Câu tường thuật trong tiếng Anh (F1): Dạng câu trần thuật

Hãy xem qua các ví dụ sau đây:

1. My mother said to me, “I am ill today.”
   My mother told me that she was ill that day.
2. She said, “I hope you will stay here with me.”
   She said (that) she hoped I would stay there with her.
3. I often say to her, “I’ll do anything for you now.”
   I often tell her that I will do anything for her now.

Quy tắc

Cách chuyển từ câu trực tiếp (direct speech) sang câu tường thuật (reported speech) đối với dạng câu trần thuật (statements):

1. Chuyển “say to” thành “tell”, còn “said to” thành “told”.
2. Bỏ đi dấu phẩy.
3. Chuyển dấu ngoặc kép thành “that” (có thể bỏ).
4. Thay đổi đại từ (Pronoun) và tính từ sở hữu (Possessive Adjectives). Lưu ý ngôi thứ ba thì không cần đổi.
5. Thay đổi thì của động từ (Verb Tenses) nếu động từ giới thiệu trước đó dùng thì quá khứ (She said…).
6. Thay đổi những từ chỉ thời gian và nơi chốn.

Thay đổi thì trong câu tường thuật

• Simple Present (walk) => Simple Past (walked)
• Present Continuous (is walking) => Past Continuous (was walking)
• Present Continuous (has walked) => Past Perfect (had walked)
• Simple Future (will walk) => Conditional Present (would walk)
• Simple Past (walked) => Past Perfect (had walked)
• Past Continuous (was walking) => Past Perfect Continuous (had been walking)
• Conditional Present (would walk) => Conditional Perfect (would have walked)
• Past Perfect (had walked) => không đổi
• Conditional Perfect (would have walked) => không đổi

Thay đổi những từ chỉ thời gian và nơi chốn

• now => then
• today => that day
• this morning => that morning
• tomorrow => the following day, the next day
• yesterday => the day before, the previous day
• ago => before
• this, these => that, those
• here => there
• COME => GO

Bài tập

Chuyển những câu sau đây thành câu tường thuật:

1. The wife said to her husband, “I don’t believe you now, even when you swear you’re lying.”
2. He said to me, “It’s so hot today. Indians here are wearing sheets instead of blankets.”
3. The nurse said to me, “Your pulse is as steady as a clock this morning.” But I said, “You’ve got your hand on my wristwatch.”
4. He said to Bod, “My wife is really an angel.” And Bob said, “You’re really lucky, mine is still living now.”
5. The wise doctor said to a man, “You are ill now, you need a quiet life. I’ll prescribe a sleeping bill, but you must give it to your wife.”

A Handbook of English Sentence Writing
Giáo sư Lê Tôn Hiến

Ảnh: Freddy Kearney