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Can I use "Would" instead of the infinitive?

English Language & Usage Asked by Abdelbasset on June 16, 2021

In the example, "I expect she will not tell the truth/ I don’t expect she will tell the truth," said the judge.

My teacher said that it should be reported this way, "The judge didn’t expect her to tell the truth"

But can we report it by saying, "The judge didn’t expect she would tell the truth"?

One Answer

"Would" is used after past reporting verbs where "will" was used in direct speech. This is contained in Practical English Usage (Michael Swan, OUP 1995, n° 604, indirect speech). Therefore, the two formulations can be used for the same purpose.

(PEU)
direct: Tomorrow will be fine.
indirect: The forecast said that the next day would be fine.

reporting verbs: resources for learning english

Correct answer by LPH on June 16, 2021

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