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Reported Speech

1) Reported speech is used to tell someone what another person said, but the exact words are not repeated and changes are made to verb tenses, pronouns, and time/place adverbials. 2) When changing direct to reported speech, verb tenses are shifted back one tense (e.g. present to past), time/place adverbials are shifted to the past (e.g. now to then), and pronouns may change logically. 3) Reported questions are changed to statements introduced by "if/whether" for yes/no questions or using the wh- word for wh- questions, with the same verb tense and pronoun changes applied.

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262 views

Reported Speech

1) Reported speech is used to tell someone what another person said, but the exact words are not repeated and changes are made to verb tenses, pronouns, and time/place adverbials. 2) When changing direct to reported speech, verb tenses are shifted back one tense (e.g. present to past), time/place adverbials are shifted to the past (e.g. now to then), and pronouns may change logically. 3) Reported questions are changed to statements introduced by "if/whether" for yes/no questions or using the wh- word for wh- questions, with the same verb tense and pronoun changes applied.

Uploaded by

daibit
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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REPORTED SPEECH

When do we use it?


REPORTED SPEECH is used to tell what someone said. Yet, we do not repeat all the words exactly.
REAL WORDS (direct speech): Tom said: We are going to the cinema this afternoon. REPORTED SPEECH: Tom said that they were going to the cinema that afternoon.

We can report
sentences questions orders, requests or commands

Changes
Types of changes: 1. Verb Tenses 2. Time and place adverbial expressions 3. Logical change of pronouns
EXAMPLE

DIRECT: Mary said: They are seeing me tomorrow REPORTED: Mary said that they were seeing her the following day

Verb Tenses
DIRECT SPEECH PRESENT
We study We are studying

REPORTED SPEECH
PAST
She said that they studied She said that they were studying

PAST

We studied We were studying

PAST PERFECT
studying

She said that they had studied She said that they had been

FUTURE

We will study

CONDITIONAL

She said that they would study

List of Verb Changes


TENSE PRESENT SIMPLE PRESENT CONTINUOUS PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS PAST SIMPLE PAST CONTINUOUS PAST PERFECT SIMPLE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS FUTURE SIMPLE DIRECT SPEECH I play tennis with my friends I am playing tennis with my friends I have played tennis with my friends I have been playing tennis with my friends I played tennis with my friends I were playing tennis with my friends I had played tennis with my friends I had been playing tennis with my friends I will play tennis with my friends REPORTED SPEECH She said that she played tennis with her friends She said that she was playing tennis with her friends She said that she had played tennis with her friends She said that she had been playing tennis with her friends She said that she had played tennis with her friends She said that she had been playing tennis with her friends She said that she had played tennis with her friends She said that she had been playing tennis with her friends She said that they would play tennis with her friends

Changes in Modals

Time and Place Adverb Change


DIRECT SPEECH Now Today REPORTED SPEECH Then That day

Tonight
Yesterday Last week A __________ ago Tomorrow Next ___________

That night
The previous day / the day before The previous week / the week before The previous ______ / the _____ before The following day / the day after / the next day The following ________ / the _______ after

Here
This These

There
That Those

Same changes as for statements.

Reported questions

In REPORTED QUESTIONS we do not have a question structure, now we have a statement


Paul asked: Are you coming to the party tonight, Jane?
Paul asked Jane if she was coming to the party that night.

Suject + verb + complements

Types of questions:
1.
COMPLEMENTS

YES/NO QUESTIONS: IF / WHETHER + SUJECT + VERB +

Paul asked : "Do you play volleyball?" Paul asked me whether (or if) I played volleyball.

2.

WH- QUESTION : WH- + SUJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENTS John asked: "When do you play badminton?" John asked me when I played badminton.

Reported commands, orders, etc.

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