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Reported Speech: A Short Guide

This document provides a guide to reported speech. It explains how to change verbs, pronouns, words denoting location and time, and word order when reporting statements, questions, orders, requests, offers, and suggestions that were originally spoken. For example, a statement like "I'm hungry" would become "She said that she was hungry" in reported speech. Questions use an introductory verb like "asked" followed by the question in statement form. Requests and offers change the verb to an infinitive, and suggestions can be reported with "suggested" followed by a that-clause or gerund clause.

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65 views10 pages

Reported Speech: A Short Guide

This document provides a guide to reported speech. It explains how to change verbs, pronouns, words denoting location and time, and word order when reporting statements, questions, orders, requests, offers, and suggestions that were originally spoken. For example, a statement like "I'm hungry" would become "She said that she was hungry" in reported speech. Questions use an introductory verb like "asked" followed by the question in statement form. Requests and offers change the verb to an infinitive, and suggestions can be reported with "suggested" followed by a that-clause or gerund clause.

Uploaded by

Shreya A
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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REPORTED

SPEECH

A short guide
DEFINITION
CHANGES IN VERBS
Direct Reported (complete the grid)
Present Simple Past Simple
Present Continuous Past Continuous
Past Simple Past Perfect
Present Perfect Simple Past Perfect Simple
Past Perfect Simple Past Perfect Simple
Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
Shall, Will Should and Would
Can, May Could, Might
Would, Could, Might, Ought to, Would, Could, Might, Ought to,
Should Should
Must /Have to Had to
OTHER CHANGES
CHANGES IN PRONOUNS
Pronouns and possessives generally change to the third person.

OTHER CHANGES
Words denoting “nearness” become the corresponding words denoting remoteness:

this / these that / those


here there
come / bring go / take
now becomes then
ago before
today / tonight that day / that night
tomorrow the next / following day
yesterday the previous day, the day
before
A. REPORTED STATEMENTS
We normally use SAY & TELL.
1.1. If you say who you are talking to, use TELL. (v.g. Sonia told me
that you were ill)
1.2. Otherwise use SAY. (v.g. Sonia said that you were ill)
1.3. But you can also use “say something to somebody” (v.g. Sonia
said goodbye to me)
B. REPORTED QUESTIONS
When a direct question is turned into an indirect question:
 
1. The interrogative construction of the direct question is replaced by the
STATEMENT CONSTRUCTION: subject + verb + complements
2. The verb that introduces the indirect question is ASKED (or some similar verb,
e.g. ENQUIRED, WONDERED, WANTED TO KNOW, according to the shade
of meaning to be expressed).
Reported questions
3. The connective joining the indirect question to the principal clause is IF or WHETHER
(YES/NO QUESTIONS), except when the direct question had been one beginning with
an interrogative such as WHO, WHAT, WHY, etc. (WH-QUESTIONS). In this case
we use the Wh-word as the connective. For example:
- YES/NO QUESTIONS
 “Will you help me?”, he asked. He asked if I would help him
 “Did you see John at the party?”, she asked. 
She asked if I had seen John at the party
- WH-QUESTIONS
 “What is her name?”, he asked He asked (me) what her name was
 “Where are you going?”, they wanted to know. 
They wanted to know where I was going.
C. REPORTED ORDERS,
REQUESTS AND OFFERS
◦ To change an order, request or offer to reported speech, we change the verb in
imperative to infinitive. Before the infinitive, we use a verb in the past tense expressing
an order, request or offer:
“I’ll help you”  She offered to help me.
◦ Verbs such as tell, order, ask and beg are followed by an indirect object+infinitive.
“Tidy your room now” My mother told me to tidy my room then.
◦ In a negative sentences, we put not before to.
“Don’t wake her up, please” My father asked me not to wake her up.
REPORTED SUGGESTIONS
We put the subject and the verb suggest or recommend in the past tense and add
what the person said. There are two ways:
◦Using a clause formed by that, subject and verb in the base form.
“You should go to the exhibition”, Peter suggested.
Peter suggested that we go to the exhibition.
◦With a gerund, not specifying any subject, usually when the subject of the main
and the subordinate clause is the same.
“Let’s plant some flowers here”.
He suggested planting some flowers there.
OTHER REPORTING VERBS:
◦ Statements: admit, announce, answer, complain, explain, promise.
◦ Questions: ask, equire, want/would like to know, wonder.
◦ Orders: demand, order, warn, instruct.
◦ Requests: ask, beg.
◦ Offers: offer
◦ Sugestions: advice, recommend, suggest.

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