speech.

Sequence of Tenses: When the predicate of the Principle clause of a sentence is in the Past Tense, the predicate of the Subordinate clause is in the Past one too.

When a sentence changes from Direct Speech to Indirect Speech, it is introduced by a verb in the Past Tense (he said that…). All the verbs are changed from Present Tense to Past Tense.

Sam

Direct Speech                                                                                          Indirect Speech

“I am happy”.                                                                                        Sam said that he was happy.

Polly

Direct Speech                                                                                          Indirect Speech