REPORTED SPEECH
When we want to report what someone said, we can use "direct speech" or "reported speech".
We use "direct speech", when we give the exact words that someone said, and we use
quotation marks ( ".....").
*** Bill said, "I am at home."
In reported speech, we change some of the words that the person said and we don't use quotation marks.
*** Direct: " I am studying English.", he said.
*** Indirect: He said (that) he was studying English.
*** Direct: "I am studying English", he says.
*** Indirect: He says (that) he is studying English.
We usually use the verbs say and tell, without quotation marks. We use tell when there is an indirect object (Mary, me, us) and say when there is no indirect object.
*** “I am watching TV, " she said. She said that she was watching TV.
*** "I am watching TV, " she said. She told me that she was watching TV.
If we want to put a personal object with say, we use to.
*** 1 said to Mary that I was cleaning the house.
If we introduce reported speech with a Present Tense, Future or Present Perfect Tense, the tenses in the reported speech are the same as in the direct speech.
*** Mary says, " I get up at seven o 'clock in the morning." (present)
*** Mary says that she gets up at seven o 'clock in the morning. (present)
When the sentence expresses a general truth or something that is unlikely to change:
*** He said, "The sun sets in the west. "
*** He said that the sun sets in the west.
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DIRECT SPEECH
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REPORTED SPEECH
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Simple Present
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He said, "He wants to be a doctor."
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Simple Past
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He said that he wanted to be a doctor.
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Simple Past
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Mary said, "I bought a new book."
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Past Perfect
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Mary said that she had bought a newbook.
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Present Continuous
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He said, "I am studying English."
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Past Continuous
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He said that he was studying English.
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Past Continuous
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Jlll said, "I was watching TV. "
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Past Perfect Cont
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Jill said that she had been watching TV.
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Present Perfect
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Bill said, "f have learnt English. "
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Past Perfect
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Bill said that he had learnt English.
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Past Perfect
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She said, " I had seen the film."
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Past Perfect
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She said that she had seen the film.
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Present Perfect Cont
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Jane said, "I have been working since breakfast."
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Past Perfect Cont
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Jane said that she had been working since breakfast.
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am / is /
are + going to
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They said, " We are going to
swim in the sea."
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was / were
+ going to
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They said that they were going
to swim in the sea.
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will
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He said, "He will buy a new car. "
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would
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He said that he would buy a new car.
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can
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They said, " We can pay the bill."
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could
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They said that they could pay the bill.
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may
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She said, "I may get up early."
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might
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She said that she might get up early.
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must
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He said, "I must get up early."
She said, "He must be hungry."
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had to(obligation)
Must (deduction)
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He said that he had to get up early.
She said that he must be hungry
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must not
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She said, "You mustn't smoke."
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must not (prohibition)
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She said that I /we mustn't smoke.
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need
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He said, "I need to buy a ticket."
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needed / had to
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He said that he needed 1 had to buy a ticket.
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needn't
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She said, "I needn't go quickly."
She said, " f needn't get up early tomorrow."
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needn't/
didn't have to
(present) //
wouldn't have
to (future)
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She said that she didn't have to go
quickly. She said that she wouldn 't have to
get up early the following day.
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have to
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He said, " 1 have to study hard."
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had to
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He said that he had to study hard.
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NOTE : would, could, might, should, ought to do not change in Reported Speech.
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Direct Speech Reported Speech
then at that time
now then / at once
today that day
tonight that night
ago before
yesterday the day before / the previous day
tomorrow the next day / the following day/ the day after
last week (month/year) the previous week (month/year), the week before
next week (month/year) the following week (month/year)
the day after tomorrow in two days time, two days after, two days later
the day before yesterday two days before, two days earlier
this week (month/year) that week (month/year)
this that
these those
here there
come go
REPORTED SPEECH (QUESTIONS)
Reported questions usually start with “ask, want to know, wonder, inquire, etc”.
Reported yes / no questions need if or whether.
*** "Do you speak English ? "
*** The teacher asked me if I spoke English.
Reporter wh- questions need a question word, eg. “how, what, where, when, etc”.
*** "What are you doing now ? "
*** My mother asked me what I was doing then.
The word order is the same as in the statements and the tenses change according to the rules.
TYPE FORM
Yes - No Questions ask
Wonder + if / whether + Subject +Verb
inquire
want to know
Wh- Questions ask
Wonder + question word + Subject +Verb
inquire
want to know
*** "Can you play football ?"
*** He wondered if I could play football.
*** "Do you like this school ? "
*** She wanted to know whether I liked that school.
*** "What are you doing here ?"
*** The policeman asked the men what they were doing there.
*** "Where did Bill go yesterday?"
*** My father wondered where Bill had gone the day before.
NOTE : Whether often indicates uncertainty or doubt. It is used when there is a choice between two alternatives.
*** She wondered whether I had done my homework or not.
Question Tags are omitted in Reported Speech.
*** "She hasn 't finished her homework yet, has she ? "
*** He asked if/ whether she had finished her homework yet.
REPORTED SPEECH (COMMANDS & REQUESTS)
We use tell, ask, beg, order, advice, warn, etc. as reporting verbs. These are followed by a full infinitive in the affirmative. In negative we add not.
We usually report orders with tell someone + infinitive with to.
*** "Drive carefully!", they said. *** They told me to drive carefully.
*** "Don't make such a noise! ", he said. *** He told me not to make such a noise.
We usually report requests with ask someone + infinitive.
*** "Please call me when you get home ", Jane said.
*** Jane asked me to call her when I got home.
*** "Don't come with me tomorrow!", Jim asked his father.
*** Jim asked his father not to come with him the following day.
*** "Could you open the window, please ?", he asked.
*** He asked me to open the window.
*** "Would you mind waiting ?", he said.
*** He asked me to wait.
Note : *** "Let's go for a swim!" Bill said.
*** Bill suggested going for a swim.
that they go/went for a swim.
that they should go for a swim.
