Indirect Speech

Verbs often undergo tense changes in indirect speech. This commonly occurs in content clauses (typically that-clauses and indirect questions, when governed by a predicate of saying (thinking, knowing, etc.) which is in the past tense or conditional mood.

In this situation the following tense and aspect changes occur relative to the original words.

Changes to past:

• "I like apples." → He said that he liked apples.
• "We are riding." → They claimed that they were riding.
• "You have sinned." → I was told that I had sinned.

Changes to past perfect (and sometimes past progressive to past perfect progressive):

• "They finished all the wine earlier." → He thought they had finished all the wine earlier.

This change does not normally apply, however, when the past tense is used to denote an unreal rather than a past circumstance (e.g., expressions of wish, conditional sentences and dependent clauses):

• "I would do anything you asked." → He said he would do anything she asked.

Changes to conditional, also referred to as future-in-the-past (i.e. will/shall changes to would/should):

• "The match will end in a draw." → He predicted that the match would end in a draw.

The modals can and may change to their preterite forms could and might :

• "We may attend." → She told us that they might attend.

Verb forms not covered by any of the above rules (verbs already in the past perfect, or formed with would or other modals not having a preterite equivalent) do not change. Note that application of the above rules is not compulsory; sometimes the original verb tense is retained, particularly when the statement (with the original tense) remains equally valid at the moment of reporting:

• "The earth orbits the sun." → Copernicus stated that the earth orbits the sun.

Note also that the above tense changes do not apply when the verb of saying (etc.) is not past or conditional in form; in particular there are no such changes when that verb is in the present perfect: He has said that he likes apples.

Present

Present tense is used, in principle, to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time (or over a period that includes the present time) and general truths. However the same forms are quite often also used to refer to future circumstances, as in "He's coming tomorrow" (hence this tense is sometimes referred to as present-future or nonpast). For certain grammatical contexts where the present tense is the standard way to refer to the future, e.g., conditional sentences and dependent clauses. It is also possible for the present tense to be used when referring to no particular real time (as when telling a story), or when recounting past events (the historical present, particularly common in headline language). The present perfect intrinsically refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

The present tense has two moods, indicative and subjunctive; when no mood is specified, it is often the indicative that is meant. In a present indicative construction, the finite verb appears in its base form, or in its -s form if its subject is third-person singular. (The verb be has the forms am, is, are, while the modal verbs do not add -s for third-person singular.)

Past

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past, although they also have certain uses in referring to hypothetical situations (as in some conditional sentences, dependent clauses and expressions of wish). They are formed using the finite verb in its preterite (simple past) form.

Certain uses of the past tense may be referred to as subjunctives; however the only distinction in verb conjugation between the past indicative and past subjunctive is the possible use of were in the subjunctive in place of was.

Note also that in certain contexts past events are reported using the present perfect.

Future

English is sometimes described as having a future tense, although since future time is not specifically expressed by verb inflection, some grammarians identify only two tenses (present or present-future, and past). The English "future" usually refers to a periphrastic form involving the auxiliary verb will (or sometimes shall when used with a first-person subject). There also exist other ways of referring to future circumstances, including the going to construction, and the use of present tense forms. For particular grammatical contexts where the present tense substitutes for the future, see conditional sentences and dependent clauses. For discussion and comparison of the various ways of making future reference in English, see going-to future.

For specific uses of future constructions formed with will/shall, see future.

Future-in-the-past

A "future-in-the-past" tense (or form) is sometimes referred to. This takes essentially the same form as the conditional, that is, it is made using the auxiliary would (or sometimes should in the first person).

This form has a future-in-the-past meaning in sentences such as She knew that she would win the game. Here the sentence as a whole refers to some particular past time, but would win refers to a time in the future relative to that past time.

B2 / Upper Intermediate

A CEFR B2 level English language user is considered to be at Upper intermediate level. A B2 level English language user is expected to have the following abilities:

• Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of specialization.
• Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
• Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
• Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning.
• Can express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions.
• Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.
• Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.

In summary, at B2 level, English language users are expected to have a high level of fluency and comprehension, with the ability to understand and produce complex language. They should be able to communicate effectively in a variety of settings, both social and professional. They should be able to use the language flexibly and with a high degree of accuracy.

B2 | Upper Intermediate.

Difficulty: Hard

Hard difficulty. Difficulty levels represent author's opinion about how hard a question or challenge is.