Re: reportet speach

"Adrian Bailey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> "Owain" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > "Adrian Bailey" wrote
> > | > Original:
> > | > can you bring these letters to the post office ?
> > | The original should be: "Can you *take* these letters to the post
> office?"
> > | Both the speaker and the listener are not at the post office, nor is
the
> > | speaker going to be at the post office, so "bring" is not possible.
> >
> > The sentence, given without context, doesn't exclude that possibility.
If
> > the speaker and listener were arranging to meet at a later time at the
> post
> > office, the speaker might ask the listener to bring the letters with
him.
> >
> > Or the speaker might be at the post office and telephoning the listener
to
> > ask him to bring the letters to the post office.
> >
> > "These letters" may refer to letters which are being discussed, not
> > necessarily ones which are near by.
>
> You're trying too hard. Okay, the sentence doesn't exclude that
possibility,
> but it's all but excluded. Given the context in which the sentence was
> found, ie. an English lesson, I can only say that the sentence is a
mistake.
>
Unfortunately, it is not a mistake; just American English.
m.