REPORTED SPEECH

We use reported speech when we are saying what other people say, think or believe.He says he wants it.We think you are right.I believe he loves her.Yesterday you said you didn't like it but now you do!She told me he had asked her to marry him.I told you she was ill.We thought he was in Australia.When we are reporting things in the present, future or present perfect we don't change the tense.He thinks he loves her.I'll tell her you are coming.He has said he'll do it.

• When we tell people what someone has said in the past, we generally make the tense 'more in the past'.

• You look very nice. = I told him he looked very nice.

• He's working in Siberia now. = She told me he was working in Siberia now.

• Polly has bought a new car. = She said Polly had bought a new car.

• Jo can't come for the weekend. = She said Jo couldn't come for the weekend.

• Paul called and left a message. = He told me Paul had called and had left me a message.

• I'll give you a hand. = He said he would give me a hand.

• However, when we are reporting something that was said in the past but is still true, it is not obligatory to make the tense 'more in the past'. The choice is up to the speaker. For example:

• "The train doesn't stop here."

• He said the train doesn't stop here.

• He said the train didn't stop here.

• "I like Sarah."

• She said she likes Sarah.

• She said she liked Sarah.

• When we are reporting what was said, we sometimes have to change other words in the sentence.

• We have to change the pronoun if we are reporting what someone else said. Compare these two sentences. In each case the person actually said "I don't want to go."

• I said I didn't want to go.

• Bill said he didn't want to go.

• We have to change words referring to 'here and now' if we are reporting what was said in a different place or time. Compare these two sentences. In each case the person actually said "I'll be there at ten tomorrow."

• (If it is later the same day) He said he would be there at ten tomorrow.

• (If it is the next day) He said he would be there at ten today.

• Now compare these two sentences.

• (If we are in a different place) He said he would be there tomorrow at ten.

• (If we are in the place he is coming to) He said he would be here at ten tomorrow.

DIRECT SPEECH / QUOTED SPEECH

• Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes called quoted speech)

• Here what a person says appears within quotation marks ("...") and should be word for word.

• For example:

• She said, "Today's lesson is on presentations."

• or

• "Today's lesson is on presentations," she said.

INDIRECT SPEECH / REPORTED SPEECH

• Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech), doesn't use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn't have to be word for word.

• When reporting speech the tense usually changes. This is because when we use reported speech, we are usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too.

• For example:

Direct speech Indirect speech

"I'm going to the cinema", he said.

He said he was going to the cinema.

For example:

TENSE CHANGE

Direct speech   Indirect speech

Present simple She said, "It's cold."

›Past simple She said it was cold.

Present continuous She said, "I'm teaching English online."

›Past continuous She said she was teaching English online.

Present perfect simple She said, "I've been on the web since 1999."

›Past perfect simple She said she had been on the web since 1999.

Present perfect continuous She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years."

›

Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching English for seven years.

Past simple She said, "I taught online yesterday."

›Past perfect She said she had taught online yesterday.

As a rule when you report something someone has said you go back a tense: (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right):

Past continuous She said, "I was teaching earlier."

›

Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching earlier.

Past perfect She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived."

›

Past perfect NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already started when he arrived.

Past perfect continuousShe said, "I'd already been teaching for five minutes."

›

Past perfect continuous NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been teaching for five minutes.

• Modal verb forms also sometimes change:

Direct speech   Indirect speechwill She said, "I'll teach English online tomorrow."

›

would She said she would teach English online tomorrow.

can She said, "I can teach English online."

›could She said she could teach English online.

must She said, "I must have a computer to teach English online."

›

had to She said she had to have a computer to teach English online.

shall She said, "What shall we learn today?"

›should She asked what we should learn today.

may She said, "May I open a new browser?"

›might She asked if she might open a new browser.