UNIT 4: REPORTED SPEECH

We use reported speech to report what another person has said, without quoting their exact word. In reported speech we don't use inverted commas ("...").


REPORTED STATEMENTS


TENSE CHANGES

* When we convert a direct speech sentence into reported speech, we change the tense of the main verb by putting it one step further into the past.

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
Present simple	Past simple
I come	I came
Present continuous	Past continuous
I’m reading	I was reading
Present perfect simple	Past perfect simple
I have told	I had told
Past simple	Past perfect simple
I walked	I had walked
Will	Would
I will see	I would see
Can	Could
I can sing	I could sing
Must	Had to
I must read	I had to read

For example: "I can't come to your party" said Toni --> Toni said that he couldn't come to my party.

* We don't change the past perfect simple in reported speech.


OTHER CHANGES

* Most modals verbs don't change when we convert direct speech into reported speech. For example:
You should report the theft --> She said that I should report the theft.

* Pronouns usually change

* Expressions of time and place usually change. For example:
"Were are going to meet tomorrow" said Lisa --> Lisa said that they were going to meet the following day.

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
Here	There
This	That
These	Those
Now	Then
Next week	The following week
Today	That day
Tonight	That night
Tomorrow	The following day
Yesterday	The day before
Last week	The week before

REPORTED COMMANDS AND REQUESTS

* In reported commands we use:

Subject + TELL + object + (not) to + verb (infinitive).

Ex: The police officer told him to go away.

     The detective told us not to touch anything.

* In reported requests we use:

Subject + ASK + (not) to + verb (infinitive).

Ex: He asked me to show him my passport.

      The judge asked us not no make a noise.

REPORTING QUESTIONS

These sentences have a different word order from direct questions. In fact, they have the same order as affirmative questions.

Direct questions: verb + subject --> "What's your name?" he asked.

Reported speech: subject + verb --> He asked what her name was.

* We don't use do/did in reported questions.

* If a direct question uses a question word we repeat it in the reported question.

   Ex: "What are you reading? asked Jake. --> Jake asked what he was reading.

* If a direct question doesn't use a question word, we use if or wether in the reported question.

   Ex: "Can you show me your passport?" asked the police. --> The police asked if she could show him her passport.

REPORTING VERBS

We can use other verbs to introduce reported speech.

- VERB + OBJECT + VERB (infinitve with to). --> Reported verbs used in reported commands and requests.

       * ask, advise, invite, order, remind, tell, encourage, persuade, warn.

Ex: "You ought to tell them the truth". --> She advised them to tell the truth.

- VERB + VERB (infinitive with to).

      * agree, offer, promise, refuse.

Ex: "No, we won't help you". --> They refused to help us.

- VERB (+ that) + SUBJECT + VERB ( in reporting tense).

     * admit, declare, explain, insist, promise, recommend, reply, reveal, say, suggest, add.

Ex: "You need to call this number". --> He explained that I needed to call that number.

- VERB + FOR + VERB (-ing)

      * apologize for

Ex: "I'm sorry I was impolite". --> She apologized for being impolite.