Sequence of Tenses

The sequence of tenses is a certain dependence of the tense in the subordinate object clause on that of the principal clause. If the verb of the principal clause is in one of the present tenses, the predicate of the subordinate clause may be in any tense required by the sense (by the context)..

E. g. “I am arriving at 6.00,” Brenda says.

Brenda says she is arriving at 6.00.

“I’ll arrive at 6.00,” Brenda says.

Brenda says she’ll arrive at 6.00.

“I arrived at 6.00,” Brenda says.

Brenda says she arrived at 6.00.

The reporting verb is in the present when:

1. we are passing on messages:

E. g. ‘What does mother say?’ – She says you must come in now.

2. Reading aloud and reporting:

E. g. The instructions say that you connect this plug to the set.

3. Reporting what someone often says:

E. g. She’ s always t elling me how rich she is.

If the reporting verb is in the past,the verb (verbs) that follow in the subordinate object clause is in one of the past tenses.

This is the so-called sequence of tenses.

The person who reports someone’s speech can mix tenses. This depends on how the reporter views the relationship between the quoted sentence and the present time.

E. g. Jim says he ’s read Tony’s book and didn’t understand it. (=then, when he read it)

We can say::Jim says he’s read Tony’s book and doesn’t understand it. (= now)

But what commonly happens is that present attracts present and past attracts past, so we would probably say: Jim said he ‘ d read Tony’s book and didn’t understand it.

We move the reported clause one tense back. A useful general rule is: present becomes past and past becomes Past Perfect.

Object clauses occupy the position of object in the sentence, i.e. like objects they always follow the verb-predicate.

E. g. He didn’t know the answer. (object)

He didn’t know where the key was. (object clause)

Object clauses may be of three types:

wh clauses,

If / whether clauses

That clauses

E. g. He doesn’t know where the key is.

He doesn’t know if she has her own key.

He doesn’t know that she has her own key.

There is no comma between the principal clause and the subordinate object clause.

The word order in such subordinate clauses is direct because they are not questions but statements, and the wh- words are relative pronouns that serve to join the principal and the sub- clause. The predicate of the principal clause is usually expressed by verbs denoting mental activity such as to know, to think, to believe, to understand, to remember, to wonder.

E. g. I don’t know what happened. I was not at home.

I wonder why she left.

In object clauses introduced by who the word order in direct and indirect speech is the same, i.e. direct.

Direct speech: ‘Who came in first?’

Reported (indirect) speech: I don’t know who came in first.

If the principal clause is a question, a question mark is used at the end.

E. g. Can you tell me what time it is?

Do you believe that we need a national space program?

Do you think that people should be allowed to carry hand guns?

If the principal clause is a statement, a period (a full stop) is used at the end of the sentence.

E. g. I was wondering where you bought that tie.

I can’t remember when the train left.

You know, her parents have eight children – I wonder how they manage.

Wh object clauses often replace direct questions because they make a question more polite.

Direct question: When does the train arrive?

Indirect question: Can you (please) tell me when the train arrives?.

Do you know when the train arrives?

I wonder when the train arrives.

Subordinate object clause is often used when the verb-predicate in the principal clause denotes uncertainty (I can’t remember, I can’t understand, I’m not sure (certain), I have no idea).

E. g. I don’t know who was driving the car.

I don’t remember what his name was.

 

If / whether clauses like other object clauses have a direct word order.

E. g. Do you know if he is coming with us?

The phrase or not can be added to the end of such a clause if the clause itself is not very long.

E. g. I wonder whether she left or not.

Or not can immediately follow the conjunction whether but it can’t follow if.

E. g. I wonder whether or not she left.

Do you know if the bank is open today? – I’m not sure if it is open or not. They’ve recently changed their hours.

 

That clauses like other object clauses have a direct word order. There is no comma between the principal and the subordinate clause. The conjunction that is often omitted. These clauses follow verbs of mental activity (to agree, to assume, to believe, to bet, to decide, to discover, to doubt) to express opinions, thoughts and feelings.

Direct speech statements	Indirect speech statements
	Present indefinite becomes past indefinite Mac: ‘I need a holiday.’ Present continuous becomes past continuous Sue: ‘I’m not wasting my time.’   Present perfect becomes past perfect Tom: ‘I’ve had some good news.’ Present perfect-continuous becomes past perfect-continuous Pam: ‘I’ve been sleeping.’ Past simple becomes past perfect Lou: ‘I went home early.’ Past continuous becomes past perfect-continuous He said, “I was waiting for you.” Past perfect does not change Joe: ‘I had eaten earlier.’ Past perfect continuous does not change Pat: ‘I had been waiting for you.’ Modal verbs in the present become past (where there is a past equivalent) Tom: ‘I will see you later.’ Dot: ‘I can speak French.’ Kim: ‘I may arrive later’ Shall with a future reference becomes would Ron: ‘I shall speak to him.’ Shall in offers and suggestions becomes should Meg: ‘Shall I speak to him?’   Modal verbs in the past tense do not change Ted: ‘I could help you.’ Ann: ‘I might see him.’ Perfect modal forms do not change Sam: ‘i must have fainted.’ Don: ‘I couldn’t have said that.’ Ned: ‘I needn’t have gone there.’ Lyn: ‘I ought to have helped her.’ Should (advisable) does not change Lee: ‘I should go to the dentist’s.’ Should as an auxiliary verb in the conditional mood becomes would Dan: ‘If I were you I should get legal advice.’ Must (= necessity) either does not change or becomes had to Dan: ‘I must catch an early train.’ Jill: ‘I must speak to you.’ Must (=necessity in the future) does not change or becomes would have to Bill: ‘I must leave tomorrow.’ Must (=deduction or possibility) does not change Phil: ‘John must be a fool.’ Must (= prohibition) does not change or Becomes couldn’t Jean: ‘I mustn’t eat meat.’	Mac said (that) he needed a holiday.     Sue said (that) she was not wasting her time.   Tom said that he’d had some good news.     Pam said (that)she had been sleeping.   Lou said he had gone home early.     He said he had been waiting for me.   Joe said he had eaten earlier.     Pat said she had been waiting for me.     Tom said he would see me later. Dot said he could speak French. Kim said he might arrive later.     Ron said he would speak to him.     Meg asked if (whether) she should speak to him.     Ted said he could help me. Ann said she might see him.   Sam said he must have fainted. Don said he couldn’t have said that. Ned said he needn’t have gone there. Lyn said he ought to have helped her.   Lee said he should go to the dentist’s.     Dan said that if he were me he would get legal advice.   Dan said he must catch an early train. Dan said he had to catch an early train. Jill said she must speak to me. Bill said he must leave the next day. Bill said he would have to leave the next day.     Phil said that John must be a fool.   Jean said she mustn’t eat meat. Jean said she couldn’t eat meat.

If the direct speech is a complex sentence, only the first verb is changed according to the rules of sequence of tenses.

James: “I was walking home when I saw the accident.”

James said he had been walking home when he saw the accident.

 

The rules of sequence of tenses are not observed in the following cases:

1. If a message is being reported immediately.

E. g. Mary: ‘I’m too busy to come.’

Mary said she is too busy to come.

E. g. ‘Are you ready?’- “What did he ask?” – ‘He asked if I am ready.’

Cindy: ‘I am going out for a while.’

Maria: ‘What did she say?’

Rosa: ‘She said she is going out for a while.’

E. g. Announcement: “Flight 403 has arrived at gate 9.”

Mark: “What did the announcement say?”

Pat: “It said that flight 403 has arrived at gate 9.”

The reporter uses the same tense in the object clause because the time has not really changed very much.

2. If the object clause expresses a general truth.

E. g. The pupils knew that water boils at 100º C.

Columbus believed that the world is round.

 

3. If something is represented as habitual, customary or characteristic.

E. g. He asked the guard what time the train usually starts.

The manager told me that the supermarket doesn’t accept checks.

He wants to know when the bank opens.

4. If the reporter wants to show that the quoted sentence is still true, nothing has changed since it was pronounced.

E. g. Harry told me that he still loves you.

He said that the population of London is about 9 million.

She told me that she lives in Brighton.

5. If the predicate of the principal clause is a verb of mental activity denoting an action that takes place very quickly (to decide, to realize, etc.) the present or future can be used in the object clause.

E. g. Last night I realized that my report is very long.

We decided that he will be here by lunchtime.