10.9 Reporting an Imperative

husband that he (needs/needed) to take the kids out for exercise yesterday. But he told me that he

7.

(wants/wanted) to work on his car. He said that he (will/would) take them out next weekend. When I

8. 9.

asked him about the lunch he gave the kids, he said that they (ate/had eaten) a lot of popcorn while

they were watching TV, so they weren’t hungry for lunch. I always tell my husband that the kids

10.

(shouldn’t eat/shouldn’t have eaten) snacks before they eat a meal. Sometimes I say that I really

11.

(have/had) three children: my two kids and my husband!

12.

EXAMPLES

“Take a break from practicing the piano.” The parents told their daughter to take a break from practicing the piano. “Read me a story, please.” My daughter asked me to read her a story. To report an imperative, an infinitive is used. We use ask for an invitation or request. We use tell for a command or instruction. We don’t use say to report an imperative.

“Don’t watch TV.” My father told me not to watch TV.

EXPLANATION

For a negative, we put not before the infinitive.

EXERCISE 18 Change these imperatives to reported speech. Use asked or told + an object pronoun.

1. The mother told her kids, “Study for your test.”

The mother told her kids to study for their test.

2. The son said to his mother, “Give me a cookie, please.”

3. She told the babysitter, “Don’t let the kids watch TV all day.”

4. The girl said to her father, “Buy me a doll.”

5. The mother said to her kids, “Eat your vegetables.”

6. The father said to his daughter, “Help me in the garage.”

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