Hi sir Joe.
It's I again. I just want to seek confirmation about how tense shift/change when transforming direct speech to indirect speech. This really confuses me a lot whenever I speak or write. My example would be more on situational.
Let's take the statement given below as our example. I'm a bit confused about the logic of tense usage here.
The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi announced that it will be conducting special passport renewal services for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on certain weekends this month.
They said that there would be sale in January 2015
vs
The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi announced that it would be conducting special passport renewal services for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on certain weekends this month.
vs
The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi has announced that it will be conducting special passport renewal services for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on certain weekends this month.
vs
The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi had announced that it would be conducting special passport renewal services for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on certain weekends this month.”
Reporting Clause tense / That Clause Tense
1. past (announced) future progressive (will be conducting)
2. past (announced) past progressive (would be conducting)
3. present perfect (has announced) future progressive (will be conducting)
4. past perfect (had announced) past progressive (would be conducting)
It's a bit confusing for me as to which tense should be used in a statement where action is yet to be completed or realized in the future.I know it has already been discussed and pointed out which is correct from amongst the statement but I would want to understand it also my in own way. I would like to also give you my stand about my understanding on the given sentences. Please do validate if I got it correct or not. Thank you sir Joe.
Firstly, my understanding about tense was challenged when I joined this forum. Before my knowledge was limited to the rules of usage prescribed by grammar books and to what was learned during my high school and college days. Lesson about this topic was not discussed comprehensively by my professors and teachers. When I joined this forum, I learned that tense usage is dependent on context and there would be times that shifting would be necessary. This is where I am coming from now.
As to the given example above, what confuses me is that the realization of action has not been completed yet and will be completed in the future,"it will be conducting special passport renewal services for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on certain weekends this month."
For me, either statement 1 or 3 can be used. Reason is that the event or action has not happened yet. The speaker may be considering the action.
If I were to order my choice of usage, I would use 1,3,2, and 4
Statement 2 and 4 would only be used if I would regard the action as already finished.
Please do give me feedback on this.
Thank you sir Joe.
