Reported Speech

Definition
 Reported speech (also
known as indirect speech)
refers to a sentence
reporting what someone has
said.
 Rules
 In all sentences, the quotation marks and the
comma immediately before the first quotation
mark are removed. Next, the word "that" is
usually inserted after the reporting verb.
Then, there are certain changes to be
considered.
• If the reporting verb is in the present tense we
don't need to change the tense, though probably
we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she’
• “I like ice cream”.
• She says she likes ice cream.

• But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then

usually we change the tenses in the reported
speech:
• “I like ice cream”.
• She said she liked ice cream.
 Commands, Requests, Advice and Order in Indirect
Speech
 Verb of command/request/advice + object + infinitive.
– Direct command: He said, “Lie down, Tom”.
– Indirect command: He told Tom to lie down.
a. Verbs used: advise, ask, beg, command, order,
remind, tell, warn etc.
o He said, “Get your coat, Tom!” He told Tom to get
his coat.
o ‘Stir it with your spoon,’ his sister said. His sister
advised him to stir it with a spoon.
b. Negative commands, requests, advice and order are
usually reported by not + infinitive:
“Don’t swim out too far, boys”, I said I warned/told
the boys not to swim out too far.
• Positive imperative
✓ Close the door!
o Tell + (Object) + to infinitive
He told me to close the door.
• Negative imperative
✓ Don't speak!
o Tell + (Object) + not to infinitive
He told me not to speak.
 Pronouns
• Personal pronouns need to be changed
according to the situation.

✓ “I run 5 km every day”, said she.

✓ She said she ran 5 km every day.

❑ Besides, some demontratives must be
changed:

THIS changes to THAT and THESE to

THOSE:

▪ She said ‘I like this shirt’

▪ She said she liked that shirt.

 3. Tense Changes
Direct speech Indirect speech
Present simple Past simple
She said, "It's cold." She said it was cold.

Present continuous Past continuous

She said, "I'm teaching She said she was teaching English
English online." online.

Present perfect simple Past perfect simple

She said, "I've been on the She said she had been on the web
web since 1999." since 1999.
 Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, "I've been teaching She said she had been teaching
English for seven years." English for seven years.
Past simple Past perfect
She said, "I taught online She said she had taught online
yesterday." yesterday.

Past continuous Past perfect continuous

She said, "I was teaching earlier." She said she had been teaching earlier.

Past perfect Past perfect

She said, "The lesson had NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had
already started when he arrived." already started when he arrived.

Past perfect continuous Past perfect continuous

She said, "I'd already been NO CHANGE - She said she'd
teaching for five minutes." already been teaching for five minutes.
 Other tense changes
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Will Would
She said, "I'll teach English online She said she would teach English online
tomorrow." tomorrow.

Can Could
She said, "I can teach English online." She said she could teach English online.

Must Had to
She said, "I must have a computer to teach She said she had to have a computer to
English online." teach English online.

Shall Should
She said, "What shall we learn today?" She asked what we should learn today.

May Might
She said, "May I open a new browser?" She asked if she might open a new
browser.
4. Time and place changes
Now › Then

Today › That day

Here › There

This › That

This week › That week

Tomorrow › The following day

The next day
The day after
 the following week
Next week › the next week
the week after
the previous day
Yesterday › the day before
the previous week
Last week › the week before
previously
Ago › before
2 weeks previously
2 weeks ago › 2 weeks before
Tonight › that night
the previous Saturday
Last Saturday › the Saturday before
the following Saturday
the next Saturday
Next Saturday ›
 Examples:

➢ I went to the theatre last night.

He said he had gone to the theatre the
night before.

➢ I'm staying here until next week.

He said he was staying there until the
following week.
 6. Reporting Verbs
Said, told and asked are the most common
verbs used in indirect speech.

❖We use “asked” to report questions:

I asked Lynne what time the lesson started.

❖We use “told” with an object.

Lynne told me she felt tired.
❖We usually use “said” without an object.

Lynne said she was going to teach online.

If “said” is used with an object we must

include “to”

Lynne said to me that she'd never been to

China.
-There are many other verbs we can use
apart from said, told and asked. These
include:

accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed,

apologised, begged, boasted, complained,
denied, explained, implied, invited, offered,
ordered, promised, replied, suggested and
thought.
 7. Indirect Questions
• Direct question: He said, “Where is she going?”
• Indirect question: He asked where she was going.
A. Changes;
a. Tenses, pronouns and possessive adjectives, and
adverbs of time and place change as in statements.
b. The interrogative form of the verb changes to the
affirmative form.
c. The question mark is omitted in indirect questions.
B. Say must be changed to a verb of inquiry;

• He said, “Where is the station?” He asked

where the station was.

C. Ask can be followed by the person addressed :

• He asked, “What have you got in your bag?” He

asked (me) what I had got in my bag.
• Wonder/want to know cannot take an indirect
object; we must use ask where the person addressed
is mentioned.

• He said, ”Mary, when is the next train?” He

asked Mary when the next train was.
D. WH- Questions:

• He said, “Why didn’t you put on the brake?”

1. Subject + asked

2. WH- word + inversion of subject order;

3. Change pronouns, time and place expressions and
tenses;
• He asked (her) why she hadn’t put on the brake.
• She said, “What do you want?” She asked
(them) what they wanted.
E. YES/NO Questions:
o “Can you pass me the salt?” she asked.
1. Subject + asked if / whether….
2. Inversion of the subject order
3. Change pronouns, time and place expressions and
tenses:
She asked if I could pass her the salt.
o “Is anyone there?” he asked He asked if/whether
anyone was there.
• He said, “Can you swim?” and I said “No”
He asked (me) if I could swim and I said I couldn’t.

• He said, “Will you have time to do it?” and I said

“Yes”

He asked if I would have time to do it and I said that

I would.
I. Change the following sentences from direct to indirect speech.
1. ‘Congratulations! You have come first in the exams,’ the principal
said to me.
2. ‘What an expensive car he drives! said Steve’s neighbour.
3. “Yes, the economy is getting better” the journalist said
4. “You are the responsible of revealing hanna’s secrets” she said
5. The correspondent said :“the president will be here to inspect the
damage”
6. ‘Hurry up!’ said Viru’s mother. ‘The bus will be here in a minute.’
7. He said to one of them: “Let me see the streets once more before I
die. I’ll be back in five minutes.”
8. My grandfather said, ‘May you have a long life!’
9. ‘How well you speak German,’ his teammate said.
10. Mr Jain said to his colleague, ‘Will you please drop me at the
airport?’
11. “Would you mind telling me how to get to the art gallery, please?”
12. ‘Light travels in a straight line,’ the teacher said.
1. Michael said: “Why do I do this every day?”
2. ‘Ouch! The bee stung me!’ the child said.
3. “Please, don’t say anything to him”, he said.
4. She said: “Don’t smoke if you want to save money.”
5. “Don’t forget to thank Mrs Jones when you’re saying good bye to
her.” my mother said
6. “Don’t try to be funny.” my elder sister said
7. The saleswoman says to us: “be sure, you chose the best painting in
our galery”
8. “Be a good girl and sit quietly for five minutes.”Adam said
9. She said to him, "Be careful".
10. He always says to them "You must pay more attention”
11. ‘May I know who is on the line?’ her father said.
12. "How many photos have you got?" he said
13. She said: “why don’t we go for a journey, it will be awesome.”
14. They asked her mother: “Does he often come home late from
school?”
15. "Has Jasmine ever been to Siena?" he asked.
❑Read the following dialogues and fill in the blanks.

Aria : Why do you look so worried?

Hanna : I have not prepared well for the exams. I have
read only general articles.
Aria : Don’t worry. There will be no questions from
MCB. Reading general articles from magazines or
newspapers will help you develop reading skills.
Hanna: Thank you, I am very relieved. Thank you indeed.
-Aria asked Hanna _____________. Hanna ___________
______ ___________ and that she had read only general
articles. Aria ________ her not to worry as
_____________. Hanna looked __________ at
_________ and ____________for her consoling words.
❑These are the exact words Frank said to you
yesterday.
"I've just got engaged! We're getting married next year.
We're going to Paris for our honeymoon. It's all going to
be very expensive. Luckily, my friend is a photographer
so he he'll take the photos for us. We'll be having the
reception in my parents' back garden. My mum is
baking the cake for us and my sister's band is playing
free for us. I hope you'll come to the wedding.
“Now you're telling your friend what Frank told you.
Mrs kent asked Jim where the memos she had left on his desk
the previous morning were.
Jim answered that he was sorry but he had thrown them away
by mistake.
Mrs kent told him that that was a silly thing to do. She also
asked if he had taken any photocopies of them at least.
Jim replied that he had and that he had put them in a file.
Mrs kent asked Jim where the sales invoices were. She also
said that she had been looking for them everywhere.
Paul answered that he had got no idea himself and suggested
asking the secretary.
Rewrite this paragraph in a dialogue form;
• Mrs Kent: where are...
• Jim: I am sorry but....