Reported speech

Blanca de castilla
1º y 2º BACH A y B
 Introduction
2 ways of relating what a person has
said:
• Direct: He said, ‘I have lost my
umbrella’.
• Indirect: He said (that) he had lost
his umbrella.
 Introducing indirect speech
Indirect speech can be introduced by a
verb in a present tense: He says that
… This is usual when:
• Reporting a conversation that is still
going on
• Reading a letter and reporting what it
says
• Reading instructions and reporting
them.
 Changes
He said, ‘I have lost my umbrella’  He
said (that) he had lost his umbrella.

- Pronouns: I  he and my  his.

- Verb tense: have lost  had lost.
- Inicial structure: He said,  he said
(that)
PRONOUNS AND
ADJECTIVES
 Person pronouns and possessive
adjectives
Direct speech Indirect speech
I He or she
Me Him or her
My His or her
Mine His or hers
We They

She said, ‘he is my son’  She said

(that) he was her son.
‘I am ill’, she said  She said (that)
she was ill.
 This or these
Direct speech Indirect speech
This That
This or that The
This and these It or they/them

She said, ‘She’s coming this week’ She

said (that) she was coming that week.
He said’I bought this pearl for my mother’ 
He said (that) he had bought the pearl.
He came back with 2 knives and said, ‘I
found these beside the king’s bed’  He said
he had found them beside the king’s bed.
 Expressions of time and
Direct speech
place
Indirect speech
Today That day
Yesterday The day before
The day before yesterday Two days before
Tomorrow Two days before
The day after tomorrow In tow day’s time
Next week/year etc The following week/year etc
Last week/year etc The previous week/year
A year etc. Ago A year before/the previous year

‘I will do it tomorrow’, he promised 

He promised (that) she would do it the
next day.
TENSE CHANGES
 Tense changes
Direct speech Indirect speech
Present simple Past simple
‘I never eat meat’, he explained. He explained (that) he never ate
meat.
Present continuous Past continuous
‘I am waiting for Ann’, he said. He said (that) he was waiting
for Ann.
Present perfect Past perfect
‘I have found a flat’, he said. He said (That) he had found a
flat.
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
He said, ‘I have been waiting for He said (that) he had been
ages’ waiting for ages.
 Tense changes
Direct speech Indirect speech
Past simple Past perfect
She said, ‘I took it home with me. She said (that) he had taken it
home with her.
Future Conditional
He said, ‘I will/Shall be in Paris on He said (that) he would be in
Monday’. Paris on Monday.
Future continuous Conditional continuous
‘I will/shall be using the car She said (that) she’d be using
myself on the 24 h’, she siad. the car herself on the 24 h.
Conditional Conditional
I said, ‘I would like to see it’. I said (that) I would like to see it.
QUESTIONS
 Uses
When we turn questions into indirect
speech, the following changes are
necessary:
• Tenses, pronouns and possessive
adjectives, and adverbs of time and
place change as in statements.
• Interrogative form of the verb changes.
• Question mark is omitted in indirect
speech.
 Change in verbs
Direct speech Indirect speech
Say Ask, wonder, want to know
He said, ‘Where is the station?’ He asked (me) what I had got in
my bag.
Wonder and want to Asked
He said, ‘Mary, when is the next He asked Mary when the next
train?’ train was.
YES AND NO QUESTIONS
 Structure
We should use IF .

• He said, ‘Can you swim?’  He asked

(me) if I could swim.
• He said, ‘Will you have time to do it?
 He asked if I would have time to do
it.
COMMANDS, REQUESTS
AND ADVICE
 Introduction
Direct speech: He said, ‘Lie down,
Tom’
Indirect speech: He told Tom to lie
down.

STRUCTURE  verb of c/a/r + object +

inf.
 Car
• Advise, ask, beg, command, order,
remind, tell, warn, etc.
He said, ‘Get your coat, Tom!’  He
told Tom to get his coat.
• Negative c/a/r are reported by not +
infinitive.
‘Don’t swim out too far, boys’, I said
 I warned the boys not to swim out
too far.
Modals and conditionals

OTHER POINTS
 Must
Must does not change.

He said, ‘It must be pretty late, I really

must go’  He said that it must be
pretty late and he really must go.
 Modal verbs
Past modal verbs do not normally
change in reported speech.
He said, ‘I might come’  He said that
he might come.
He said, ‘You needn’t wait’  He said
that I needn’t wait.
 Exercise 1
1-. He said, ‘I like this song’  He said
_
2-. ‘Where is your sister?’ she asked
me  She asked me _.
3-. ‘I don’t speak Italian’, she said 
She said _.
4-. ‘Say hello to Jim’, she said  They
asked me _.
 Exercise 1
5-. The film began at seven o’clock’,
he said  He said _.
6-. ‘Don’t play on the grass, boys’, she
said  She told the boys _.
7-. ‘Where have you spent your
money?’, she asked him  She asked
him _.
 Exercise 1
8-. ‘I never make mistakes’, he said 
He said _.
9-. ‘Does she know Robert?’, he
wanted to know  He wanted to know
_.
10-. ‘Dono’t try this at home’, the
stuntman told the audience  The
stuntman advised the audience _.
 Exercise 1
1-. He said, ‘I like this song’  He said
that he liked that song.
2-. ‘Where is your sister?’ she asked
me  She asked me where my
sister was.
3-. ‘I don’t speak Italian’, she said 
She said that she didn’t
speakItalian.
4-. ‘Say hello to Jim’, she said  They
asked me to say hello to Jim.
 Exercise 1
5-. The film began at seven o’clock’, he
said  He said that the film had
begun at 7 o’clock.
6-. ‘Don’t play on the grass, boys’, she
said  She told the boys not to play
on the grass.
7-. ‘Where have you spent your
money?’, she asked him  She asked
him where he had spent his money.
 Exercise 1
8-. ‘I never make mistakes’, he said  He
said that he never made mistakes.
9-. ‘Does she know Robert?’, he wanted
to know  He wanted to know if she
knew Robert.
10-. ‘Dono’t try this at home’, the
stuntman told the audience  The
stuntman advised the audience not to
try that at home.