Reported speech question?

Question

I had to do something --> She said she_______something.
Does it go "had had to do" or sth else?

But " I have to do sth" goes "She said she had to do sth". Is it the same?

Answer 1

depends on what the original sentence was...for example

Sue: I have to do something
She said she had to do something

Sue: I had to do something
She said that she had had to do something

Remember you always have to go one tense back...if the original sentence is in present, the reported sentence is in past...if the original sentence is in past then you use past perfect for the reported one

Answer 2

The correct way goes like this:

Direct speech [She:] "I have to do something."
Indirect speech: "She said she had to do something."

This rule is rigorously obeyed by most native speakers.

Direct speech: "I had to do something last week."
Indirect speech: "She said she had had to do something ..."

This rule is obeyed by only a minority of speakers. If you put it like this:

She said she had to do something [last week]

I don't think many people would perceive a grammatical error there, even though there is one, because that is the way they would say it themselves. To be honest, I think British English has changed quite significantly in the last 20 years ... and that rule is now "honoured more in the breach than the observance". But grammarians take a generation to catch up with linguistic evolution, and in the interim, the purists moan about "the death of the language".

Normal practice in American English might well be different though ... I wouldn't know about that.

Answer 3

She said she had to do sth.No difference.
However note that changing the tense is not always nessecery.
So if you want to report this: 'I have to do sth.' It can be: She says she has to do sth OR EVEN She said she has to do sth (if the desire is still fresh.)

Answer 4

Yes - 'she said she had had to do something' is technically correct British English, because it refers to a time before. Although, in speech it is often just shortened to 'she said she had to do something' because it's not often that you have to show the difference in meaning. I don't think 'had had' is common in American English either.

Answer 5

Just: She said she had to do something.

Answer 6

She said she had to do something.

Answer 7

"I have to do something" she said.

Answer 8

What??