REPORTED SPEECH / INDIRECT SPEECH

 There are two ways of reporting what a person has said: direct and indirect speech
 In direct speech, we repeat the original speaker's exact words:
He said, "I have lost my umbrella"
In this case, the repeated sentence is placed between inverted commas, and a comma or colon is placed
inmediately before the remark
 In indirect speech, we give the exact meaning of a remark or a speech, not using the speaker's
exact words
He said (that) he had lost his umbrella.
There is no comma, "that" can usually be omitted after SAY and TELL + Object in spoken language.
 When we turn direct speech into indirect, some changes are necessary. Let's study them by
considering statements, questions, orders and suggestions.

REPORTED STATEMENTS (affirmative and negative)

1. Verbal Tenses Change ( when the introductory verb is in the past)
PRESENT SIMPLE PAST SIMPLE
"I work very hard", he said He said (that) he worked very hard.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS PAST CONTINUOUS

"They are working very hard", the teacher said The teacher said (that) they were working very
hard.
PAST SIMPLE PAST PERFECT
"She worked very hard", he said He said (that) she had worked very hard.

PAST CONTINUOUS PAST CONTINUOUS / PAST PERFECT CONT.

"We were working very hard", they said They said (that) they were working very hard
They said (that) they had been working very hard.
PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE PAST PERFECT SIMPLE
"I have worked very hard", the pupil said The pupil said (that) he had worked very hard

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

"I have been working very hard", the pupil said The pupil said (that) he had been working very hard

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

"You had worked a lot", her husband said Her husband said (that) he had worked a lot

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Helen said, "It had been raining so much" Helen said (that) it had been raining so much

FUTURE SIMPLE CONDITIONAL (WOULD + INF.)

He said, ""I'll be in Paris on Monday" He said (that) he would be in Paris on Monday

MODAL VERBS
1. CAN 1. COULD
“ She can pass the exam tomorrow”, he said He said that she could pass the exam the next day
2. MAY 2. MIGHT
“It may rain soon!”, she said She said that it might rain soon
3. MUST 3. HAD TO
“We must tidy the house”, they said They said they had to tidy the house
4. HAVE TO 4. HAD TO
“I have to leave”, Peter said Peter said that he had to leave
  The past continuous tense in theory changes to the past perfect continuous but in practice it
usually remains unchanged
 When the sentence states a general truth, there are no changes in verbal tenses.
For example: She said, “I like football” She said that she likes football
“Crime is punished by law”, they said They said that crime is punished by law

2. Pronouns and Possessives Change.

 Pay attention to the subject of the introductory sentence!!! We usually have to change from 1st or
2nd person in direct speech into 3rd in indirect speech. Except when the speaker is reporting his /
her own words.
He said, "I've forgotten my keys".................. He said (that) he had forgotten his keys.

I said, "I like my new house" ........................ I said (that) I liked my new house
*** Remember that pronoun changes may affect the verb!!!!!!

3. Time and Place expressions Change.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH
Now Then
Today That day
Tonight That night
Yesterday The previous day/the day before
Last week The previous week/the week before
A month ago The previous month/the month before
Tomorrow The following day/the next day/
the day after
Next week The following week / the week after
Here There
This That
These Those

REPORTED QUESTIONS
 In reported speech the introductory verb for questions must have an interrogative meaning (ASK,
WONDER, REQUEST, ENQUIRE or INQUIRE, WANT TO KNOW…)
 The reported question becomes an statement so it loses the question mark and there is no inversion
 There aren’t inverted commas either

 There are two types of questions in English:

1. YES/NO QUESTIONS (because they are answered with a yes… or no….) and the
subordinate reported question must be introduced by IF or WHETHER
“Did you like the match?”, she said to me She asked me if I had liked the match

2. WH-QUESTIONS (they look for information) and the connecting word with the
subordinate reported sentence is the QUESTION WORD ITSELF
“What do you want to do?”, she asked She asked me what I wanted to do
 REPORTED ORDERS

 The introductory verb must have an imperative meaning (TELL, ORDER, DEMAND, SHOUT,
WARN, BEG…)
 This introductory verb must be followed by the person to whom the order is directed (noun or
pronoun)
 The imperative becomes a TO- Infinitive.
 If there is a negative imperative, we place NOT in front of the TO-Infinitive.

“Stop doing this!” The teacher told him to stop doing that
“Don’t shout, please!” He begged the children not to shout

REPORTED SUGGESTIONS

 They are introduced by the verb SUGGEST in the past and then we can report other people’s
words with two different grammatical structures (but the same meaning)

1. …suggested + gerund
“Let’s watch the new TV show” Tom suggested watching the new TV show

2. …suggested + that + subject + infinitive + ….

“Let’s watch the new TV show” Tom suggested that we watch the new TV show

REPORTING VERBS
The most common introductory verbs are SAY, TELL and ASK. They transmit the message and
don’t give extra information. However, there are other introductory verbs that communicate the
speaker’s intention and they are very useful to give the real message transmitting the speaker’s
attitude. These verbs take a variety of structures. The following list gives you reporting verbs in
various categories based on sentence structure. Notice that a number of verbs can take more than
one form.

verb object verb infinitive verb (that) verb gerund verb object verb
infinitive preposition preposition
gerund gerund
advise agree admit deny accuse apologize
encourage decide agree recommend blame insist
invite offer decide suggest congratulate
remind promise deny
warn refuse explain
threaten insist
promise
recommend
suggest
Examples: Examples: Examples: Tom Examples: Examples: Examples: He
Jack encouraged She offered to admitted (that) He denied They accused apologized for
me to look for a give him a lift he had tried to having the boys of being late.
new job. to work. leave early. anything to do cheating on the
with her. exam.
They invited all My brother She agreed
their friends to refused to take (that) we Ken suggested She blamed her
attend the no for an needed to studying early husband for
presentation. answer. reconsider our in the morning. missing the
plans. train.