Reported Speech

REPORTED SPEECH

INDEX

Direct and Reported Speech

General aspects

Tenses

Words and expressions

Say and tell

Tell and ask

Reported orders / requests

Reported questions

Reported Statements

Reported suggestions

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Direct and Reported Speech

Direct and Reported Speech

You want to tell somebody what Stimpy said. There are two ways of doing this: 1. Direct Speech, or repeating Stimpy's words:Stimpy said "I'm feeling sick". 2. Reported Speech: Stimpy said that he was feeling sick.

General aspects

General aspects

The importance of the past

Present -> Past

When we use reported speech -> Main verb of the sentence usually in the past (Paul said that...). Rest of the sentence -> In the past too Stimpy said that he was feeling sick.

The present form in direct speech changes to the past form in reported speech. am/is -> was do/does -> did will -> would are -> were have/has -> had can -> could want/like/know/go etc. -> wanted/liked/knew/went etc.

Some don't change

That

Some tenses do not change from direct speech to reported speech: Past perfect could/would If the situation is the same -> verb doesn't change: Paul said "My new job is boring". Paul said that his new job is boring.

In general statements you can leave out that, specially when speaking: Stimpy said that he was feeling sick. Stimpy said he was feeling sick.

Tenses

Words and Expressions

Say and tell

Say and tell

If you say who somebody is talking to -> tell: Sonia told me that you were in hospital (not Sonia said me) Otherwise -> say Sonia said that you were in the hospital (not Sonia told that...) You can "say something to somebody": Anna said goodbye to me and left.

Tell and ask

Tell and ask

Tell and ask somebody to do something

Infinitive in reported speech -> Especially with tell and ask (for orders and requests): Direct: "Drink plenty of water," the doctor said to me. "Can you help me, please?" Jackie said to me. Reported: The doctor told me to drink plenty of water. Jackie asked me to help her.

Reported statements

Reported statements

• We introduce what somebody said using said or tell in the past (said or told). Other verbs may be used but these are the most common.
• Verb rolls back in time (Present -> Past, etc.)
• Changes in pronouns and time and place expressions

Direct speech: Tom said: "I'm here now". Reported speech: Tom said that he was there then.

Reported questions

Reported questions

YES/NO questions: - Verb ask + if/whether - No subject-verb inversion WH-questions: - We use the WH-word instead of if/whether.

Direct speech: "Do you want to meet him?" Tom asked her. Reported speech: Tom asked if/whether she wanted to meet him. Direct speech: "Why are you coming here?" Tom asked him. Reported speech: Tom asked why he was coming there.

Reported orders / requests

Reported orders / requests

ORDERS -> Direct speech into reported speech: - Imperative -> Infinitive - Main verb -> tell, order, etc. + Indirect Object - If negative sentence -> NOT before TO REQUESTS: - Main verb -> ask, beg, etc. WARNING: - Main verb -> warn, etc.

Direct speech: "Clean your room now" his father ordered him. Reported speech: His father ordered him to clean his room then. Direct speech: "Don't drink that water" he said. Reported speech: Tom told me not to drink that water. Direct speech: "Please change your clothes for the interview". Reported speech: She asked Tom to change his clothes for the interview.

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Reported suggestions

Reported suggestions

Main verb -> suggest, recommend, etc. If advice, main verb -> advise If invitation, main verb -> invite Two ways: 1. Sentence introduced by that + subject + verb (base form) 2. Sentence introduced by gerund + no subject

Direct speech: "Study for your test" the teacher recommended. Reported speech 1: The teacher recommended that we study for our test. Reported speech 2: The teacher recommended studying for our test.