Short English grammar question

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1

Hello,

I know that - if it comes to INDIRECT SPEECH - I have to go back in the time tense. E.g.:
Direct speech: He says: “I am tired.”
Indirect speech: He said that he was tired.

But what about expressing my own thoughts indirectly? E.g.:
I talk with my son about last night and he is telling me: "I saw Helen in the cinema last night. " I didn’t know anything about the cinema and reply: “You went to the cinema last night? I thought you HAD STAYED at home, doing your homework!”

The question is: Is the last sentence of that short conversation right? Or should it rather be as follows: “I thought you STAYED at home, doing your homework.”??

So, do I have to apply the rule about indirect speech here?

I look forward to your help!

Katja

2

Hi Katja.

As a UK English speaker, I’d be more inclined to say: I thought you’d stayed at home, doing your homework.

Or: I thought that you were at home, doing your homework.

An American may say: I thought you’d stayed home, doing your homework.

Although the sentence you used seems grammatically correct, it doesn’t sound authentic. It sounds formal, and a bit unusual. We tend to like abbreviating you+would = you’d.

Not sure if this helped!