Tenses Questions Medium
The conditional simple tense in reported speech is formed by using the past simple tense of the verb "would" followed by the base form of the main verb. It is used to express a hypothetical or unreal situation in the past.
When reporting someone's words or thoughts in the past, if the original statement or thought contained the conditional simple tense, it needs to be changed accordingly in reported speech. The reporting verb and the tense of the reporting verb also need to be adjusted.
Here is an example to illustrate the formation and usage of the conditional simple tense in reported speech:
Original statement: "I would help you if I had the time."
Reported speech: He said he would help me if he had the time.
In this example, the original statement uses the conditional simple tense "would help" and the past simple tense "had." In reported speech, the reporting verb "said" is changed to the past simple tense "he said." The conditional simple tense is also changed to "he would help" and the past simple tense "had" remains the same.
It is important to note that when reporting conditional statements in reported speech, the verb tenses are shifted back one step. For example, the present simple tense becomes the past simple tense, the present continuous tense becomes the past continuous tense, and so on.
Overall, the conditional simple tense in reported speech is used to convey hypothetical or unreal situations in the past, and its formation involves using the past simple tense of "would" followed by the base form of the main verb.