REPORTED SPEECH

ENGLISH LANGUAGE II
 • When we want to tell someone what somebody else said
WHEN DO
WE USE DIRECT SPEECH: (the exact words someone used; quote
written between inverted commas)
REPORTED REPORTED SPEECH: (the exact meaning of what someone
SPEECH? said, introduced by a reporting/introductory verb like say or
tell; no inverted commas)
 • Present tense (up-to-date reporting)
e.g. Direct speech: ‘I like ice cream.’
Reported speech: She says (that)
she likes ice cream.
EXAMPLES • Past tense (out-of-date reporting)
e.g. Direct speech: ‘I like ice cream.’
Reported speech: She said (that)
she liked ice cream.
POSSIBLE CHANGES IN TENSES
Tense (* doesn't change) Direct Speech Reported Speech
She said (that) she liked ice
present simple I like ice cream
cream.
She said (that) she was living in
present continuous I am living in London
London.
She said (that) she had bought a
past simple I bought a car car OR She said (that) she bought
a car.
She said (that) she had been
past continuous I was walking along the street
walking along the street.
She said (that) she hadn't seen
present perfect I haven't seen Julie
Julie.
I had taken English lessons She said (that) she had taken
past perfect*
before English lessons before.
CHANGES IN MODAL VERBS
She said (that) she would see me
will I'll see you later
later.

would* I would help, but..” She said (that) she would help but...

She said (that) she could speak

can I can speak perfect English
perfect English.
She said (that) she could swim when
could* I could swim when I was four
she was four.
She said (that) she would come
shall I shall come later
later.
She said (that) she should call her
should* I should call my mother
mother
might* I might be late She said (that) she might be late
She said (that) she must study at the
must I must study at the weekend weekend OR She said she had to
study at the weekend
 • The tense changes are the same as in positive or
negative statements
• 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.
REPORTED • Auxiliaries and question marks are NOT used
QUESTIONS and we follow the order of an affirmative
sentence in the correct tense.
e.g. Direct speech: ‘Where do you live?’
Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
(indirect question)
TYPES OF QUESTIONS – EXAMPLES

• Yes / No questions
Direct Question
Do you love me?
Have you ever been to Mexico?
Are you living here?
Reported Question
He asked me if I loved him.
She asked me if I had ever been to Mexico.
She asked me if I was living here.
TYPES OF QUESTIONS – EXAMPLES

• Wh- questions

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.
REPORTED REQUESTS
• We use 'ask me + to + infinitive‘, as we don’t need to report all the words
the person said
• To report a negative request, use 'not‘
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.
Could you pass the milk, please? She asked me to pass the milk.
Would you mind coming early tomorrow? She asked me to come early the next day.
REPORTED ORDERS

• When someone tells you very directly to do something, we report this order
in the same way as a request.
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.
Don't smoke! He told us not to smoke.
CHANGES IN TIME EXPRESSIONS

• Possible conversions (these changes will depend on when we heard the direct
speech and when we say the reported speech)
now then / at that time
today yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27th of June
the day before yesterday / the day before /
yesterday
Wednesday / the 5th of December
last night the night before, Thursday night
last week the week before / the previous week
tomorrow today / the next day / the following day / Friday
 • We need to change personal or objective pronouns (like
‘I’ or ‘us’) and possessive adjectives to agree with the

CHANGES person who said the statement.

IN e.g. Direct speech: ‘I enjoy staying in my house at

PRONOUN weekends.’

S Reported speech: She said (that) she enjoyed staying in

her house at weekends.
 REPORTING VERBS – VERB PATTERNS

say + (that) + clause

e.g. She said (that) she had already eaten.

tell + someone + (that) + clause

e.g. I told John (that) I had seen the new film.

tell + someone + to + infinitive

e.g. She told the children to go to bed.
 REPORTING VERBS – VERB PATTERNS

ask + someone + if / question word + clause

e.g. I asked my boss if I could leave early.
e.g. She asked them where the station was.

ask + someone + to + infinitive

e.g. I asked Lucy to pass me the salt.
 REPORTING VERBS – VERB PATTERNS

advise + someone + to + infinitive

e.g. She advised him to see a doctor.
advise + (that) + clause
e.g. The staff advise that you carry water at all times.
advise + against + verb-ing
e.g. I'd advise against leaving early.
 REPORTING VERBS – VERB PATTERNS

agree + to + infinitive
e.g. We agreed to meet the following day.
agree + (that) + clause
e.g. I agreed that the children could do their homework later.

apologise + (to + someone) + for + verb-ing

e.g. They apologised to us for being late.
apologise (+ to + someone) + for + noun
e.g. She apologised for the delay.
 REPORTING VERBS – VERB PATTERNS

decide + to + infinitive
e.g. They decided to go to the cinema.
decide + (that) + clause
e.g. They decided that they would go to the cinema.

encourage + someone + to + infinitive

e.g. She encouraged him to take the exam again.
 REPORTING VERBS – VERB PATTERNS

explain + (that) + clause

e.g. The teacher explained that the course was finished.
explain + noun + to + someone
e.g. She explained the grammar to the students.
explain + question word + to + infinitive
e.g. They explained how to buy a train ticket on the internet.
explain + question word + clause
e.g. We explained what the exams would cover.
 REPORTING VERBS – VERB PATTERNS

insist + on + verb-ing
e.g. He insisted on paying.
insist + (that) + clause
e.g. He insisted that we sit down.

promise + to + infinitive
e.g. He promised to arrive early.
promise + (someone) + (that) + clause
e.g. I promised him that I wouldn't do it again.
 REPORTING VERBS – VERB PATTERNS

recommend + verb-ing
e.g. I recommend visiting the British Museum while you're in London.
recommend + (that) + clause
e.g. I recommend that you visit the British Museum

remind + someone + to + infinitive

e.g. She reminded him to take his keys.
remind + someone + (that) + clause
e.g. They reminded me that there is a party tonight.
 REPORTING VERBS – VERB PATTERNS

suggest + verb-ing
e.g. I suggest leaving soon
suggest + (that) + clause
e.g. I suggest that you come as soon as you can.

warn + someone + (not) + to + infinitive

e.g. I warned them not to go in the water.
warn + someone + about + something
e.g. She warned us about the dangerous roads.
 REPORTING VERBS – NEGATIVES

• To make the verbs that we have reported negative, we need to look at the verb pattern:

When there's a clause, we make the negative in the usual way:

e.g. She said that she didn't like ice cream.
When there's 'to + infinitive', we generally put 'not' before 'to':
e.g. He promised not to do it again.
When there's 'verb-ing', we generally put 'not' in front of it:
e.g. I advise not taking the bus.