LANGUAGES INSTITUTE

ENGLISH LEVEL V
REPORTED SPEECH WORKSHOP

Professor’s name: _____________________________________ Date: ___________

Student’s name: _____________________________________ Group: _____

Warm up:

In pairs, discuss the following questions:

1. Name three companies you consider are successful and say why you believe they are
successful.

2. What characteristics do you think these companies look for when recruiting their employees?

3. In which of these companies would you like to work and why?

Share your answers with the rest of the class.

Vocabulary: Look at the following words or expressions and without using a dictionary try to match the
meaning.

1. reverence 7. cross-functional collaboration

2. expertise 8. goal
3. hire 9. challenge
4. potential 10. effortless
5. “thinking outside the box” 11. role
6. refine 12. meaningful

____ aim or purpose.

____ done so well that it seems not to need much mental or physical activity.
____ someone’s or something’s ability to develop, achieve or succeed.
____ to think imaginatively using new ideas instead of traditional or expected ideas.
____ feeling of respect or admiration for something or someone.
____ involving people or departments who do different types of work for the same company.
____ to employ or pay someone to do a particular job.
____ something needing great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully.
____ important or valuable.
____ high level of skill or knowledge.
____ to improve an idea, method, system, etc. by making small changes.
____ position or purpose that someone or something has in a situation, organization, society or
relationship.

Now, you can use a dictionary or your electronic devices to look up the definitions of those words you
couldn´t match.

Compare your answers with a classmate.

 GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT

Let´s practice our listening skills!

Watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9SK052cF3c

1. While you are watching the video, write beside each sentence in column A the name of the person who
said that. The first one is done for you as an example. You might need to watch the video two times.

John Marcus Luciana Greg Grant

Gary Marisa Makiko Joel Derrick

A B

1. Derrick : “Apple will never give up
because it’s too hard”
2. _________:“There is no company in the
world with such a reverence for
expertise”.
_ She said that the reason you were hired
was because you had the potential to be
at the top of your field.
_ He said that he loved his role in making
that happen.

3. _________:“The reason you are hired is
because you have the potential to be at
the top of your field”.
4. _________: “We are always refining
every little last detail until there’s no
more time to refine”.
5. _________: “When we decided to
redesign the batteries for portable
products, the goal was simple.”
6. _________: “That’s how new technology
is done in Apple”.
7. _________: “They are curious problem
solvers, up for any kind of challenge”
8. _________: “I love my role in making that
happen.”
_ He said that they were always refining
every little last detail until there was no
more time to refine.
_ He said that there was no company in the
world with such a reverence for expertise.
_ He said that Apple would never give up
because it was too hard.
_ She said that they were curious problem
solvers, up for any kind of challenge.
_ He said that was how new technology was
done in Apple.
_ He said that when they had decided to
redesign the batteries for portable
products, the goal had been simple.

REPORTED OR INDIRECT SPEECH

If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but
reported (indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech.
Indirect speech is also called reported speech because it is used by a person to report someone’s speech in
his/her own words.

For example: Direct speech: “I am going to the cinema!” Tom said.

Indirect Speech: Tom said he was going to the cinema.

 RULES

Rule 1. When reporting speech, the tense usually changes. This is because when we use reported speech, we are
usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past). The
verbs, therefore, usually have to be in the past too (Backshift). If the situation is reported in the present tense,
then the tense does not change.

DIRECT SPEECH (“”) INDIRECT SPEECH

Present simple Past simple

She said, "I have a meeting.“ She said she had a meeting.
He said, “I don’t have money.” He said he didn’t have money.

Present continuous Past continuous

Mia said, "I'm teaching English online." Mia said she was teaching English online.
They said, “We aren’t working on that.” They said they weren’t working on that.

Past simple Past perfect

Tina said, "I taught online yesterday.“ Tina said she had taught online yesterday.

Present Perfect Past perfect

Bob said, "I have seen it.“ Bob said he had seen it.

Verb to be Verb to be
am/is was
are were

Auxiliary Verbs Auxiliary Verbs

Can Could

Will Would

May Might

Rule 2: TIME EXPRESSIONS Words expressing nearness in time or place are generally changed into words
expressing distance.

DIRECT SPEECH (“”) INDIRECT SPEECH

this (evening) that (evening)

today that day
these (days) those (days)
now then
(a week) ago (a week) before
last weekend the previous weekend
here there
next (week) the following (week)
tomorrow the next/following day

Examples:
Direct: He said, ‘I am too weak to work now.’
Indirect: He said that he was too weak to work then.
Direct: She said, ‘I will leave for New York tomorrow.’
Indirect: She said that she would leave for New York the next day.
Rule 3: REPORTING COMMANDS AND REQUESTS.

In reporting commands and requests, the Indirect Speech is introduced by some verb expressing command or
request, and the imperative mood is changed into the Infinitive.

DIRECT SPEECH (“”) INDIRECT SPEECH

“Go home!” Mary demanded. Mary demanded to go home.

“Eat the apple!” Mom said. Mom said to eat the apple.

“Don’t use your cell phones.” The The teacher demanded not to use our cell
teacher demanded. phones.

“Don’t eat my sandwich!” my sister said.

My sister said not to eat her sandwich.

https://create.kahoot.it/create#/edit/7cb3fcbf-454a-4b91-ac4d-d5182145bc19/overview

Let’s practice!
From the video you just watched; report some things the employees said using Reported Speech.

“In Apple, we never stop” Gary said.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

“One of the unique things about Apple is the level of cross-collaboration between different groups.”
Marcus said.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

“Everyone at Apple is moving forward.” Makiko said.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

“You don’t know how much work goes in each Apple product” Gary said.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

“Be flexible and adaptable” Marisa said.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Quiz yourself: http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=1629

 FURTHER PRACTICE

Rewrite the following sentences using Reported Speech.

1. He said, "I like my job."

→ He said ______________________________________________________
2. "I went to Quebec with my family last year” she said.
→ She said _____________________________________________________

3. "I don't speak Italian" she said.

→ She said_______________________________________________________
4. "My job makes me feel happy" he said.
→ He said _______________________________________________________
5. "You can work with your colleagues" she said.
→ She said _________________________________________________________

6. They said, “ We are travelling to Paris tomorrow”

→ They said ________________________________________________________
7. Amy said, “I will finish my major next year”.
→ She said ___________________________________________________________

8. “Don´t go to bed late” he said.

→ He said ___________________________________________________________
9. Dario said, “I’m applying for a job position in Google”.
→ He said ___________________________________________________________
10. “Max hasn’t come to work this week” she said.
→ She said ___________________________________________________________
11. “Don’t call me in the morning.” he said.
→ He said ___________________________________________________________
12. My mom said, “I have taught you that twice this month.”
→ She said ___________________________________________________________