Say - Tell

• Say is used with or without personal object. When used with personal object, it is always
followed by the preposition 'to' (said to me)
She said, "I'm tired." She said (that) she was tired.
She said to me, "I'm tired.
She said to me (that) she was tired.
• Tell is always followed by a personal object (told me).
He told me, "I'm hungry.”
He told me (that) he was hungry.

Expressions with say, tell and ask:

1. SAY - good morning/afternoon etc. something/nothing, etc., a prayer, so, few words, etc.
1. TELL - the truth, a lie, a secret, a story, a joke, the time, the difference, one's name, sb the way,
one from another, one's fortune, sb so, etc.
2. ASK - a question, a favour, the price, after somebody, the time, around, for
something/somebody, etc.

Reported statements

• Personal pronouns, possessive adjectives/possessive pronouns change according to the meaning of the
sentence. "I'm getting my new PC tomorrow, James said. James said that he was getting his new PC the
next day.

• We can report someone's words either a long time after they were said (out-of-date-reporting) or a short
time after they were said (up-to-date reporting).

Out-of-date reporting

Note : The past perfect and past perfect continuous remain the same.Some words and
time expressions change according to meaning of the sentence as follows:

now then, at the time, immediately

today, tonight that day, that night

yesterday the day before, the previous day

tomorrow the next day, the following day

this week that week

last week the week before, the previous week

next week the week after, the following week

two days ago two days before

here there

come go

this, these that, those

Certain modal verbs change as follows:

will/shall would

can could (present reference)/

would be able to (future reference)

may might/could

shall should (asking for advice)/

would (asking for information)/
offer (expressing offers)

must must/had to (obligation) ('must' remains the same when it expresses logical
assumption)
"You must be excited,' Paul told Susan. Paul told Susan (that) she must be
excited. (logical assumption)

needn’t didn't need to/didn't have to (present reference)/

wouldn't have to (future reference)

Would, could, might, should, ought to, had better, used to and mustn't do not change.

Tenses and time expressions change in reported speech:

when the introductory verb (say, tell, etc) is in a "I'm moving to London next week, she said.
past tense. She said (that) she was moving to London the
following week.
in out-of-date reporting. (Monday 2nd June) Stan said, "I borrowed a book
from my sister.”
(Thursday 5th June) Stan said (that) he had
borrowed a book from his sister.
when we consider what the speaker says to be "Emperor penguins live in the North Pole, " Bob
untrue. said to me.
Bob said that Emperor penguins lived in the North
Pole. (we know they don't)
Tenses do not change in reported speech:
when the reporting verb (say, tell, etc) is in the
present, future or present perfect (when we pass
on messages, when we report the content of a letter
or article while reading it and when we refer to sth
sb says very often).
in conditionals type 2/type or wishes
"Dinner is ready," Mum says. ———Mum says
(that) dinner is ready.
"People use too much water,” the article says.
———The article says (that) people use too much
water.
„I wish I were on holiday," she said. ———She
said she wished she were on holiday.

Tenses can either change or remain the same in reported speech when:

the speaker expresses general truths, permanent
states or conditions.
the speaker is reporting something immediately
after it was said (up-to-date reporting).
"The Earth revolves around the Sun." he said.
———He said the Earth revolves/revolved around
the Sun. (general truth)
"The cake tastes delicious,' he said. He said (that)
the cake tastes/tasted delicious.

Reported questions
• Reported questions are usually introduced with the verbs ask, inquire, wonder or the expression
want to know.
• The verb in reported questions is in the affirmative. The question mark and words/expressions
such as please, well, oh, etc. are omitted. The verb tenses, pronouns and time expressions change
as in statements.
"What did you do after school yesterday?" Lynn asked me.
Lynn asked me what had done after school the day before.
• When the direct speech begins with a question word (who, where, how old, how long, when,
why, what, etc.), the reported question is introduced with the same question word.)
"How tall is Meg?" Pam asked me.
Pam asked me how tall Meg was.
• When the direct question begins with an auxiliary (be, do, have) or a modal verb (can, may,
etc.), the reported question begins with if or whether.
„Do you like classical music?" he asked us. He asked us if/whether we liked classical music.

Indirect questions
Indirect questions are used to ask for advice or information. They are introduced with: Could you
tell me …?, I wonder ..., I'd like to know ..., Have you any idea ...?, etc. and the verb in the
affirmative. If the indirect question starts with I want to know… or I wonder the question mark is
omitted.
"What time do the shops open?” ——— „Could you tell me what time the shops open?”
"How long will it take jo to fix my PC?”———„I wonder how long it will take Jo to fix my PC.”

Reported orders/requests/suggestions
• To report orders, we use the introductory verbs order or tell + sb + (not) to-infinitive.
"Get your feet off the table!" (direct order) ——— She told him to get his feet off the table.
(reported order)
"Don't let the dog out!" (direct order) ——— He told me not to let the dog out. (reported order)
• To report requests, we use the introductory verbs ask or beg + sb + (not) to-infinitive. The
direct sentence usually contains the word ‚please'.
"Pass me the salt, please, Tracy asked Jordan. ——— Tracy asked Jordan to pass her the salt.
„Please, please lend me your MP3 player," Lucy said to her brother. ——— Lucy begged her
brother to lend her his MP3 player.
• To report suggestions, we use the introductory verb suggest + -ing form/that sb (should) +
infinitive without ‚to'.
"Let's go away for the weekend," she said. ——— She suggested going/that we (should) go away
for the weekend.