clasa a VIII-a B - Reported Speech (Review)

Reported (Indirect) Speech

We often need to tell others what someone else said. There are two ways to do this. One
is to say the same words and use quotation marks. That is "direct speech." The other method
is to summarize, or tell about what someone said. This is called "reported speech."
Reported Statements
When do we use reported speech? Sometimes someone says a sentence, for example
"I'm going to the cinema tonight". Later, maybe we want to tell someone else what the first
person said.
 We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'.
 If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the
sentence:
Direct speech: I like ice cream.
Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.
 We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the
'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We also may need to change words like 'my'
and 'your'.
(As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets ( ) to
show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)
 Changes to Personal Pronouns in indirect reports depend on whether the person
reporting the speech and the person(s) who said the original words are the same
or different.
 I, you he/she
 we they
 changes to Adjectives/Adverbs and Demonstratives We often change
Adjectives/Adverbs and Demonstratives because indirect speech happens at a
later time than the original speech, and perhaps in a different place.

 my his/her
 our their
 here there
 today that day
 yesterday the day before
 two days ago two days before
 tomorrow he next day
 this that
 these those

 But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses
in the Reported Speech:

Direct speech: I like ice cream.

Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream
Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe
 Tense Direct Speech Tense in Reported Speech
Present Simple I like ice cream Past Simple She said (that) she liked ice cream.
Present Continuous I am living in London Past Continuous She said (that) she was living in London.
Past Simple I bought a car Past Perfect She said (that) she had bought a car OR She said (that) she
bought a car.
Past Continuous I was walking along the Past Perfect She said (that) she had been walking along the street.
street Continuous
Present Perfect I haven't seen Julie Past Perfect She said (that) she hadn't seen Julie.
Past Perfect* I had taken English lessons Past Perfect She said (that) she had taken English lessons before.
before
Future Simple (will) I'll see you later Future in-the-Past She said (that) she would see me later.
(would)
would* I would help, but..” would She said (that) she would help but...
can I can speak perfect English could She said (that) she could speak perfect English.
could* I could swim when I was could She said (that) she could swim when she was four.
four
shall I shall come later should She said (that) she would come later.
should* I should call my mother should She said (that) she should call her mother
might* I might be late might She said (that) she might be late
must I must study at the weekend had to She said she had to study at the weekend
* doesn't change.

Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe

Indirect speech: Reporting questions
Reporting yes-no questions and alternative questions
Indirect reports of yes-no questions and questions with or consist of a reporting clause and a
reported clause introduced by if or whether. If is more common than whether. The reported
clause is in statement form (subject + verb), not question form:
[S] [V] [V] [S]
She asked if I was Scottish. (original yes-no question: ‘Are you Scottish?’)
[S] [V]
The waiter asked whether we wanted a table near the window. (original yes-no question: ‘Do
you want a table near the window?)
[S] [V]
He asked me if I had come by train or by bus. (original alternative question: ‘Did you
come by train or by bus?’)
So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative
sentences. But how about questions?
 Direct speech: Where do you live?
How can we make the reported speech here?
In fact, it's not so different from reported statements. The tense changes are the same, and
we keep the question word. The very important thing though is that, once we tell the question
to someone else, it isn't a question any more. So we need to change the grammar to a
normal positive sentence. A bit confusing? Maybe this example will help:
 Direct speech: Where do you live?
 Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
Do you see how I made it? The direct question is in the present simple tense. We make a
present simple question with 'do' or 'does' so I need to take that away. Then I need to change
the verb to the past simple.
Another example:
 Direct speech: Where is Julie?
 Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.
The direct question is the present simple of 'be'. We make the question form of the present
simple of be by inverting (changing the position of)the subject and verb. So, we need to
change them back before putting the verb into the past simple.
Here are some more examples:
Direct Question Reported Question
Where is the Post Office, please? She asked me where the Post Office was.
What are you doing? She asked me what I was doing.
Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe
Who was that fantastic man? She asked me who that fantastic man had been.

So much for 'wh' questions. But, what if you need to report a 'yes / no' question? We don't
have any question words to help us. Instead, we use 'if':
 Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?
 Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.
No problem? Here are a few more examples:
Direct Question Reported Question
Do you love me? He asked me if I loved him.
Have you ever been to Mexico? She asked me if I had ever been to Mexico.
Are you living here? She asked me if I was living here.

Reported Requests
There's more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For
example:
 Direct speech: Close the window, please
 Or: Could you close the window please?
 Or: Would you mind closing the window please?
All of these requests mean the same thing, so we don't need to report every word when
we tell another person about it. We simply use 'ask me + to + infinitive':
 Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.
Here are a few more examples:
Direct Request Reported Request
Please help me. She asked me to help her.
Please don't smoke. She asked me not to smoke.
Could you bring my book tonight? She asked me to bring her book that night.
Could you pass the milk, please? She asked me to pass the milk.
Would you mind coming early tomorrow? She asked me to come early the next day.
To report a negative request, use 'not':
 Direct speech: Please don't be late.
 Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.

Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe

 Reported Orders
And finally, how about if someone doesn't ask so politely? We can call this an 'order' in
English, when someone tells you very directly to do something. For example:
 Direct speech: Sit down!
In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as a request. We just use
'tell' instead of 'ask':
 Reported speech: She told me to sit down.
Direct Order Reported Order
Go to bed! He told the child to go to bed.
Don't worry! He told her not to worry.
Be on time! He told me to be on time.
Don't smoke! He told us not to smoke.

Time Expressions with Reported Speech

Sometimes when we change direct speech into reported speech we have to change time
expressions too. We don't always have to do this, however. It depends on when we heard the
direct speech and when we say the reported speech.

For example:
It's Monday. Julie says "I'm leaving today".

 If I tell someone on Monday, I say "Julie said she was leaving today".
 If I tell someone on Tuesday, I say "Julie said she was leaving yesterday".
 If I tell someone on Wednesday, I say "Julie said she was leaving on Monday".
 If I tell someone a month later, I say "Julie said she was leaving that day".

So, there's no easy conversion. You really have to think about when the direct speech was
said.

Here's a table of some possible conversions:

now then / at that time
today yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27th of June
yesterday the day before yesterday / the day before / Wednesday / the 5th of
December
last night the night before, Thursday night
last week the week before / the previous week
tomorrow today / the next day / the following day / Friday

Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe

 Practice
A. Reported Statements Mixed Exercise
Change this direct speech into reported speech:
1. “He works in a bank”
She said ___________________________________________________________
2. “We went out last night”
She told me ________________________________________________________
3. “I‟m coming!”
She said ___________________________________________________________
4. “I was waiting for the bus when he arrived”
She told me ________________________________________________________
5. “ I‟d never been there before”
She said ___________________________________________________________
6. “I didn‟t go to the party”
She told me ________________________________________________________
7. “Lucy‟ll come later”
She said ___________________________________________________________
8. “He hasn‟t eaten breakfast”
She told me ________________________________________________________
9. “I can help you tomorrow”
She said ___________________________________________________________
10. “You should go to bed early”
She told me ________________________________________________________
11. “I don‟t like chocolate”
She told me ________________________________________________________
12. “I won‟t see you tomorrow”
She said ___________________________________________________________
13. “She‟s living in Paris for a few months”
She said ___________________________________________________________
14. “I visited my parents at the weekend”
She told me ________________________________________________________
15. “She hasn‟t eaten sushi before”
She said ___________________________________________________________
Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe
 16. “I hadn‟t travelled by underground before I came to London”
She said ___________________________________________________________
17. “They would help if they could”
She said ___________________________________________________________
18. “I‟ll do the washing-up later”
She told me ________________________________________________________
19. “He could read when he was three”
She said ___________________________________________________________
20. “I was sleeping when Julie called”
She said ___________________________________________________________

B. Reported Questions
Change these direct questions into reported speech:
1. “Where is he?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
2. “What are you doing?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
3. “Why did you go out last night?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
4. “Who was that beautiful woman?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
5. “How is your mother?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
6. “What are you going to do at the weekend?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
7. “Where will you live after graduation?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
8. “What were you doing when I saw you?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
9. “How was the journey?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
10. “How often do you go to the cinema?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________

Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe

 11. “Do you live in London?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
12. “Did he arrive on time?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
13. “Have you been to Paris?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
14. “Can you help me?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
15. “Are you working tonight?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
16. “Will you come later?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
17. “Do you like coffee?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
18. “Is this the road to the station?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
19. “Did you do your homework?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
20. “Have you studied reported speech before?”
She asked me ______________________________________________________

C. Reported Requests and Orders

Change the direct speech into reported speech:
1. “Please help me carry this”
She asked me ______________________________________________________
2. “Please come early”
She ______________________________________________________________
3. “Please buy some milk”
She ______________________________________________________________
4. “Could you please open the window?”
She ______________________________________________________________
5. “Could you bring the book tonight?”
She ______________________________________________________________

Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe

 6. “Can you help me with my homework, please?”
She ______________________________________________________________
7. “Would you bring me a cup of coffee, please?”
She ______________________________________________________________
8. “Would you mind passing the salt?”
She ______________________________________________________________
9. “Would you mind lending me a pencil?”
She ______________________________________________________________
10. “I was wondering if you could possibly tell me the time?”
She ______________________________________________________________
11. “Do your homework!”
She told me ________________________________________________________
12. “Go to bed!”
She ______________________________________________________________
13. “Don‟t be late!”
She ______________________________________________________________
14. “Don‟t smoke!”
She ______________________________________________________________
15. “Tidy your room!”
She ______________________________________________________________
16. “Wait here!”
She ______________________________________________________________
17. “Don‟t do that!”
She ______________________________________________________________
18. “Eat your dinner!”
She ______________________________________________________________
19. “Don‟t make a mess!”
She ______________________________________________________________
20. “Do the washing-up!”
She ______________________________________________________________

D. Mixed Reported Speech 1 (Statements, Questions, Requests and Orders)

Change the direct speech into reported speech. Choose the past simple of „ask‟, „say‟

Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe

 or „tell‟:
1. “Don‟t do it!”
She ______________________________________________________________
2. “I‟m leaving tomorrow”
She ______________________________________________________________
3. “Please get me a cup of tea”
She ______________________________________________________________
4. “She got married last year”
She ______________________________________________________________
5. “Be quick!”
She ______________________________________________________________
6. “Could you explain number four, please?”
She ______________________________________________________________
7. “Where do you live?”
She ______________________________________________________________
8. “We went to the cinema and then to a Chinese restaurant”
She ______________________________________________________________
9. “I‟ll come and help you at twelve”
She ______________________________________________________________
10. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
She ______________________________________________________________
“Don‟t go!”
She ______________________________________________________________
12. “Do you work in London?”
She ______________________________________________________________
13. “Could you tell me where the post office is?”
She ______________________________________________________________
14. “Come here!”
She ______________________________________________________________
15. “I‟ve never been to Wales”
She ______________________________________________________________
16. “Have you ever seen „Lord of the Rings‟?”
She ______________________________________________________________

Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe

 17. “I don't like mushrooms”
She ______________________________________________________________
18. “Don't be silly!”
She ______________________________________________________________
19. “Would you mind waiting a moment please?”
She ______________________________________________________________
20. “How often do you play sport?”
She ______________________________________________________________

Teacher, Liliana Gheorghe