REPORTED SPEECHThere are two ways of relating what a person has said: direct and indirect.

In direct speech we repeat the speaker’s exact words: He said: "I have lost my umbrella."

In indirect speech we give the exact meaning of a without necessarily using the speaker’s exact words:

He said that he had lost his umbrella.

When turning direct speech into indirect speech we have to take into account what kind of sentence we have:

- statements.- questions:

-yes-no questions.- wh-questions.

-commands, requests.

1.- Statements:

Direct speech can be introduced by a verb in the present, but the past tense is usually used:Paul said: "......"When "say" follows the statement, inversion of say and subject is possible:".......," said Paul.

Verbs in the direct speech have to be changed into a corresponding past tense in the indirect speech. Some of the changes are shown in the following table:

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECHpresent simple past simplepresent continuous past continuouspresent perfect past perfectPast simple Past perfectfuture conditionalcan couldmay mightmust must or had toshall should or would

Pág. 1

Examples:

1. She said: “I go to school every day:” She said that she went to school every day.2. He said: “I’m waiting for Ann.” He said that he was waiting for Ann.3. Mary said: “I have found my keys.” Mary said that she had found her keys.4. He said: “Ann will be in Paris on Monday.” He said that Ann would be in Paris on Monday.

Other changes:

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECHI he/sheme him/hermy his/hermine his/herswe theyus themour theirours theirsthis/these that/thosehere therenow thenago beforetoday that daytonight that nighttomorrow The next/

Following dayyesterday the day before

2.- Questions:A.- Yes/no questions:

They are introduced by the verb ASK + IF or WHETHER.Examples:He asked: “Have they arrived?”He asked if (whether) they had arrived. (Notice that the word order has changed.

It is not a question any more so the structure is: Subject + verb)

Whether is used when a choice has to be made:-The travel agent asked: “Do you want to go by air or by sea?”The travel agent asked whether he/I/she wanted to go by air or by sea.-He asked: “Do you want to insure your luggage or not?”He asked whether I/he/she wanted to insure my/his/her luggage or not.

B.- Wh-questions:

He asked: “What are they doing?”Pág. 2

He asked what they were doing.

Notice that the word order has also changed. There is no question mark any more. There is no that before the question word.

3.- Commands, requestsIndirect commands, requests, are usually expressed by a verb of command/request/ + object + infinitive.

a. Commands:

He said: “Stand up, Tom!”He told Tom to stand up.

I said: “Don’t swim too far, boys.”I told the boys not to swim too far.

b. requests:

He said: “Write to me soon, please.”He asked me/him… to write to him soon.

Pág. 3