REPORTED SPEECH – 2nd Bach.

A. INTRODUCTORY VERB + THAT sentence in Reported Speech

SAY (OPTIONAL. To someone) He SAID (to her) that he was studying.
TELL someone She TOLD him that she was angry.
ADD They ADDED that they wanted to say something else.
ANNOUNCE They ANNOUNCED that they would get married in June.
ANSWER He ANSWERED that he lived in Burgos.
REPLY They REPLIED that they had done the test the previous week.
COMPLAIN They COMPLAINED that the tickets were too expensive.
DECLARE They DECLARED that they hadn’t seen anything.
EXCLAIM She EXCLAIMED that he had won the lottery.
EXPLAIN She EXPLAINED that he couldn’t do it because she was tired.
PROMISE* He PROMISED that he would do it the following morning.
DENY* We DENIED that we had been near the crime scene.
ADMIT* He ADMITTED that he had been flirting with her friend.
* PROMISE can also be followed by a TO INFINITIVE if the context requires so.
* DENY and ADMIT can also be followed by -ING (a gerund)

Changes (COMMON SENSE IS THE FIRST, MAIN RULE)

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH
Pronouns (subject and
1st and 2nd person 3rd person
object) + possessive
ad/pr
Present Past
Past Past Perfect
Past Perfect =
Future (WILL) Conditional (WOULD)
Conditional =
Tenses Can Could
Could =
May Might
Might =
Should =
Must Had to
Present Simple + Usually Used to

Now Then, in that moment

Today That day
Yesterday The previous day, the day before
Other changes (adverbs Tomorrow The following day, the day after
and demonstratives) Next … The following …
Last … The previous …
… ago …. before
Here There
*** These changes This That
happen in all the These Those
structures That =
Those =
 Practise A:
1. “The test has been terribly difficult”, said Ann.

2. “The new theatre will be officially opened next Monday”, said the Mayor.

3. “We usually come here on foot”, they said.

4. “You must try my home‐made pie, Sarah”, he said.

5. “My mother must be really tired after such a long journey”, he said.

6. “I think that this is a nice colour”, she said.

7. “I may not be able to meet you at the airport because I’m ill”, he said to her.

8. “I did nothing to him so I don’t understand why he’s accusing me”, she said.

9. “Yes, I was snooping on your WhatsApp. I will never do it again”, she said.

10. “I didn’t teach Modal Verbs two days ago”, the teacher said.

11. “The Prime Minister has been shot !!!”, said that man.

B. INTRODUCTORY VERB + TO infinitive

OFFER He OFFERED to help them.
THREATEN They THREATENED to kill his daughter.
AGREE* /REFUSE She AGREED/REFUSED to answer the question.
PROMISE* We PROMISED to come back.
DIRECT SPEECH OFFERINGS:
“I “I will…”/ “Shall I …?”

Practise B:

1. “Shall I carry your bag?”, said Patrick.

2. “I’ll write every day”, he said.

3. “No, I won’t do it”, she said.

4. “I’ll punish you if you don’t come home immediately”, Dad said to Helen.

5. “I will help you with your homework”, the lass said to me.

6. “OK, we will celebrate the party next weekend”, he said.

C. INTRODUCTORY VERB + someone + TO/not TO infinitive
TELL She TOLD him not to move.
ORDER He ORDERED them to shoot their guns.
FORBID She FORBADE him to say a word about it.
ASK They ASKED her to help them with their homework. (Polite)
BEG The boy BEGGED his mother to stay in.
ADVISE She ADVISED him not to talk to Peter.
WARN They WARNED her to go upstairs carefully.
INVITE I INVITED Mary to have dinner.
WANT He WANTED her to go with him.

COMMANDS: The imperative.

DIRECT SPEECH POLITE REQUESTS: “Can you…?” / “Could you….?” / “…., please”.
PIECES OF ADVICE: “You should…”/ “If I were you, I would…”/ “You ought to…”/ “You had better…”
INVITATIONS: “Would you like to…?”

Practise C:

1. “Open the safe!”, the robbers said to the bank clerk.

2. “Don’t make too much noise, children”, he said.

3. “Do whatever you like”, she said to us.

4. “Read it before you sign it”, he said to his client.

5. “You had better speak to the manager”, she said to him.

6. “Would you like to have a drink, Susan?”, Peter said.

7. “Please, please, put down that gun. It’s loaded”, she said to him.

8. “Could you leave this space clear, please?”, she said.

D. INTRODUCTORY VERB + FOR/ON/OF gerund

APOLOGIZE He APOLOGISED for being late.

THANK someone She THANKED him for calling.
CONGRATULATE someone I CONGRATULATED him on passing the test.
ACCUSE someone The detective ACCUSED him of murdering the boy.

Practise D:

1. “I’m sorry I forgot your birthday”, Paul said.

2. “Thank you. It was very nice of you to come, Mrs Hughes”, Sam said.

3. “This man stole the money”, Sam said.

4. “Congratulations! You have got the job!”, I said to Peter.

 E. INTRODUCTORY VERB + gerund

DENY She DENIED witnessing the crime.

ADMIT They ADMITTED eating the cake.
SUGGEST* (Explained below)

Practise E:

1. “Yes, it was me who broke the window”, he said.

2. “No, I didn’t kill him”, she said.

 * SUGGEST
a) + ing She SUGGESTED going for a walk.
b) + sentence with SHOULD She SUGGESTED that he should go for a walk.
c) + sentence with SHOULD OMMITTED She SUGGESTED that he go for a walk.

DIRECT SPEECH SUGGESTIONS: “Let’s + infinitive”/ “ What about + …ING?”/ “We could…” / “Shall we…?” / “Why don’t …?”

*** SUGGEST can be followed directly by a gerund (when the subject of the sentence is involved in
the action), or by a possessive adjective + a gerund (when someone suggests that other person
should do something). It is also possible to use the Saxon Genitive.

Examples:

He SUGGESTED going to Glastonbury. (He goes to Glastonbury, too) (As in 7.a)

He SUGGESTED my going to Glastonbury. (He doesn’t go to Glastonbury)
He SUGGESTED Mary’s going to Glastonbury. (He doesn’t go to Glastonbury, either)

Practise with the verb SUGGEST:

1. “Let’s play darts”, he said.

2. “Shall we dance?”, said the lass.

3. “Why don’t you talk to him face to face?”, she said to John.

4. “What about going to Martha’s place?, they said.

*** FINAL TIP:

Do not mix real questions with other interrogative structures we can

use to express polite requests, invitations, offerings or suggestions.
e.g. “Shall we watch a film?” is not a question but a suggestion.
QUESTIONS in REPORTED SPEECH (No questions any more)

INTRODUCTORY VERB + IF/WH- + affirmative/negative sentence in R. S.

ASK They ASKED if he was Spanish.

WONDER He WONDERED what he couldn’t do for her.
WANT TO KNOW She WANTED TO KNOW if he had two brothers.
INQUIRE They INQUIRED how long she had been there.

Practise Questions:

1. “What country do you come from?”, Bill asked me.

2. “How long have you been here?”, Ann said to him.

3. “Were you working the whole afternoon?”, Peter asked Ann.

4. “Where were you two days ago, Mr Jones?”, he said.

5. “Do you want to buy any second‐hand books?”, Bill asked me.

6. “Did they understand what you said to them?”, he asked me.

If you managed to learn how to use Reported Speech, …

- How would you say this message in Reported Speech? Start: The teacher…