Elena
Are my sentences in Direct speech correct? He explained that it wasn`t his fault. = He said, : "It isn`t my fault." They denied opening my letters. = They warned, "We don`t want to open your letters." She offered to help me with the housework. = She said, "I can help you with your housework." He complained that she was always tired. = He said , "She is always tired." They invited me to their party. = They said, "Go to our party." She threatened to call the police if they did it again. = She said, "If you do it again, I will call the police!" Thank youThey invited me to their party. = They said, "СOME to our party."
Aug 1, 2014 11:36 PM
Answers · 5
2
They all look good to me except for the second. They denied opening my letters. = They warned, "We don`t want to open your letters." It should be = They insisted, "We didn't open your letters." Why? -- Well, "deny" and "warn" don't mean the same thing at all. To deny is a way of contradicting what someone else has said. When you change this to direct speech, you can't really use "deny", but it should be a verb meaning "to state something forcefully". "Warn" does not work here. In addition "opening my letters" (which they denied doing) is something that happened in the past, so in direct speech it cannot be "we don't want to ..." Hope this helps. Learn hard, think free! Alan. [yes, I am an English teacher, and I *do* know that "hard" and "free" are adjectives, rather than adverbs, following a verb. Hey, that's the reality of modern day English. As the Borg are so fond of saying, "Resistance is futile."]
August 1, 2014
1
This looks good. The only mistake is in number 2: if you deny doing something, you say that you didn't do it. Do you want to have a go at trying number 2 again, and we can check it for you?
August 1, 2014
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