Scribd
Upload
53 views

Reported Speech - Slides

This document provides an overview of reported speech, including: 1. Reported speech is used to report what someone else said in the past by changing verb tenses and pronouns. 2. When reporting a present tense statement, very little needs to be changed. But present tenses are changed to past tenses in reported speech (present simple to past simple). 3. Questions are changed from question structure to statement structure in reported speech (e.g. "Do you like dogs?" becomes "He asked if I liked dogs.").

Uploaded by

IVETTE CAROLINA SAAB RICO
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
53 views

Reported Speech - Slides

This document provides an overview of reported speech, including: 1. Reported speech is used to report what someone else said in the past by changing verb tenses and pronouns. 2. When reporting a present tense statement, very little needs to be changed. But present tenses are changed to past tenses in reported speech (present simple to past simple). 3. Questions are changed from question structure to statement structure in reported speech (e.g. "Do you like dogs?" becomes "He asked if I liked dogs.").

Uploaded by

IVETTE CAROLINA SAAB RICO
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 18

Reported speech

What is it?
We use reported speech
when we want to report
someone what somebody
else said. This is almost
always used to talk about
the past; it usually
changes the tense.
How to use it?
present
Present (affirmative)
If the reporting verb is in the present tense, then very little needs to be
done to the direct speech sentence to change it. Here’s an example.

When we backshift, present simple changes to past simple, present continuous changes to
past continuous and present perfect changes to past perfect.
Present (negative)
Here nothing really needed to be changed except
the pronoun, because you are now talking about
somebody else, so ‘I’ becomes ‘She’ or ‘He’.

Direct speech: I don’t like dogs.


Reported speech: She says she doesn't like dogs.

Direct speech: 'It's not a good idea to write your


passwords down.'
Reported speech: They advised us not to write our
passwords down.
Present (questions)
A reported question is when we tell someone what another person asked. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect
speech

● Direct speech: 'Do you like working in sales?' he asked.


● Indirect speech: He asked me if I liked working in sales.

In indirect speech, we change the question structure (e.g. Do you like) to a statement structure (e.g. I like).

Yes/no questions Questions with a question word


In yes/no questions, we use if or whether to report the question. In what, where, why, who, when or how questions, we use the question
If is more common. word to report the question.

Are you going to the Helsinki conference?' 'What time does the train leave?'
* He asked me if I was going to the Helsinki conference. * He asked me what time the train left.

Have you finished the project yet?' Where does he go?'


* She asked us whether we'd finished the project yet. * She asked where we went
Present (questions)
Offers, requests and suggestions

Reporting verbs If the question is making an offer, request or suggestion, we can


use a specific verb pattern instead, for example offer +
The most common reporting verb for questions is ask,
infinitive, ask + infinitive or suggest + ing.
but we can also use verbs like enquire, want to know or
wonder. 'Would you like me to help you?'
Did you bring your passports?' * He offered to help me.
* She wanted to know if they'd brought their passports.
'Can you hold this for me, please?'
When could you get this done by?' * She asked me to hold it.
* He wondered when we could get it done by.
'Why don't we check with Joel?'
* She suggested checking with Joel.
past
Past (affirmative)
If the reporting verb is in the past tense, then very little needs to be done to the direct
speech sentence to change it. Here’s an example.

Direct Words: Peter says: “I went to the movies last night.”


Reported Speech: Peter said (that) he had gone to the movies last
night.
Past (Negative)
Here nothing really needed to be changed except the pronoun, because you are now talking
about somebody else:

Direct Speech: “I didn’t understand the class”


Reported Speech: You told me hadn’t understood the class.

Direct Speech: Pedro: “I didn’t buy a dictionary”


Reported Speech: He said (that) he hadn't bought a dictionary.

You can report in past negative sentences about present or past situations.
Past (Questions)
WH questions: ‘ask’ + wh + clause

Direct Speech: Who did you see?


Reported Speech: She asked me who I'd seen.

Yes/No questions: ‘ask’ + ‘if / whether + clause

Direct Speech: Did you come by train?


Reported Speech: Carla inquired whether/if I had come by train.

Direct Speech: Have you finished the project yet?


Reported Speech: He asked us whether/if we'd finished the project
yet
future
FUTURE
Simple Future (Will)
Always change will for would and use an infinitive verb.

Direct speech: ‘I will visit my mother’


Reported speech: He said that he would visit his mother

Be going to
You only need to change the verb to be and use it in past (was/were)

Direct speech: “We are going to Tokyo next week,” they said.
Reported speech: They said they was going to Tokyo next week.
Reporting
Verbs
Reporting verbs
• Admit • Encourage

• Agree • Insist on

• Refuse • Invite

• Remind • Persuade

• Boast about • Promise

• Congratulate someone on • Recommend

• Deny • Threaten
Reporting Verbs
Verb + that+ clause (most of verbs can Verb + that+ to infinitive
take this pattern) Agree, promise, refuse, threaten

Admit, Agree, Deny, Persuade, Promise,


Recommend, Remind, Threaten
Verb + -ing
Admit, Deny, Recommend

Verb + person + (not) no infitinive

Encourage, Invite, Persuade, Recommend, Verb + (object) + preposition + -ing


Remind agree (with someone on/about), boast (about)
congratulate (someone on) insist (on)
test your knowledge

Writing.
https://es.liveworksheets.com/worksheets/en/Eng
lish_as_a_Second_Language_(ESL)/Reported_spe
ech/Reported_Speech_xd1235995fz

Listening
https://en.islcollective.com/video-
lessons/reported-speech-coco

You might also like