Statements, questions, and commands

Ask and Tell

6. Report the sentences usingask ortell.

1. ‘Leave me alone,’ she said to him. She….

2. ‘Please, don’t go,’ he asked her. He…

3. ‘I’m going to bed now,’ he said to Anne.

4. ‘How much do you earn, Dad?’ asked Jeremy.

5. ‘Shut up,’ said the teacher to the class.

6. ‘Can you phone back later, Mr Brown,’ asked the secretary.

7. ‘You did very well in the test,’ said the teacher to everyone.

8. ‘Don’t walk on the grass,’ said the park keeper to the children.

Put into reported speech.

1. The traveller said, “I have been here before.” 2. Kate asked John, “Will you bring my letters back, please?” 3. The people said to the life-saver: “You have saved our lives, and we are very grateful to you.” 4. “I shall leave tonight for the country,” Tom said to his mother, “but I can be back tomorrow, if the train is running.” 5. “Today is our wedding anniversary” Jane said to her husband. 6. “You can come with me if you carry these suit-cases,” Anne told her brothers. 7. “Have you anything to declare?” the customs officer asked. 8. “Quite right, Gabriel, quite right,” she said. “You can’t be too careful.” 9. “Goloshes, Julia!” exclaimed her sister. “Goodness me, don't you know what goloshes are?” 10. “Come back immediately!” the mother said to her daughter. 11. “Life is so sad,” she murmured. 12. “Come for a walk round the garden,” Susan said to her friend. 13. “Is that you, John?” Sofia asked. 14. “Quicker! Quicker!” the caretaker asked the firemen. 15. “Shall I take half of the apples?” Cyril asked. 16. “Don't shout!” he cried. “What’s the matter with you?” 17. “It’s quite all right, dear boy,” said the aunt to her nephew. 18. “Well, why didn’t you say so immediately?” Mary said to Sue. 19. “I think it might be nice to have the fish fried,” Margaret said. 20. “That is perfectly true,” Robert said. 21. “How dare he come and talk to me about it?” she said. 22. “Well, anything I can do for you?” the clerk said. 23. “Sorry I was short-tempered yesterday,” Stella said. 24. “I hope you will take some more of this cake,” the hostess said. 25. “Thank you, the cake is really very good,” the guest said. 26. “What in hell was it that this boy did?” he cried. 27. “I won’t stand it,” she said. 28. “You look much less tired now,” Lilly said to her sister. 29. “I want this typed, if you please,” said Harry. 30. “Good morning, sir,” Jonny said. 31. “I've had rather a long journey I need some sleep,” he said in a low voice. 32. “Hullo, Tom, you’re very late,” John said. 33. “Look after the child,” she said to her husband. 34. “You did it on purpose!” Jane said to Harry. 35. “I won’t withdraw the accusation!” she said. 36. “Don’t go near it! It’s dangerous!” cried the fireman. 37. “I’m terribly sorry you should think that of me, Margaret,” Sue said. 38. “I’d go back tomorrow if I had the chance,” she confessed. 39. “Sick to death of your ways,” he said to his friend. 40. “You’ve got to do as you’re told,” the father said to his son. 41. “I’m frightened, Ann,” Jean said. 42. “Don't tell lies to me, Philip,” Ann said. 43. “Why did you wake me up so early?” Jonny said to his sister. 44. “She’s not coming back till tomorrow night,” Harry said to Ann. 45. “I get the impression, that you have lost the case,” one man said to another. 46. “I’m not done for yet,” he cried. 47. “You had better keep to the left,” the militiaman said. 48. “Yes, it is far,” he agreed. 49. “Yes,” the boy said miserably. 50. “Don’t cry! Get your head up!” he said to the boy. 51. “It is hardly likely that you can manage this car. Let me drive it,” the father said to his son. 52. “Is it the right way we are going, I wonder?” Edna said. 53. “Look here, you've skipped this passage,” the teacher said to the pupil. 54. “Well, I’ll give you a hint about the situation. It looks as if this job were already taken,” the clerk said to his friend. 55. “You may be sure I should be the last man to resent your taking this job,” David said to John.

Part III. The Passive Voice

Voice is a grammatical term which is used to tell whether the subject of the sentence is acting or is receiving an action expressed by the verb. The terms “active voice” and “passive voice” refer to the form of a verb. In the active voice the subject of the sentence is the person or thing doing the action:

        e.g. John cooked the food last night.

In the passive voice the action is done to the subject:

              e.g. This food was cooked last night.

We can form the passive only with transitive verbs: these are verbs which can be followed by an object. The passive voice is formed by combining the auxiliary verb “to be” with the past participle of the principal verb:

                                          Be + Participle II

There are some transitive verbs in the English language which correspond to intransitive verbs in Russian. They are affect, answer, assist, attend, follow, influence, join, help. They are used in the passive constructions in English but they are not used in the passive constructions in Russian, so there may arise some difficulty in translating passive constructions with these verbs into Russian.

              e.g. The man was followed by the dog.

         His question was not answered.

Her behaviour was influenced by the weather.

The passive constructions are used:

a) if the doer of the action is not known, so that an active construction is impossible.:

              e.g. My purse has been stolen ( I don’t know by whom).

b) if the doer of the action is self-evident or unimportant:

              e.g. He was crowned a king.

              Mistakes are always made.

c) if we don/t want to mention the doer of the action:

              e.g. I’ve been told that you are married.

d) if the object, the action is performed with, is more important than the doer of the action:

              e.g. Mary was punished by her father.

e) if what was done is more important than the doer of the action:

              e.g. America was discovered by Columbus.

The Passive Voice is mainly used in scientific prose.

The Passive Voice

1.1 State whether these verbs are transitive or intransitive:

Study, open, go return, play, arrive, wash, choose, hurt, eat, do, come, blow, breathe, care, carry, raise, lie, stop, lay, rise, catch, finish, cook, buy, step, slip, lose, read, speak, get, sink, sail.

Why do you think the passive constructions are used in these sentences?

1. The question was often put to me but I never answered it.

2. “Where is Frank?” “He’s taken care of.”

3. Ben was looked on as a sweet-tempered young man.

4. Mr. Smith was expected to return shortly.

5. The meal was somehow finished with, everyone moved out of doors.

6. I had been given a card to the Club and in the afternoon I used to go there to play bridge.

7. The house was locked when they set off.

8. When I arrived the family were in the sitting-room.

9. His calculations were proved wrong.

10. I was lent the book by my friend.

11. They had been caught by the war in Australia.

12. Two climbers are being looked for by the Scottish police in the Highlands.

13. The radio was invented by Popov.

14. The village was destroyed in the storm last week.

Note: When you use the passive, you often don’t mention the person or thing that performs the action at all. This may be because you don’t know or don’t want to say who it is, or because it doesn’t matter.

e.g. Her boyfriend was shot in the chest. Your application was rejected.

If you are using the passive voice and you do want to mention the person or thing that performs the action, you use “by”.

e.g. He had been poisoned by his girlfriend. He was brought up by his aunt.

You use “with” to talk about something that is used to perform the action (an instrument, tool, etc., which helps the agent to do an action).

e.g. He was killed with a knife. He was shot (by the policeman) with a revolver.

The doer of the action is not mentioned in 70% of passive constructions (in literature).But there are some verbs which demand mentioning the agent. They are accompany, attend, bring about, cause, characterize, control, follow, govern, influence, join, mark, rule, etc

e.g. He was accompanied by the crowd of correspondents.