REPORTED SPEECH

How to…

StatementsA statement is an affirmative (or negative) sentence

“I went to the cinema”, Peter said

“Mary does not love me”, Peter said

“My brother studies Spanish”, Peter said

“We play football on Saturdays”, Peter said

These are examples of Direct Speech. The written form, with “…” is the normal way of expressing somebody’s exact words.

When we tell what somebody said, we use REPORTED SPEECH. And we MUST change some parts of speech.

StatementsAfter reporting, the examples become these…

Peter said (that) he had gone to the cinema

Peter said (that) Mary did (does) not love him

Peter said (that) his brother studied (s) Spanish

Peter said (that) they play(ed) football on Saturdays

As you can see, some changes have been made. The most important ones are:

• Subject: it must always be the person we are talking about (name, pronoun, etc.)

• Verb tenses: they always shift to the PAST

StatementsVerb Tense Changes

Direct Speech Reported SpeechPresent Simple: “I go to school” Past Simple: He said he went to school

Present Cont: “They are studying” Past Cont: She said they were studying

Present Perfect: “She has been in London”

Past Perfect: John said she had been in London

Past Simple: “I saw a good film yesterday ”

Past Perfect: He said he had seen a good film the day before

Past Cont: “They were watching TV ” Past Perfect Cont: They said they had been watching TV.

Past Perfect: “The robber had ran away” Past Perfect : They said the robber had run away.

Future: “You’ll pass your driving test ” Conditional: The teacher assured he would pass his driving test.

Can: “I can ski on that hill” Could: He said he could ski on that hill.

May: “I may be late” Might: She said she might be late.

Must (obligation): “You must study harder”

Had to: My mother said that I had to study harder.

Must (deduction): “He must be ill” Must: The boss said he must be ill.

StatementsAdverbial Changes

Direct Speech Reported Speechnow / at the moment then / at that moment

tomorrow the next / following day

next week / year / … the following week / year …

this / these that / those

yesterday the day before / the previous day

last week / year / … the previous week / year …

Act always as if you were in real life: the changes are the same in English as in Spanish

here there

StatementsSay & Tell

The introductory verbs are usually Say + Reported Sentence or Tell + Object + Reported sentence:

“I’m going to the cinema tonight”

He said he was going to the cinema that night

He told me (that) he was going to the cinema that night

You must make changes in PRONOUNS (to agree with the person (s) we are talking about), VERB TENSES and ADVERBIALS of time and place, so that it becomes clear who, or what, or when or where we are talking about

QuestionsThere are several points in questions:

1. The introductory verb must be one of “ASKING”: ask, wonder...

2. The word order changes: The sentence becomes an “affirmative sentence”

3. Both sentences are joined either by “IF” (when we have a Yes/No Question) or by the interrogative adverb / pronoun (when we have a WH-Question)

4. The changes in tenses, adverbials or pronouns are the same as in affirmative sentences

QuestionsExamples:

“Are you going to the cinema?”

He asked John if he was going to the cinema

“Where are you going?”

He asked John where he was going

Do you prefer coffee or tea?

She asked me whether I preferred coffee or tea

Questions are often introduced by ask, inquire / enquire, wonder, want to know…

Orders

Examples:“Go out of class”

The teacher told me / John / her / us to go out of class

“Don’t talk so loud”

The doctor advised them / him / you not to talk so loud

They are usually introduced by tell, ask, order, command, instruct, forbid, request, beg, urge.

Orders are always introduced by verbs of “COMMAND”. They have a special structure in English

Subject+Verb of Command+Object (person to whom we give the order)+(not) to+infinitive

Reporting VerbsVerb+object+infinitive

Advise

Encourage

Invite

Remind

Warn

Verb + infinitive

Agree

Decide

Offer

Promise

Refuse

ThreatenExamples:Jack encouraged me to look for a new job. They invited all their friends to attend the presentation

Examples:She offered to give him a lift to work.My brother refused to take no for an answer

Verb+(that)

Admit

Agree

Decide

Deny

Explain

Insist

Promise

Recommend

Suggest

Examples:Tom admitted (that) he had tried to leave early.

Examples:She agreed (that) we needed to reconsider our plans

Reporting Verbs

Verb+Gerund

Deny

Recommend

Suggest

Verb+Object+Preposition+Gerund

Accuse

Blame

Congratulate

Examples:He denied having anything to do with her .Ken suggested studying early in the morning

Examples:They accused the boys of cheating on the exam. She blamed her husband for missing the train.

Reporting Verbs