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Reported

The document explains how to convert direct speech into reported speech, highlighting changes in tenses, word order, and pronouns. It details the transformations for present simple, present continuous, past simple, past continuous, and perfect tenses. Additionally, it notes that some tenses may remain unchanged if the information is still true.

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Patrick Medeiros
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5 views10 pages

Reported

The document explains how to convert direct speech into reported speech, highlighting changes in tenses, word order, and pronouns. It details the transformations for present simple, present continuous, past simple, past continuous, and perfect tenses. Additionally, it notes that some tenses may remain unchanged if the information is still true.

Uploaded by

Patrick Medeiros
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, 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 in a
bank”), or we can use reported speech (He said he worked in
a bank.)

In reported speech the tenses, word-order and pronouns may be


different from those in the original sentence.
Present simple and continuous.

Direct speech: “I travel a lot in my job” Reported speech: He said


that he travelled a lot in his job.

The present simple tense (I travel) usually changes to the past


simple (he travelled) in reported speech.
Present simple and continuous.

Direct speech: “Be quiet. The baby’s sleeping.” Reported speech: She
told me to be quiet because the baby was sleeping.

The present continuous usually changes to the past


continuous.
“I work in Italy”
Reported speech: He told me that he works in Italy.

It isn’t always necessary to change the tense. If something is still


true now – he still works in Italy – we can use the present simple in
the reported sentence.
Past simple and continuous.

Direct speech: “We lived in China for 5 years.” Reported speech: She
told me they had lived in China for 5 years.

The past simple tense (we lived) usually changes to the past
perfect (they had lived) in reported speech.
Past simple and continuous.

Direct speech: “I was walking down the road when I saw the
accident.” Reported speech: He told me he’d been walking down the
road when he’d seen the accident.

The past continuous usually changes to the past perfect


continuous.
Perfect Tenses

Direct speech: “They’ve always been very kind to me”. Reported


speech: She said they’d always been very kind to her.

The present perfect tense (have always been) usually


changes to the past perfect tense (had always been).
Perfect Tenses

Direct speech: “They had already eaten when I arrived” Reported


speech: He said they’d already eaten when he’d arrived.

The past perfect tense does not change in reported speech.

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