The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

Conditionals and unreal tenses in indirect speech

When we report conditionals and statements that refer to unreal situations, some tenses and modals may change if the reported words are no longer true or are out-of-date.

Zero conditional in indirect speech

First conditional in indirect speech

Second conditional in indirect speech

Third conditional in indirect speech

WISH / IF ONLY, WOULD RATHER / WOULD SOONER, IT'S (HIGH) TIME, AS IF / AS THOUGH in indirect speech

Zero conditional in indirect speech

When we report zero conditionals, the following tense changes may occur:

Present time

Anne: If John

is cursing

, it

means

that he

is

very angry.

Anne said that if John

is cursing

, it

means

that he

is

very angry.

(it is still true)

Anne said that if John

was cursing

, it

meant

that he

was

very angry.

(referring to a past habit)

Past time

Jenny: If I

got

home late, my mom

scolded

me.

Jenny recalled that if she

got

home late, her mother

used to scold / would scold

her.

Note that past tenses in the if-clause do not normally change.

First conditional in indirect speech

When we report first conditionals, the following changes may occur:

Mark: If we

leave

now, we

can catch

the train.

Mark said that if we

leave

now, we

can catch

the train.

(reported simultaneously; we can still catch the train)

Mark said that if we

left

, we

could catch

the train.

(the reported words are out-of-date; the train has already left)

Second conditional in indirect speech

When we report second conditionals, the following changes may occur:

Future time

Catherine: If I

lost

my job, I

would be

in serious trouble.

(referring to a possible future situation)

Catherine said that if she

lost

her job, she

would be

in serious trouble.

(the reported words are true; she might still lose her job)

Catherine said that if she

had lost

her job, she

would have been

in serious trouble.

(the reported words are out-of-date; it's not possible that she will lose her job)

Present time

Paul: If I

knew

the answer, I'

d tell

you.

(referring to an unreal present situation)

Paul said that if he

knew

the answer, he'

d tell

us.

Third conditional in indirect speech

When we report third conditionals, there are no changes in the verb forms:

Tom: If we

had booked

our flight earlier, it

would have been

cheaper.

(referring to an unreal past situation)

Tom remarked that if they

had booked

their flight earlier, it

would have been

cheaper.

WISH / IF ONLY, WOULD RATHER / WOULD SOONER, IT'S (HIGH) TIME, AS IF / AS THOUGH in indirect speech

Unreal tenses after wish / if only, would rather / would sooner, it's (high) time and as if / as though do not change in indirect speech:

Susan: I wish I

lived

in the mountains.

Susan said she wished she

lived

in the mountains.

Charles: If only we

hadn't missed

the train.

Charles wished they

hadn't missed

the train.

Carol: I'

d

rather

go

by bike than

walk

.

Carol said that she

would

rather

go

by bike than

walk

.

Mr Wilkins: I would rather you

didn't smoke

in here.

Mr Wilkins said he would rather I

didn't smoke

in his office.

Newspaper article: It's high time the government

did

something about this problem.

The article said that it was high time the government

did

something about the problem.

Jane: He looks as if he

knew

the answer.

Jane said that he looked as if he

knew

the answer.