Scribd
Upload
53 views3 pages

Reported Speech

This document discusses how to report speech in both present and past tense. When reporting present speech, the tense does not change but pronouns do. When reporting past speech, tenses are "backshifted" or changed to reflect the past time being reported, and pronouns are changed. Additional contextual words like place and time references may also need to be changed. Reported speech can use infinitives to report future actions or questions. Indirect questions change tenses/pronouns like reported speech and invert the subject and verb order.

Uploaded by

Katalin Sardi-Madouche
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
53 views3 pages

Reported Speech

This document discusses how to report speech in both present and past tense. When reporting present speech, the tense does not change but pronouns do. When reporting past speech, tenses are "backshifted" or changed to reflect the past time being reported, and pronouns are changed. Additional contextual words like place and time references may also need to be changed. Reported speech can use infinitives to report future actions or questions. Indirect questions change tenses/pronouns like reported speech and invert the subject and verb order.

Uploaded by

Katalin Sardi-Madouche
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Reported speech

Use: When we want to tell people what somebody says/said, thinks/thought, we report
using indirect speech.

Reporting in the present:

Jim: “I’m coming!” Jim says that he’s coming.


Jim: “I’m from London.” He says he’s from London.
Cassie: “It’s going to rain.” She thinks it’s going to rain.
Tim and Cassie: “We’re going to be rich.” They believe they’re going to be rich.

When we are reporting in the present, we are using reporting verbs such as ‘say’,
‘think’ and ‘believe’. When we are reporting in the present, the tense does not change,
however, the pronouns change as follows: I – he/she
we – they
you – I/we

Reporting in the past:

Original sentence Tense Reported sentence Tense


I play football. Present Simple He said (that) he Past Simple
played football.
I am playing Present Continuous He said (that) he Past Continuous
football. was playing
football.
I'm going to play Be going to future He said that he was Was/were going to
football. going to play + infinitive
football
I have played Present Perfect He said (that) he Past Perfect
football. had played football.
I played football. Past Simple He said (that) he Past Perfect
had played football.
I was playing Past Continuous He said (that) he Past Perfect
football. had been playing Continuous
football.
I had played Past Perfect He said (that) he Past Perfect
football. had played football.
I had been playing Past Perfect He said (that) he Past Perfect
football. Continuous had been playing Continuous
football.
I will play football. Will modal He said (that) he Would modal
would play
football.
I can play football. Can modal He said (that) he Could modal.
could play football.
I must play Must modal He said (that) he Had to modal
football. had to play
football.
-In reported speech, we usually report what was said at a different time, and so we
change the tense to reflect the time, which we are reporting, which we sometimes
refer to as ‘back-shifting’ (see table above) as well as the pronouns (same as in
present reporting) I – he/she
we – they
you – I/we.

-We may also need to change other words about place and time eg.: here – there, last
week – the week before, next week – the next week/the week after now, now –
then/that day/ right away, this – that/the/last, this morning – that morning, today – that
day, tomorrow – the next day, tonight – that night, yesterday – the day before.

-We need to note that modal verbs could, might, would, should, ought, had better
usually do not change in reported speech.

DIRECT SPEECH: "I should go to the dentist."


REPORTED SPEECH: He said that he should go to the dentist.

-If we report something which is still true, it is not necessary to change the verb.

DIRECT SPEECH: "My car is bigger than yours."


REPORTED SPEECH: He said his car is / was bigger than mine.

-When we are reporting past tenses, and we see the events from the same viewpoint as
the original speaker, it is not necessary to change the tense.

DIRECT SPEECH: "The earthquake happened at half past seven."


REPORTED SPEECH: The radio said that the earthquake happened at half past
seven.

-We use infinitives to report sentences about future actions- for example promises,
agreements, orders, offers, advice, suggestions, requests.

Examples: He promised to write.


I told Kate to be careful.
I advise you to think again.
She agreed to work another week.
Karen offered to help me.
She asked us not to be late.

Sometimes we also use the following structure: Question word + infinitive


Eg.: He asked her how to make custard.
Don’t tell me what to do.
Indirect questions: In indirect questions the tenses and the pronouns
change the same way as in reported speech. In indirect questions the
subject comes before the verb.
Eg.: DIRECT QUESTION: “When can you start?”
INDIRECT QUESTION: He asked me when I could start.
Qw – S – V

Yes/no questions are reported with if or whether.


Eg.: She asked me if/whether I wanted an ice-cream.

-When we report imperative, we use to + infinitive.


DIRECT SPEECH: ‘Open the window!’
INDIRECT SPEECH: He told me to open the window.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy