REPORTED SPEECH

Created by Gabriela Encheva

3rd High School of Natural Sciences
Varna
 REPORTING
 When do we use reported speech?
 Sometimes someone says a sentence, for example: "I'm
going to the cinema tonight".
 Sometimes someone wants to ask a question, for example:
“Where are you going?” or “Are you listening to me?”.
 Sometimes someone wants to request or order us to do
something, for example: “Could you do me a favour? or
“Don’t open the door!”
 Later, maybe we want to tell someone else what the first
person said. Here's how it works:
REPORTED STATEMENTS

 We use a reporting verb like 'say' or 'tell'. If this verb is in the

present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the
sentence. For example:
 
 Direct speech: I like ice cream.
 Reported speech: She says she likes ice cream.

 
 We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do

need to change the ‘person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We

also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'.
 On the other hand, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually
we change the tenses in the reported speech:

 Direct speech: She said,” I like ice cream.”

 Reported speech: She said she liked ice cream.
 
 That’s what we call the rule of “Sequence of Tenses”. According to this
rule, if the verb in the main clause is in the past, the verb in the
subordinate clause is also in the past.

 Apart from tense changes, some words and time expressions change
according to the meaning of the sentence.
LIST OF TENSE CHANGES

Tense Tense

Direct Speech Reported Speech

The Present Simple The Past Simple
The Pr. Continuous The Past Continuous
The Present Perfect Simple The Past Perfect Simple
The Present Perfect Continuous The Past Perfect Continuous
The Past Simple The Past Perfect Simple
The Past Continuous The Past Perfect Continuous/ The Past Continuous
The Past Perfect Simple The Past Perfect Simple
The Past Perfect Continuous The Past Perfect Continuous
The Future Simple The Future Simple in the Past
The Future Continuous The Future Continuous in the Past
The Future Perfect Simple The Future Perfect Simple in the Past
The Future Perfect Continuous The Future Perfect Continuous in the Past
can could
must/ have to had to
may might
shall should
needn’t needn’t/ didn’t need to/ didn’t have to
would, could, might, should, ought, had better, used to and DO NOT CHANGE
mustn’t
must Does not change when it expresses a logical assumption
LIST OF WORDS AND TIME EXPRESSIONS CHANGES ACCORDING TO THE MEANING OF THE SENTENCES.

Direct Speech Reported Speech/Indirect Speech

now then, at the time
today, tonight that day, that night
yesterday the day before, the previous day
two days ago two days before/ before two days
last month the last month, the previous month, the month before
tomorrow the next/following day
next month the next/following month
here there
come go
this/ these that/those
LIST OF WORDS AND TIME EXPRESSIONS CHANGES ACCORDING TO THE MEANING OF THE
SENTENCES.
EXAMPLES

 “You must hand in your homework tomorrow morning,” our teacher said to us.
Our teacher said/told us (that) we must/had to hand in our homework the
following/next morning.
 “I don’t want to go to school today,” Sammy said to his mother.
Sammy told his mother (that) he didn’t want to go to school that day.
 “My mother can look after the children next week,” Sue said to Harry.
Sue told Harry (that) her mother could/would be able to look after the children the
following/next week.
 “The last time I saw Jean was two months ago,” Diane said.
Diane said (that) the last time she had seen Jean was two months before.
 PERSONAL AND POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS CHANGE ACCORDING TO THE MEANING OF THE SENTENCE AS WELL.
EXAMPLES

 The woman said, “It is not my umbrella, mine is red.”

The woman said (that) it was not her umbrella, hers was red.
 Tom said, “I have a sports car. It is red.”
Tom said (that) he had a spots car and it was red.
 Mr. Brown said, “I don’t drive a car in the rush hour.”
Mr. Brown said (that) he didn’t drive a car in the rush hour.
 Terry said, “I am eating toasts for my breakfast now.”
Terry said that he was eating toasts for his breakfast then.
 John said, “I can swim well but I don’t have enough time to swim.”
John said (that) he could swim well but he didn’t have enough time to swim.
 My brother said to me, “I haven’t seen your girlfriend for ages”
My brother told me/ said to me (that) he hadn’t seen my girlfriend for ages.
 Occasionally, we don't need to change the present
tense into the past if the information in direct
speech is still true (but this is only for things
which are general facts, and even then usually we
like to change the tense):
 Direct speech: The sky is blue.
 Reported speech: She said that the sky is/was
blue.
 END OF FIRST PART
 Stay home!
 Stay healthy!
 Be responsible!
 WE ALL LOVE YOU!
REPORTED QUESTIONS

 So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and
negative sentences. But how about questions?
 
 How can we make the reported speech here? In fact, it's not so different from
reported statements. The tense changes are the same, and we keep the question
word.
 
 The very important thing though is that, once we tell the question to someone
else, it isn't a question any more. So we need to change the grammar to a
normal positive sentence.:
 
 Direct speech: Where do you live?
 Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
 Do you see how I made it? The direct question is in the present
simple tense. We make a present simple question with 'do' or
'does' so I need to take that away. Then I need to change the verb
to the past simple.
 Another example:
 Direct speech: Where is Julie?
 Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.
 The direct question is the present simple of 'be'. We make the
question form of the present simple of be by inverting (changing
the position of) the subject and verb. So, we need to change them
back before putting the verb into the past simple.
 HERE ARE SOME MORE EXAMPLES:

Direct Question Reported Question

“Where is the Post Office, please?” She asked me where the Post Office was.
“What are you doing?” She asked me what I was doing.
“Who was that fantastic man?” She asked me who that fantastic man had been.
 
 
 So much for 'wh' questions. But, what if you need
to report a 'yes / no' question? We don't have any
question words to help us. Instead, we use 'if ”

Direct Question Reported Question

“Do you love me?” He asked me if I loved him.
“Have you ever been to Mexico?” She asked me if I had ever been to Mexico.
“Are you living here?” She asked me if I was living here.
 END OF SECOND PART
 Stay home!
 Stay healthy!
 Be responsible!
 WE ALL LOVE YOU!
REPORTED REQUESTS

 There's more! What if someone asks you to do

something (in a polite way)?
 For example:
Direct Request Reported Request

“Please,help me”. She asked me to help her.

“Please, don't smoke”. She asked me not to smoke.

“Could you bring my book tonight?”

She asked me to bring her book that night.

REPORTED REQUESTS

 All of these requests mean the same thing, so we

don't need to report every word when we tell
another person about it. We simply use 'ask me +
to + infinitive':
REPORTED ORDERS

 And finally, how about if someone doesn't ask so politely?

We can call this an 'order' in English, when someone tells
you very directly to do something.
 In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as
a request. We just use 'tell' instead of 'ask‘
 For example:
 Direct speech: Sit down!
 Reported speech: He told/ordered me to sit.
ORDERS

Direct Order Reported Order

   
“Go to bed!” He told the child to go to bed.
“Don't worry!” He told her not to worry.
“Be on time!” He told me to be on time.
 END OF THIRD PART
 Stay home!
 Stay healthy!
 Be responsible!
 WE ALL LOVE YOU!
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Introductor Direct speech Reported speech

y Verb
to-
infinitive 1.“Yes, I’ll drive you home. ” 1. He agreed to drive me home.
agree 2."I’ve won £1,000,000." 2. He claimed to have won £1,000,000.
claim 3."Give me your wallet. ” 3. He demanded to be given my wallet.
demand 4.“Would you like me to help?" 4. He offered to help.
offer 5.“I’ll meet you at the cafe. ” 5. He promised to meet me at the cafe.
promise 6“No, I won’t do the shopping." 6. He refused to do the shopping.
refuse 7.“Be quiet or I'll send you to your room. ” 7. She threatened to send me to my room if I wasn’t quiet.
threaten
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Introductory Verb Direct speech Reported speech

sb + to-
infinitive 1.“You should eat less junk food. ” 1. He advised me to eat less junk food.
advise 2.“Could you open the window?" 2. He asked me to open the window.
ask 3.“Please, please don’t hurt me." 3. He begged me not to hurt him.
beg 4.“Give me all your money. ” 4. He commanded them to give him all their money.
command 5.“You should study Maths. ” 5. He encouraged me to study Maths.
encourage 6.“You mustn’t park here." 6. He forbade me to park there.
forbid 7.“Will you come to my party?” 7. He invited me to (go to) his party.
invite 8.“Stop talking!" 8. He ordered me to stop talking.
order 9.“Don’t forget to feed the dog. ’’ 9. He reminded me to feed the dog.
remind 10.“Don’t touch those wires.” 10. He warned me not to touch the wires.
warn
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Introductory Verb Direct speech Reported speech

-ing form
accuse sb of 1.“You stole my gold watch." 1. He accused him of stealing / having stolen his gold watch.
admit (to) 2.“Yes, I lied to you. ” 2. He admitted (to) lying/having lied to me.
apologise for 3.“I'm sorry I broke your mug. ” 3. He apologised for breaking my mug.
boast about/of 4.“I'm the best tennis player in the world. ” 4. He boasted about/of being the best tennis player in the world.
complain (to sb) of 5.“I live very far away from the city centre." 5. She complained (to me) of living very far away from the city centre.
deny 6.“No, I didn’t use your keys. ” 6. He denied using/having used my keys.
insist on 7.“You must rest more. ” 7. He insisted on me/my resting more.
suggest 8.“Let’s go to the cinema. ” 8. She suggested going to the cinema.
 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Introductory Direct speech Reported speech

Verb
that-clause
explain 1.“I liked his latest film because it was exciting.” 1. She explained that she liked his latest film because it was exciting.
inform sb 2.“The manager will be back at noon." 2. He informed us that the manager would be back at noon.
 END OF PRESENTATION
 Stay home!
 Stay healthy!
 Be responsible!
 WE ALL LOVE YOU!