Scribd
Upload
66 views2 pages

Reported Speech - Explanation

This document discusses direct and reported speech. It explains that reported speech is used to tell someone else what another person said. When reporting a statement, the tense typically changes from direct to reported speech. It also covers how to report questions, requests, orders, and time expressions.

Uploaded by

Filip Jeremic
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
66 views2 pages

Reported Speech - Explanation

This document discusses direct and reported speech. It explains that reported speech is used to tell someone else what another person said. When reporting a statement, the tense typically changes from direct to reported speech. It also covers how to report questions, requests, orders, and time expressions.

Uploaded by

Filip Jeremic
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH / REPORTED SPEECH

When do we use reported speech? Sometimes someone says a sentence, for example "I'm going to the cinema tonight". Later,
maybe we want to tell someone else what the first person said.

We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the
sentence:
 Direct speech: “I like ice cream”
 Reported speech: She says she likes ice cream.
We can report somebody’s:

STATEMENTS “I am seeing my friends tonight”


She says that she is seeing her friends tonight.

QUESTIONS “Have you ever visited Spain?” / “Do you speak German?”
He asks if / whether she has ever visited Spain. He asks her if she speaks German.
“Where do you live?”
She asks me where I live.

COMMANDS, “Close the door, please” She tells me to close the door.
REQUESTS “Please don’t shout” He begs us not to shout.

EXERCISES:

“My friends and I will go to the seaside next Friday” He is saying….


“I met Peter a week ago at the supermarket” She has just told me …….
“Don’t turn up the music, turn it off” She tells us not to turn the music up, but to turn it off.

But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech:
 Direct speech: “I like ice cream”
 Reported speech: She said she liked ice cream

Tense Direct Speech Reported Speech


present simple “I like ice cream” She said (that) she liked ice cream.
present
“I am living in London” She said she was living in London.
continuous
past simple “I bought a car” She said she had bought a car.
past continuous “I was walking along the street” She said she had been walking along the street.
present perfect “I haven’t seen Julie” She said she hadn’t seen Julie.
past perfect* “I had taken English lessons before” She said she had taken English lessons before.
will “I’ll see you later” She said she would see me later.
would* “I would help, but..” She said she would help but...
can “I can speak perfect English” She said she could speak perfect English.
could* “I could swim when I was four” She said she could swim when she was four.
shall “I will come later” She said she would come later.
should* “I should call my mother” She said she should call her mother
may
might* "I might be late" She said she might be late
She said she must study at the weekend OR She said she had to
must "I must study at the weekend"
study at the weekend

Reported Questions
 Direct speech: "Where do you live?"
 Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
 Direct speech: "Where is Julie?"
 Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.

Direct Question Reported Question


“Where is the Post Office, please?” She asked me where the Post Office was.
“What are you doing?” She asked me what I was doing.
“Who was that fantastic man?” She asked me who that fantastic man had been.
So much for 'wh' questions. But, what if you need to report a 'yes / no' question? We don't have any question words to help
us. Instead, we use 'if':
 Direct speech: "Do you like chocolate?"
 Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.
Direct Question Reported Question
“Do you love me?” He asked me if I loved him.
“Have you ever been to Mexico?” She asked me if I had ever been to Mexico.
“Are you living here?” She asked me if I was living here.

Reported Requests
There's more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example:

 Direct speech: "Close the window, please"


 Or: "Could you close the window please?"
 Or: "Would you mind closing the window please?"

All of these requests mean the same thing, so we don't need to report every word when we tell another person about it. We
simply use 'ask me + to + infinitive':
 Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.
Direct Request Reported Request
“Please help me”. She asked me to help her.
“Please don’t smoke”. She asked me not to smoke.
“Could you bring my book tonight?” She asked me to bring her book that night.
“Could you pass the milk, please?” She asked me to pass the milk.
“Would you mind coming early tomorrow?” She asked me to come early the next day.

To report a negative request, use 'not':


 Direct speech: "Please don't be late."
 Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.
Reported Orders
And finally, how about if someone doesn't ask so politely? We can call this an 'order' in English, when someone tells you very
directly to do something. For example:
 Direct speech: "Sit down!"
In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as a request. We just use 'tell' instead of 'ask':
 Reported speech: She told me to sit down.

Direct Order Reported Order


“Go to bed!” He told the child to go to bed.
“Don’t worry!” He told her not to worry.
“Be on time!” He told me to be on time.
“Don’t smoke!” He told us not to smoke.

Time Expressions with Reported Speech


Sometimes when we change direct speech into reported speech we have to change time expressions too. We don't always
have to do this, however. It depends on when we heard the direct speech and when we say the reported speech.

For example:
It's Monday. Julie says "I'm leaving today".
If I tell someone on Monday, I say "Julie said she was leaving today".
If I tell someone on Tuesday, I say "Julie said she was leaving yesterday".
If I tell someone on Wednesday, I say "Julie said she was leaving on Monday".
If I tell someone a month later, I say "Julie said she was leaving that day".

now then / at that time

today yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27th of June

yesterday the day before yesterday / the day before / Wednesday / the 5th of December

last night the night before, Thursday night

last week the week before / the previous week

tomorrow today / the next day / the following day / Friday

You might also like