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Lecture Reported Speech

The document discusses reported speech, which is when someone reports or summarizes what another person has said. It notes that there are two ways to report speech - using direct quotation marks or using reported speech without quotation marks. When reporting speech, the tenses and pronouns may change from the original statement. It also discusses how to report questions, orders, requests, suggestions and advice. Examples are provided of changing direct speech into reported speech by modifying the tenses and pronouns.

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Robu Andrei
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71 views

Lecture Reported Speech

The document discusses reported speech, which is when someone reports or summarizes what another person has said. It notes that there are two ways to report speech - using direct quotation marks or using reported speech without quotation marks. When reporting speech, the tenses and pronouns may change from the original statement. It also discusses how to report questions, orders, requests, suggestions and advice. Examples are provided of changing direct speech into reported speech by modifying the tenses and pronouns.

Uploaded by

Robu Andrei
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Reported Speech

When we report someone’s words we can do it in two ways.


We can use direct speech with quotation marks:
“I work as a kinesiotherapist,” he said.
or we can use reported speech:
He said he worked as a kinesiotherapist.

- In reported speech the tenses, word-order and pronouns may be different from those
in the original sentence. The reporting verb can come before or after the reported clause, but it
usually comes before it.
- When the reporting verb comes before, we can use that to introduce the reported clause
or we can leave it out (leaving it out is less formal).
- The reporting verb can report statements and thoughts, questions, orders and requests.

1. Reporting Tenses
Reporting in the present
When the reporting verb is in the present tense, it is not necessary to change the tense of the
verb:
“I’ll help you with this patient,” he says.
He says (that) he will help us with this patient.

”I feel tired and nauseous,” the patient has said.


The patient has said (that) he feels tired and nauseous.

Reporting in the Past


When the reporting verb is in the past tense, the verb in direct speech usually changes in the
following ways:

Simple present → simple past


”I have a headache,” he said.
He said that he had a headache.

Present continuous → past continuous


”I am having some pain at the moment,” she told him.
She told him that she was having some pain at that moment.

Simple past → past perfect


”The pain started a few days ago,” he told the doctor.
He told the doctor that the pain had started a few days before.

Past continuous → past perfect continuous


”The child was breathing heavily,” the nurse said.
The nurse said that the child had been breathing heavily.

Present perfect → past perfect


”I have had a terrible backache this week,” he said.
He said that he had had a terrible backache that week.

Present perfect continuous → past perfect continuous


”The pain has been bothering me for a week,” she said.
She said that the pain had been bothering her for a week.

Past perfect stays the same.


”I had felt this pain before,” he said.
He said that he had felt that pain before.

Future → conditional
”I will bandage your wound,” the nurse said.
The nurse said that she would bandage his wound.

Future continuous → conditional continuous


I will be examining the patients, the physician said.
The physician said that he would be examining the patients.

Future perfect → conditional perfect


”I will have finished this report by tomorrow,” he said.
He said that he would have finished that report by the next day.

Conditional stays the same.


”I would like to help you,” she said.
She said that she would like to help me.

Present forms of modal verbs → past forms of modal verbs.


”You may catch a cold,” she told him.
She told him that he might catch a cold.

Past forms of modal verbs stay the same.


”With this treatment, the patient might survive.”, he said.
He said that with that treatment, the patient might survive.

”With this treatment the patient might have survived,” he said.


He said that the patient might have survived with that treatment.

Reported speech also brings a shifting/conversion of expressions of


time:
now → then
this → that
here → there
ago → before

today → that day


this (day/evening...) → that (evening/ day...)
these (days...) → those (days...)
last week → the week before
(two weeks) ago → (two weeks) before
last weekend → the weekend before / the previous weekend
next (week) → the following (week)
tomorrow → the next/ following day
yesterday → to the day before.

It is not always necessary to change the tense when you use reported speech, if your utterance
is still true/valid:
The treatment of choice for severe urticaria after intracoronary contrast
injection is epinephrine.
He said that the treatment of choice for severe urticaria after intracoronary contrast
administration is epinephrine.
Or:
He said that the treatment of choice for severe urticaria after intracoronary contrast
administration was epinephrine.

2. Reporting Questions
Reported Questions
Reported questions have the following characteristics:
- The word order: the verb follows the subject as in any other statement:
”Do you need anything?” he asked.
He asked me if I needed anything.

- The auxiliary verb do is not used and there is no question mark.


”Do you drink alcohol?” he asked me.
He asked me if I drank alcohol.

- The verb changes in the same way as in direct speech.


”How often do you have this pain?” he asked her.
He asked her how often she had that pain.

”Have you had any other symptoms?” she asked me.


She asked me whether I had had any other symptoms.

”When did you first feel the pain?” the doctor asked the patient.
The doctor asked the patient when he had first felt the pain.

3. Reporting Orders and Requests


Tell (pronoun) + object (indirect) + infinitive:
”Take an aspirin if you have a backache.”
The doctor told me to take an aspirin if I had a backache.

”You must have a rest.”


The doctor told me to have a rest.

4. Reporting Suggestions and Advice


Suggest + gerund:
”Why don’t we operate on that patient this evening?”
The surgeon suggested operating on that patient that evening.

Advise + infinitive:
”You shouldn't neglect your diet.”
The doctor advised me not to neglect my diet.

Exercises
Finish the sentences using reported speech:
a.
1. "I love this town." John said…
2. "Are you sure?" He asked me…
3. "I can't drive a lorry," he said. He said…
4. "Be nice to your brother," he said. He asked me...
5. "Don't be nasty," he said. He urged me...
6. "Don't waste your money" she said. She told the boys...
7. "What have you decided to do?" She asked him...
8. "I always wake up early." He said...
9. "You should revise your lessons," he said. He...
10. "Where have you been?" He wanted to know…

b.
1. ”He cut himself with a knife,” she said.
She said...
2. ”Are you currently taking any medicine?” the doctor asked me.
The doctor asked me...
3. ”The woman was having difficulties walking,” the nurse said.
The nurse said...
4. ”I have been trying to alleviate the pain, but couldn't,” he said.
He said...
5. ”Have you felt anything these days?” he asked me.
He asked me...
6. ”The pain started yesterday,” she said.
She said...
7. ”Why don't we do a PTCA on the patient?” the doctor suggested.
The doctor suggested...
8. ”You ought to take things easy,” he advised me.
He advised me...
9. ”Take the painkillers after dinner,” he said.
He advised...
10. ”You may need a colostomy after surgery,” the doctor told me.
The doctor told me...

1. "Did you arrive before seven?"


2. "How was your holiday?"
3. "I would have visited the hospital, if I had known you were sick."
4. "Don't touch!"
5. "Do you usually cook at home?"
6. "They had never been to Scotland until last year."
7. "Make sure you arrive early!"
8. "I should have studied harder for the exam."
9. "Would you mind telling me how to get to the art gallery, please?"
10. "Please don't forget my book."
11. "Make sure you arrive at six!"
12. "Remember to study hard!"
13. "Where do you want to eat tonight?"
14. "I usually drink coffee in the mornings."
15. "Do you like studying English?"
16. "I'll come and help you on Saturday."
17. "Please buy some bread on your way home."
18. "Please give this to John."
19. "Could you give me the glass on the table, please?"
20. "Come quickly!"

1. She told her mother that she was going to the market / she said:

2. His friends told me that they would go home the following Sunday / his friends said :

3. The teacher told Mark he had been very regular in his work / the teacher said :

4. Marc told me that he had finished his work / Marc said :

5. The teacher said the earth moves around the sun / the teacher said :

6. He said that she was not going home that day / he said :

7. He asked me if I had brought the pens / he asked :

8. The boy asked me if that was the place we had visited before / the boy asked :

9. The judge told the witness to tell the truth / the judge said :

10. The prisoner begged the judge to forgive him /the prisoner said :

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