Daniela Nunes / Master Program ICT in ELT

To express (in writing or oral way) what somebody said.

“report what another person has said”. (Müller & Pahlow, 2014)

“Expressing the content of statements, questions or other utterances, without quoting them explicitly as is done in direct speech.” (Wikipedia, 2014)

Direct speech

Sara says “I’m studying English”.

Sara said “I’m studying English”.

In writing, we use “” quotation marks

Indirect speech

Sara says that she is studying English.

Sara said that she was studying English.

The main verb is usually

past tense:

Sara said that…

Sara told me that…

The rest of the

sentence is usually past:

Sara said that she was studying English.

You can leave out “that”

Sara said that she was studying English.

Sara said she was studying English.

Other Important Remarks

Normally,

changes to present form

am / is

are

do / does

have / has

go

want

like

past form

was were did had went wanted liked

changes to present form

can

may

must

will

can

past form

could might had to would could

Examples…

Paul told you some things at

the phone (direct speech):

Then, you tell Sara what

Paul said (report speech):

“I’m at home.”

“I’m studying French.”

“I want to pass the last

exam.”

“After the exam, I’ll go

to the cinema.”

…he was at home.

…he was studying French.

…he wanted to pass the previous exam.

…after the exam he would go to the cinema.

Past simple… did /saw/knew

In reported speech, the past simple tense

can stay the same or change to past perfect

tense:

past simple

did

saw

knew

past perfect

had done had seen had known

would

might

could

should

ought to

would might could should ought to

Examples…

Sara told you some things at

the phone (direct speech):

Then, you tell Paul what

Sara said (report speech):

“I was at home.”

“I was studying

English.”

“I wanted to pass the

exam.”

“The exam had 3

pages.”

…she had been at home.

…she had been studying English.

…she had wanted to pass the exam.

…the exam had had 3 pages.

Examples… (cont.)

Sara told you some things at

the phone (direct speech):

Now, you tell your friend what

Sara said (report speech):

“The professor couldn’t

change the date.”

“I didn’t want to fail the

exam.”

“I was not going out with

you. I would phone you

when I finished studying

for my exam.”

…the professor couldn’t change the date.

…she hadn’t wanted to fail the exam.

…she hadn’t been going out with me. She would phone me when she had finished studying for the exam.

Remember… changes to this

today

tomorrow

yesterday

next week

/moth /year

Last week/

month/year

now just

ago

here

this

these

that

that day/the same day The next day/the following day The day before/ the preveious day The following week /month/year The previous week /month /year then before there that those

It would be nice if you report P!nk’s song “Who

knew?”, there you go… the lyrics:

P!nk – Lyrics of “who knew” “You took my hand, you showed me how. You promised me you'd be around. Uh huh, that's right.

I took your words and I believed. In everything you said to me. Yeah huh, that's right.

If someone said three years from now: you'd be long gone. I'd stand up and punch them out, cause they're all wrong.

I know better, cause you said forever, and ever. who knew?

Remember when we were such fools, and so

convinced, and just too cool. Oh no, no no.

I wish I could touch you again. I wish I could still call you a friend. I'd give anything.

When someone said count your blessings now, for they're long gone. I guess I just didn't know how. I was all wrong.

But they knew better Still you said forever, and ever. Who knew? Yeah yeah.

I'll keep you locked in my head, until we meet again. Until we, until we meet again. And I won't forget

you my friend. What happened?

If someone said three years from now: you'd be long gone. I'd stand up and punch them out, cause they're all wrong.

And that last kiss, I'll cherish until we meet again, and time makes it harder. I wish I could remember.

But I keep your memory. You visit me in my sleep.

My darling, who knew?

My darling, my darling, who knew? My darling,

I miss you. My darling, who knew? Who knew?”

Click here

Reported speech of P!nk’s song “Who knew?”.

So, P!ink said to him (a male friend) in her song:

He had taken her hand, he had showed her how. He had promised her he'd be around. Uh huh, that was right.

She had taken his words and she had believed in everything he had said to her. Yeah huh, that was right.

If someone had said three years from then: he'd be long gone. she'd stand up and punch them out, cause they were all wrong.

She knew better, cause he had said forever, and ever. who had known?

To remember when they had been such fools, and so convinced, and just too cool. Oh no, no no.

She wished she could touch him again. She wished she could still call him a friend. She'd give anything.

When someone had said count your (her) blessings then, for they were long gone. She guessed she just hadn't known how. she had been all wrong.

But they had known better Still he had said forever, and ever. Who had known? Yeah yeah.

She’d keep him locked in her head, until they met again. Until they, until they met again. And she wouln't forget him her friend. What had happened?

If someone had said three years from then: he'd be long gone; she'd stand up and punch them out, cause they were all wrong.

And that previous kiss, she‘d cherish until they met again, and time made it harder. She wished she could remember.

But she kept his memory.

He visit her in her sleep.

Her darling, who had known?

Her darling, Her darling, who had known? Her darling,

She missed him. Her darling, who had known? who had known?

Click here

I hope you enjoyed

References

Murphy, R. (2005). English Grammar in Use. A self-study reference and prectice book for intermediate students of English with answers (3th ed.) p. 94. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Definition of Reported Speech. Consulted 02 July 2014 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indirect_speech

Majid, A. (2010) Indirect speech for sentence having MODALS, “can, may, must. Consulted 04 July 2014 at: http://www.studyandexam.com/indirect-speech-for-modal.html

Pink, Max Martin, Lukasz Gottwald (2006) Who knew. Video Music video by P!nk performing Who Knew. (C) 2006 Zomba Recording, LLC. Watch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJWIbIe0N90

Müller, M. and Pahlow H., (2014). Reported Speech. Lingo4you GbR. Consulted 02 July 2014 at http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech