Reported speech

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

1. We can use direct speech with quotation marks

> ‘I work in a bank’, or 2. 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.

• Now > then• Today > that day• This, these> that, those• Tomorrow> the day after/ the following day• Yesterday > the day before/ the previous day• Here > there

………….……..• Present simple> past simple• Present continuous > past continuous• Past simple/ present perfect > past perfect• Will > would

• Etc.

Verb tenses change• Direct speech: “I travel a lot in my job”• Reported speech: He said that he travelled a lot in

his job.• Direct speech: “The baby’s sleeping.”• Reported speech: She told me (that) the baby was

sleeping.• Direct speech: “ It will be nice to see you again.”• Reported speech: She said it would be nice to see

me again.

‘I am tired.’

‘I can’t go with you now.’

‘We ate a delicious pizza yesterday.’

She said she was tired.

She said she couldn’t go with me

then.

She said they had eaten a delicious pizza

the day before.

‘These cars are going to sell well.’

She said that those cars were going to sell well.

Report these sentences

• Ex. ‘My wife is Irish’, Sam told us.• Sam told us that his wife was Irish• ‘You look like your mother’, she told me.• ‘I’ve never been to Italy’, she said.• ‘We couldn’t arrive on time’, he said• ‘Juan won’t come with me tomorrow’, Silvia

told me.

Answers• ‘You look like your mother’, she told me.She told me that I look(ed) like my mother• ‘I’ve never been to Italy’, she said.

She said (that) she had never been to Italy• ‘We couldn’t arrive on time’, he said.He said that they hadn’t been able to arrive on time• ‘Juan won’t come with me tomorrow’, Silvia told me.Silvia told me that Juan wouldn’t go with her the

following day. © Dulce EOI Arucas

Say, tell, ask • She said she was tired.• She told me she was tired.______________________________________________________________________

• Questions ()

Do you speak English?

He asked (me) if I spoke English.

What are you doing?

He asked us what we were

doing.

Where did you go?He asked me

where I had gone.

© Dulce ( EOI Arucas)

Report these questions:• ‘Have you seen Tom anywhere?’ he asked me.• ‘What time is it?’ he asked me.• ‘Did you pass your exam?’ he asked us.• ‘Can you believe this?’ he asked me.• ‘Where is everybody?’ Tim asked.

Answers• Have you seen Tom anywhere?’ he asked me.He asked if we/I had seen Tom anywhere• ‘What time is it?’ he asked me.He asked what the time was.• ‘Did you pass your exam?’ he asked us.He asked us if we had passed our exam• ‘Can you believe this?’ he asked me.He asked me if I could believe that.• ‘Where is everybody?’ Tim asked.• Tim asked where everybody was © Dulce ( EOI Arucas)

In pairs you are going to have a telephone conversation following this guide

STUDENT A

• You phone B and you greet him/her.

 

• You ask him/her about how s/he feels.

• You ask him/her about what s/he did yesterday.

• You invite him/her to do something (?)

• You suggest something different.

• You do not accept the suggestion and give another idea. 

• You say good-bye

STUDENT B

•You greet A.

•You reply saying how you feel.

•You tell A what you did yesterday.

•You refuse A’s invitation.

•You accept this second choice

and suggest a meeting point.

•You accept the new idea.

•You say good-bye.

Now, try to report the conversation

• I phoned my partner and I greeted her/ said ‘hello’/ told her ‘hello’ and she told me ‘hello’ too...