reported speech

Reported speech - English Grammar

Statements

1) If the sentence starts in the present, there is no backshift of tenses in Reported speech.Example: Susan: "I work in an office." Susan says that she works in an office.

2) If the sentence starts in the past, there is often backshift of tenses in Reported speech. (see: Note)Example: Susan: "I work in an office." Susan said that she worked in an office.

Backshift of tenses

from to

Simple Present Simple Past

Simple Past

Past PerfectPresent Perfect

Past Perfect

will would

Progressive forms

am/are/is was/were

was/were

had beenhas been

had been

Backshift of tenses

from to

Peter: "I work in the garden." Peter said that he worked in the garden.

Peter: "I worked in the garden."

Peter said that he had worked in the garden.Peter: "I have worked in the garden."

Peter: "I had worked in the garden."

Peter: "I will work in the garden." Peter said that he would work in the garden.

Peter: "I can work in the garden." Peter said that he could work in the garden.

Peter: "I may work in the garden." Peter said that he might work in the garden.

Peter: "I would work in the garden." (could, might, should, ought to)

Peter said that he would work in the garden.(could, might, should, ought to)

Progressive forms

Peter: "I'm working in the garden." Peter said that he was working in the garden.

Peter: "I was working in the garden." Peter said that he had been working in the garden.

Peter: "I have been working in the

garden."

Peter: "I had been working in the garden."

If the sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it as well.

Peter: "I worked in the garden yesterday."Peter said that he had worked in the garden the day before.

Shifting of expressions of time

this (evening) that (evening)

today/this day that day

these (days) those (days)

now then

(a week) ago (a week) before

last weekendthe weekend before / the previous weekend

here there

next (week) the following (week)

tomorrow the next/following day

Note:

In some cases the backshift of tenses is not necessary, e.g. when statements are still true.

John: "My brother is at Leipzig university."John said that his brother was at Leipzig university. orJohn said that his brother is at Leipzig university.

or

Mandy: "The sun rises in the East."Mandy said that the sun rose in the East. orMandy said that the sun rises in the East.

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.

Tense change

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):


Present simple

She said, "It's cold."› Past simple

She said it was cold.

Present continuous › Past continuous

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

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 continuous

She 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:


will

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.

!Note - There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.


"I might go to the cinema", he said. He said he might go to the cinema.

You can use the present tense in reported speech if you want to say that something is still true

i.e. my name has always been and will always be Lynne so:-


"My name is Lynne", she said.

She said her name was Lynne.

or

She said her name is Lynne.

You can also use the present tense if you are talking about a future event.

Direct speech (exact quote) Indirect speech (not exact)

"Next week's lesson is on reported

speech ", she said.

She said next week's lesson is on reported

speech.

Time change

If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the

time of reporting.

For example we need to change words like here and yesterday if they have different meanings

at the time and place of reporting.

Today + 24 hours - Indirect speech

"Today's lesson is on presentations."She said yesterday's lesson was on

presentations.

Expressions of time if reported on a different day

this (evening) › that (evening)

today › yesterday ...

these (days) › those (days)

now › then

(a week) ago › (a week) before

last weekend › the weekend before last / the previous weekend

here › there

next (week) › the following (week)

tomorrow › the next/following day

In addition if you report something that someone said in a different place to where you heard it

you must change the place (here) to the place (there).

For example:-

At work At home

"How long have you worked here?" She asked me how long I'd worked there.

Reported Speech (El estilo indirecto)

El estilo indirecto, a diferencia del estilo directo, no utiliza las comillas y no necesita ser palabra por palabra. En general, cuando se usa el estilo directo, el tiempo verbal cambia. A continuación tienes un explicación de los cambios que sufren los tiempos verbales.

A veces se usa "that" en las frases afirmativas y negativas para introducir lo que ha dicho la otra persona. Por otro lado, en las frases interrogativas se puede usar "if" o "whether".

Direct Speech Reported Speech

Present Simple Past Simple

"He's American" she said. She said he was American.

"I'm happy to see you," Mary said. Mary said that she was happy to see me.

He asked, "Are you busy tonight?" He asked me if I was busy tonight.

Present Continuous Past Continuous

"Dan is living in San Francisco," she said. She said Dan was living in San Francisco.

He said, "I'm making dinner." He told me that he was making dinner.

"Why are you working so hard?" they asked.

They asked me why I was working so hard.

Past Simple Past Perfect Simple

"We went to the movies last night," he said.He told me they had gone to the movies last night.

Greg said, "I didn't go to work yesterday."Greg said that he hadn't gone to work yesterday.

"Did you buy a new car?" she asked. She asked me if I had bought a new car.

Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous

"I was working late last night," Vicki said.Vicki told me she'd been working last night.

They said, "We weren't waiting long."They said that they hadn't been waiting long.

He asked, "Were you sleeping when I called?"

He asked if I'd been sleeping when he called.

Present Perfect Simple Past Perfect Simple

Heather said, "I've already eaten." Heather told me that she'd already eaten.

"We haven't been to China," they said. They said they hadn't been to China.

"Have you worked here before?" I asked.I asked her whether she'd worked there before.

Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous

"I've been studying English for two years," he said.

He said he'd been studying English for two years.

Steve said, "We've been dating for over a year now."

Steve told me that they'd been dating for over a year.

"Have you been waiting long?" they asked. They asked whether I'd been waiting long.

Past Perfect Simple Past Perfect Simple (*NO CHANGE)

"I'd been to Chicago before for work," he said.

He said that he'd been to Chicago before for work.

Past Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous (*NO CHANGE)

She said, "I'd been dancing for years before the accident."

She said she'd been dancing for years before the accident.

Nota: Cuando hablamos de algo que no ha cambiado (todavía es verdad) o que es en el futuro, no tenemos que cambiar el tiempo verbal.

Ejemplos: "I'm 30 years old," she said. → She said she is 30 years old. Dave said, "Kelly is sick." → Dave said Kelly is sick. "We are going to Tokyo next week," they said. → They said they are going to

Tokyo next week. "I'll cut my hair tomorrow," Nina said. → Nina said she is cutting her hair

tomorrow.

Modal Verbs (Los verbos modales)

El tiempo verbal cambia en el estilo indirecto también con algunos de los verbos modales:

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

Will Would

"I'll go to the movies tomorrow," John said.John said he would go to the movies tomorrow.

"Will you help me move?" she asked. She asked me if I would help her move.

Can Could

Debra said, "Allen can work tomorrow." Debra said Allen could work tomorrow.

"Can you open the window, please?", he asked.

He asked me if I could open the window.

Must Had to

"You must wear your seatbelt," mom said. My mom said we had to wear my seatbelt.

She said, "You must work tomorrow." She said I had to work tomorrow.

Shall Should

"Shall we go to the beach today?" Tom asked.

Tom asked if we should go to the beach today.

"What shall we do tonight?" she asked. She asked me what we should do tonight.

May Might/Could

Jane said, "I may not be in class tomorrow."Jane said she might not be in class tomorrow.

"May I use the bathroom, please?" the boy asked.

The boy asked if he could use the bathroom.

Nota: Con "would", "could", "should", "might" y "ought to", el tiempo no cambia.

EXERCISE A Yesterday you ran into a friend of yours, Helen. She told you a lot of things. Here are some of the things she said to you:

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.

I'm thinking of going to live in France.My father is in the hospital.Sue and Jim are getting married next month.I haven't seen Bill for a while.I've been playing tennis a lot lately.Barbara has had a baby.I don't know what Fred is doing.

8. 9.10.11.12.13.

I hardly ever go out these days.I work 14 hours a day.I'll tell Jim I saw you.You can come and stay with me if you are ever in Toronto.Tom had an accident last week, but he wasn't injured.I saw Jack at a party a few months ago, and he seemed fine.

Later that day you tell another friend what Helen said. Use reported speech.

1. Helen said that she was thinking of going to live in France.

2.Helen said that .

3..

4..

5..

6..

7..

8..

9..

10..

11..

12..

13..

EXERCISE BIn this exercise someone says something to you that is the opposite of what they said before. You have to answer I THOUGHT YOU SAID ...

Examples: "That restaurant is expensive." "I thought you said it wasn't expensive."

1.

"Ann is coming to the party." "I thought you said that she ."

2.

"Bill passed his exam." "I thought you said ."

3.

"Ann likes Bill." "I thought ."

4.

"I've got many friends." "I thought you said you ."

5. "Jack and Karen are going to be married."

" ."

6. "Tom works very hard."

" ."

7. "I want to be rich and famous."

" ."

8. "I'll be here next week."

" ."

9. "I can afford a vacation this year."

" ."NOTA DEBEN TRANSCRIBIR ESTO AL CUADERNO Y REALIZAR LAS ACTIVIDADES EN EL MISMO PARA PRESENTARMELAS LA PROXIMA CLASE.

reported speech

Technology