REPORTED SPEECH

INDIRECT SPEECH AND REPORTED QUESTIONS

1. CHANGE OF TENSES

• When we report someone’s words afterwards, the verb forms often move into the past.

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• Present simple

‘I want to get away.’

• Past simple

‘... he wanted to get away.’

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• Past simple

‘I had an awful time last year.’

• Past perfect

‘... he had had an awful time the year before.’

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• Present continuous

‘I’m leaving tomorrow.’

• Past continuous

‘... he was leaving tomorrow.’

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• Past continuous

‘I was reading a book.’

• Past perfect continuous or past continuous

‘... he had been reading a book.’

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• Present perfect

‘I’ve found a new job in Canada.’

• Past perfect

‘... he had found a new job in Canada.’

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• Present perfect continuous

‘I have been typing letters.’

• Past perfect continuous

‘...he had been typing letters.’

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• Will / won’t

‘I’ll write to you when I get there.’

• Would / wouldn’t

‘... he would write to me when he got there.’

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• Imperative

‘Tidy your room.’

• To + infinitive

‘... to tidy my room.’

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• Can /can’t

‘I can’t come tonight.’

• Could /couldn’t

‘... he couldn’t come that night.’

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• May /may not

‘I may be late.’

• Might / might not

‘... he might be late.’

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• MUST / MUSTN’T

‘I must go.’‘ You mustn’t touch

it.’

• Had to /Mustn’t

‘... he had to go.’‘... I mustn’t touch

it.’

Past modal verbs don’t normally change in reported speech: would, could, might, ought to, should.

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• Am/are/is + going to

‘I’m going to start a new life.’

• Was/were + going to

‘... he was going to start a new life.’

•If what a person said is still relevant, it is not necessary to change tenses or time references.

e.g. I’ve booked the table for Friday night.

She said she’s booked the table for Friday night.

PRONOUNS

• The change in pronouns will depend on the person being referred to in the indirect speech.e.g. ‘I gave you my notebook.’

‘She said she had given him her notebook.’

TIME REFERENCES

• If you report what someone said on a different day, some words can change.e.g. Now – then today – that day

yesterday- the previous day tomorrow - the next day

next week/month – the next/following week

last week/month – the previous week a week ago – the week before

DEMONSTRATIVES

• If you report what someone said in a different place, some words can change.e.g. Here there

this that these those

2. REPORTED SPEECH STRUCTURES

A) STATEMENTSReporting verbs: said, told...

‘I have something to show you’ I said to her.

I told her I had something to show her.

B) QUESTIONS

Reporting verbs: asked, wanted to know...Reported questions are not real questions,so the word order is the same as in a normalstatement.e. g. Can you come early tomorrow?

She asked if I can come early tomorrow.

e.g. Did you see anything suspicious? He wanted to know if I had seen anything suspicious.

There are two types of questions:

• Wh-questions

‘What do you want?’

He asked me what I wanted.

• No-wh-questions

‘Do you like Pepsi?’

He asked her if she liked Pepsi.

C) COMMANDS

Reporting verbs: told, ordered...

‘Stand up.’ He told me to stand up.

‘Don’t do that.’ Pam ordered her son not to do that.

3. PRACTICE

1. A reporter is going to ask questions to American people about the world around them. Try to write down the nine questions he asks.

2. Work in groups and check your answers.

3. Watch the video again.

4. Correction.1. Name a country that begins with U.

2. Who is in the ‘Coalition of Willing’?

3. What’s the religion of Israel?

4. What religion are Buddhist Monks?

5. Who won the Vietnam war?

6. Who is Fidel Castro?

7. How many sides does a triangle have?

8. What’s the currency used in the UK?

9. Name a country that begins with U.

5. Reported speech. Rewrite the questions you have into the reported speech structure.

6. Correction.1. He told them to name a country that began with

U.

2. He asked them who was in the ‘Coalition of Willing’.

3. He asked them what the religion of Israel was.

4. He asked them what religion were Buddhist Monks.

5. He asked them who had won the Vietnam war.

6. He asked them who Fidel Castro was.

7. He asked them how many sides a triangle had.

8. He asked them what was the currency used in the UK.

9. He told them to name a country that began with U.