REPORTED SPEECH

I.

The indirect speech represents the means of the speaker to render the words uttered by
another person.

! When we want to report someones words we use either said (to me) that or told (me) (that).
After a reporting verb in the past there are usually changes to:

1) Pronouns and possessive adjectives:

I/you -
We -.
My/Your-
Our-..

e.g. Im going out with my friends.

Bob said .

2) Verb tenses:
Present simple-..
Present continuous-..
Past simple/Present Perfect-
Past continuous/Present Perfect Continuous-
Future-.
e.g. I havent seen Yolanda. Claude said .

3) Modal verbs:
Will-.
Can-.
May-.
Shall-
Must/have to-

e.g. Ill help you, she said. She said.. .

4) Adverbs/adverbial phrases of time and place:

Now-..
Today-.
Tonight-
This morning-
Yesterday-/ Tomorrow-./..
Last week-../.. Next month-../.
The day after tomorrow-.../..
Ago-.
Here-..
e.g. We did it yesterday. They said .
Were staying here for a week. She told him. .
This bag is expensive. He said .

II.

Reporting statements: no tense changes

! If a present situation or a past situation is still true, we dont need to change the tense.
e.g. They left last night. He tells me .
Alison lives with her parents. Nick said. .
! When the past simple is used in a time clause we dont usually change it.
e.g. As soon as I got home, I went upstairs. She said, .. .
! We usually dont change the past continuous unless it refers to an activity that was completed before
another activity in the past simple.
e.g. I was working until midnight. She said. .
We were planning to go out but then Thomas got ill. She said. .

III.

Reporting questions:

When we report questions, we use a reporting verb (ask, enquire, want to, know, wonder).

To report yes/no questions, we use if/whether after the reporting verb:

e.g. Have I seen you before? She asked me .. .

To report a wh-question, we use the question word:

e.g. Where did you go? He wanted to know.. .

! The word order in reported questions is the same as in statements and there is no do/does/did auxiliary.

IV.

Reporting commands and requests:

To report commands we use tell or order + to-infinitive; to report requests we use ask + to-infinitive.
e.g. Be quiet! He told us .
Put your hands up! The police officer ordered them . .
Please help us! They asked us.. .
Would you shut the door, please? I asked him . .
Dont stay out until late! She told me. .