Reported speech

Reported speech

English 6

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Introduction

Tip

Change in verb forms

Video

Practice

Introduction

When we talk about what someone said in the past, we often use reported speech: I don't know what happened. (direct speech) She said she didn't know what had happened. (reported speech) We ususally use the verbs say and tell in the past simple. After tell, you must include the person who was spoken to: My sister said (that).... My sister told me (that).... We can also include that before the reported words-however, it's not necessary.

Index

Change times

We change the verb forms in the reported words by shifting them back one tense.

Index

Tip

Don't forget to change the pronouns (e.g., I, You, She) and possessives (e.g., my, her, your) in reported speech, depending on who you are talking to. I like your shirt!' she said. She said she liked my shirt.

Index

video

Index

Practice

Index