7.2.2. The historical utterance and the modal auxiliary The historical utterance does not occur the sequence of tense because it is not relative to it. See the following examples. (15) a. I learned that America was discovered by Columbus in 1492. b. The teacher said that the Civil War began when Southern troops fired on Fort Sumter. Although it might be thought the past tense of the subordinate clause was used in the direct speech, the past tense is not changed into the past perfect form (PaPF). Moreover, the modal auxiliary verbs, "must" and "ought to", also does not occur because they do not have the past tense. See the following examples. (16) a. He said, "I must leave at once." b. He said that he must leave at once. (17) a. She said"We ought to go home." b. She said that we ought to go home. The two auxiliary verbs are not changed. Now, the subjunctive mood also does not occur, this is explained in the next chapter.

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