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Reported Speech

Direct speech refers to quoting someone's exact words, while reported speech involves reporting what someone said without using their exact words. When changing direct speech to reported speech, verb tenses and other elements like demonstratives and adverbs are typically shifted back or "reported" to reflect when the statement was originally made rather than when it is being reported. Common reporting verbs are used to indicate who said or reported the statement. Reported speech can be used to report statements, ask questions, or make requests.

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52 views7 pages

Reported Speech

Direct speech refers to quoting someone's exact words, while reported speech involves reporting what someone said without using their exact words. When changing direct speech to reported speech, verb tenses and other elements like demonstratives and adverbs are typically shifted back or "reported" to reflect when the statement was originally made rather than when it is being reported. Common reporting verbs are used to indicate who said or reported the statement. Reported speech can be used to report statements, ask questions, or make requests.

Uploaded by

Petre Ana-Maria
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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

Direct Speech vs. Reported Speech

Direct Speech and Reported Speech (Indirect Speech) are used as follows:

 With Direct Speech, the statement / question / request is made directly.


e.g.: "There has been a hold-up at the Central Bank", he said.

 With Reported Speech, sombeody reports the statement / question / request.


e.g.: He said that there had been a hold-up at the Central Bank.

How do I form the Reported Speech?

Reported Speech implies a backshift in time. This backshift is reflected in the verb tense, but also in
other elements of the sentence (demonstratives, adverbs).

Backshift of verb tenses

Backshift of tenses Direct Speech Reported Speech

"John is the reporter", he He said that John was the


Present Simple → Past Simple
said. reporter.

Present Continuous → Past "I am writing the She said that she was


Continuous newsletter", she said. writing the newsletter.

     
"The radio
Mark told me that the radio
Past Simple → Past Perfect station closed in June",
station had closed in June.
Mark told me.

"The co-anchor has
Jeremy announced that the
Present Perfect → Past Perfect arrived", Jeremy
co-anchor had arrived.
announced.

"The news had They informed me that the


Past Perfect – no change started before dinner news had started before
time", they informed me. dinner time.

     

Past Continuous → Jane claimed that she was


Jane: "I was reading the
no change / Past Perfect reading / had been
newspaper at 5 o'clock."
Continuous reading at 5 o'clock.

Sally: "The victim has Sally reported that the


Present Perfect Continuous →
been shaking for two victim had been
Past Perfect Continuous
hours." shaking for two hours.
The reporter: "They had The reporter said that
Past Perfect Continuous – no
been looking for clues all they had been looking for
change
evening." clues all evening.

     

"I will cover that story", Mike suggested that


Future Simple with Will → Would
Mike suggested. he would cover that story.

"They are going to Wanda said that they were


Be going to Future → Was going to arrive at the crime scene", going to arrive at the
said Wanda. crime scene.

     

The agent said that


"I can give you a
Modal Can → Modal Could he could give me a
brochure", the agent said.
brochure.

The editor warned: "The The editor warned us that


Modal May → Modal Might publishing company may the publishing
reject it." company might reject it.
"We must contact the He said that we had to
Modal Must → Had to
typography", he said. contact the typography.

     

"We should choose a Beatrice said that


Modals Would, Could, Should – no
different headline", said we should choose a
change
Beatrice. different headline.

Rember that:

 For facts that are always true, we don't have to shift back in time.

Direct Speech:"I like the British TV channels", she said.


Reported Speech:
She said that she liked British TV channels. or
She said that she likes British TV channels.

 The word that can always be omitted.

He said that John was the reporter. = He said John was the reporter.

Backshift of other structures

Note that, in the table below, we will omit the word that in all the examples.

Direct Speech Reported Speech Example

this that "This article is captivating", she said.


She said that article was captivating.

Jenny: "These are our brochures."


these those
Jenny said those were our brochures.

"The press conference will take place here", he


informed us.
here there
He informed us the press conference would take
place there.

"I can't talk now", Bob told me.


now then
Bob told me he couldn't talk then.

Tommy: "Today is a big day."


today that day
Tommy said that day was a big day.

"The show starts tomorrow", announced Hanna.


tomorrow the following day Hanna announced the show started the following
day.

"The armed robbery took place yesterday," he said.


yesterday the previous day He said the armed robbery had taken place the
previous day.

the day after tomorrow in two days' time "The suspect will be interrogated the day after
tomorrow," he said.
He said the suspect would be interrogated in two
days' time.

the day before "We talked the day before yesterday", she said.
two days before
yesterday She said we had talked two days before.

Carrie: "A terrifying event happened last week."


last (week) the previous (week) Carrie said a terrifying event had happened the
previous week.

Mr. Roth: "We will make a public announncement next


month."
next (month) the following (month)
Mr. Roth said they would make a public
announcement the following month.

"The series started two years ago", Ryan said.


(two years) ago (two years) before
Ryan said the series had started two years before.

Reporting verbs

Common reporting verbs are: to say, to tell, to report, to ask, to announce, to inform, to suggest, to
mention, to advise, to order, to admit, to deny, to claim, to recall, to warn, to promise, to reply, to
invite, to complain, to imply etc.

e.g.: She promised she would call us.


e.g.: Mary replied that she had never been there before.
e.g.: The Smiths implied that we had stolen their Christmas decorations.

Statements / Questions / Requests

Reported Speech can be used for making statements, for asking questions or for making requests.

Statements
 Affirmative:

"The commercial break has already started", complained Richard.


Richard complained that the commercial break had already started.

 Negative:

"I don't know what happened", said April.


April said that she didn't know what had happened. / April denied that she knew what had
happened.

Questions

 With reported questions, we can use the words if or whether:

"Should I rewrite the article?" asked Sam.


Sam asked if (or whether) he should rewrite the article.

Requests

 With reported requests, we use the verb in the infinitive form:

"Please tell me what the time is", she asked me.


She asked me to tell her what the time was.

"Give me that newspaper!" he ordered me.


He ordered me to give him that newspaper.

What else should I know?

 Reported Speech can be used for the Passive Voice.

"The cover story will be written by Lisa", the editor-in-chief said.


The editor-in-chief said that the cover story would be written by Lisa.

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