(www.englishclub.

com)

If we want to say what somebody has said, we basically have two options:

1. We can use the person's exact words - in quotation marks "..." if we

are writing (direct speech).
2. We can change the person's words into our own words (reported
speech).

direct speech reported speech

(exact words) (my words)

He said: "I love He said that he loved me.

you."

Reported statements are one form of reported speech.

direct statement reported statement

He said, "I am He said that he was sick.

sick."

We usually introduce reported statements with "reporting verbs" such as

"say" or "tell":

 He said (that)...
 He told me (that)...

Reported Questions
Reported questions are one form of reported speech.

direct question reported question

She said: "Are you cold?" She asked me if I was cold.

He said: "Where's my He asked where his pen was.

pen?"

We usually introduce reported questions with the verb "ask":

 He asked (me) if/whether... (YES/NO questions)

 He asked (me) why/when/where/what/how... (question-word
questions)

As with reported statements, we may need to

change pronouns and tense (backshift) as well as time and place in
reported questions.

But we also need to change the word order. After we report a question, it

is no longer a question (and in writing there is no question mark). The word
order is like that of a normal statement (subject-verb-object).

Reported YES/NO questions

We introduce reported YES/NO questions with ask + if:

direct question She said, "Do you like coffee?"

reported She asked if I liked coffee.

question

Note that in the above example the reported question has no auxiliary "do".
But there is pronoun change and backshift.
Note that we sometimes use "whether" instead of "if". The meaning is the
same. "Whether" is a little more formal and more usual in writing:

 They asked us if we wanted lunch.

 They asked us whether we wanted lunch.

Reported question-word questions

We introduce reported question-word questions with ask + question word:

direct question He said, "Where do you live?"

reported He asked me where I lived.

question

Note that in the above example the reported question has no auxiliary "do".
But there is pronoun change and backshift.

Remember that there are basically three types of question:

1. YES/NO questions: Do you want tea?
2. Question Word questions: Where did you drink tea?
3. Choice questions: Do you prefer tea or coffee?
Reported choice questions have the same structure as Reported
YES/NO questions. Questions with the verb BE always have a different
structure: Was the tea cold? Where is my tea? You can see all these
differences in the examples below.

Look at these example sentences:

  direct question reported question

YES/NO I said: "Can I help you?" I asked if I could help her.

questions

She said to us: "Did you She asked if we had felt

  direct question reported question

feel cold?" cold.

He said: "Are your He asked whether my

hands cold?" hands were cold.

question-word He said: "Where are He asked me where I was

questions you going?" going.

He said: "Why didn't He asked me why I hadn't

you say something?" said anything.

He said: "When will He asked when they

they come?" would come.

He said: "Who has seen He asked me who had

Avatar?" seen Avatar.

He said: "How much He asked me how much it

might it cost?" might cost.

She said to me: "Where She asked me where the

is the station?" station was.

choice He asked, "Do you want He asked whether I

questions tea or coffee?" wanted tea or coffee.
   direct question reported question

He said, "Is the car new He asked whether the car

or second-hand?" was new or second-hand.

Contributor: Josef Essberger

Time and Place in Reported Speech

When we report something, we may need to make changes to:

 time (now, tomorrow)
 place (here, this room)

direct speech reported speech

She said, "I saw Mary She said she had seen Mary the day
yesterday." before.

He said: "My mother is here." He said that his mother was there.

Don't confuse time with tense. "Tense" is the grammatical form of the verb

that in the reported clause we sometimes shift back (backshift). "Time"
refers to the actual time that something happens, such as "today" or "now"
or "5 weeks ago".

Time words
If we report something around the same time, then we probably do not
need to make any changes to time words. But if we report something at a
different time, we need to change time words. Look at these example
sentences:

 He said: "It was hot yesterday." → He said that it had been hot the

day before.
  He said: "We are going to swim tomorrow." → He said they were
going to swim the next day.

Here is a list of common time words, showing how you change them for
reported speech:

direct speech reported speech

now then, at that time

today that day, on Sunday, yesterday

tonight that night, last night, on Sunday night

tomorrow the next day/ the following day, on Sunday, today

yesterday the day before/ the previous day, on Sunday

last night the night before/ the previous night, on Sunday night

this week that week, last week

last month the month before/ the previous month, in May

next year the following year, in 2014

two minutes ago two minutes before

 direct speech reported speech

in one hour one hour later

Place words
If we are in the same place when we report something, then we do not
need to make any changes to place words. But if we are in a different
place when we report something, then we need to change the place words.
Look at these example sentences:

 He said: "It is cold in here." → He said that it was cold in there.

 He said: "How much is this book?" → He asked how much the
book was.

Here are some common place words, showing how you change them for
reported speech:

direct indirect speech

speech

here there, in Starbucks

this that

this book the book, that book, War and Peace

in this room in the room, in that room, in the kitchen

 direct indirect speech
speech

Reported Requests
A request is when somebody asks you to do something – usually politely.
Reported requests are one form of reported speech.

direct request reported request

She said: "Could you open the She asked me to open the

window, please?" window.

He said: "Please don't smoke." He asked them not to

smoke.

We usually introduce reported requests with the verb "ask". The structure is
very simple:

ask + noun + to infinitive

pronoun

 We asked the man to help us.

 They asked us to wait.
Because we use the infinitive there is no need to worry about tense. But as
with reported statements and reported questions, we may need to
change pronouns as well as time and place in reported requests.

Here are some examples:

direct request reported request

I said politely, "Please make less I asked them politely to make

noise." less noise.

She has often said to me, "Could you She has often asked me to stay
stay the night?" the night.

They said to the architect: "We'd like They asked the architect to
you to meet us here tomorrow." meet them there the next day.

She will certainly say to John, "Please She will certainly ask John to
stay for lunch." stay for lunch.

She always says, "Please don't forget She always asks me not to
me." forget her.

Notice above that we report a negative request by using not.

Reported Orders
An order is when somebody tells you to do something and you have no
choice. It is not usually polite. It is a "command". Reported orders are one
form of reported speech.

direct order reported order

She She told him to stop.

said: "Stop!"

We usually introduce reported orders with the verb "tell". The structure is
very simple:

tel + noun + to infinitive

l

pronoun

 We told the man not to smoke.

 The policeman told us to follow him.

Because we use the infinitive there is no need to worry about tense. But as
with reported statements and reported requests, we may need to
change pronouns as well as time and place in reported orders.

Here are some examples:

direct order reported order

She said, "Eat your food now!" She told the boy to eat his food
right then.

The policeman said: "Get out of The policeman instructed us to get

 direct order reported order

your car!" out of our car.

She said, "You must make the She told her husband to make the
bed before you go to work!" bed before he went to work.

The doctor said: "Don't smoke in The doctor told them not to smoke
here!" in there.

Notice above that we report a negative order by using not.

The most common verb for reporting an order is "tell", but we can also use
other verbs such as: order, command, instruct. For example:

The sergeant commanded his men to stand straight.

1. Which is a reporting verb?

 tell
 go
 be

2. He said that it was cold outside. Which word is optional?

 said
 that
 was

3. "I bought a car last week." Last week he said he had bought a car

 a week ago
 next week
 the week before
4. "Where is it?" said Mary. She

 said where it is
 asked where it was
 asked if it was there

5. Which of these is usually required with reported YES/NO questions?

 if
 do
 why

6. Ram asked me where I worked. His original words were

 "Do you work there?"

 "Where do I work?"
 "Where do you work?"

7. "Don't yell!" is a

 direct request
 direct order
 reported order

8. "Please wipe your feet." I asked them to wipe

 your feet nicely

 their feet nicely
 their feet

9. She always asks me not to burn the cookies. She always says

 "Not to burn the cookies!"

 "Please don't burn the cookies."
 "Do not burn the cookies."

10. Which structure is not used for reported orders?

 order somebody to
 tell somebody to
 ask somebody to