Download Indirect speech - Lourteacher

REPORTED SPEECH
CONTENTS
I. DEFINITION
II. BASIC RULES
1. Tense changes
a. Basic tense changes
b. Other tense changes
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Time and place changes
Pronoun changes
Reporting Verbs
Use of 'That' in reported speech
Indirect Questions
III. PRACTICE
I. DEFINITION
Reported speech (also known as indirect speech)
refers to a sentence reporting what someone has said.
It is almost always used in spoken English.
Reported speech doesn't use quotation marks to
enclose what the person said and it doesn't have to be
word for word.
When we use reported speech, we are usually talking
about the past (because obviously the person who
spoke originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore
usually have to be in the past too.
"I'm going to the cinema".
He said he was going to the cinema.
II. BASIC RULES
When changing from quoted speech to reported
speech, several changes occur. In all sentences, the
quotation marks and the comma immediately before the
first quotation mark are removed. Next, the word "that"
is usually inserted after the reporting verb (say, ask,
told, etc.) Then, the subject pronoun is changed so that
the meaning of the quote is not changed. Lastly, the
tense of the verb is changed, or shifted.
She said, "I'm teaching English online."
She said she was teaching English online.
1. Tense changes
a.Basic tense changes
As a rule when you report something someone has
said you go back a tense (the tense on the left
changes to the tense on the right):
Direct speech
Present simple
She said, "It's cold."
Present continuous
She said, "I'm teaching
English online."
Present perfect simple
She said, "I've been on
the web since 1999."
Indirect speech
›
Past simple
She said it was cold.
›
Past continuous
She said she was teaching
English online.
›
Past perfect simple
She said she had been on
the web since 1999.
Present perfect continuous
She said, "I've been teaching
English for seven years."
Past perfect continuous
› She said she had been teaching
English for seven years.
Past simple
She said, "I taught online
yesterday."
Past perfect
› She said she had taught online
yesterday.
Past continuous
She said, "I was teaching
earlier."
Past perfect continuous
› She said she had been teaching
earlier.
Past perfect
She said, "The lesson had
already started when he
arrived."
Past perfect
NO CHANGE - She said the lesson
›
had already started when he
arrived.
Past perfect continuous
She said, "I'd already been
teaching for five minutes."
Past perfect continuous
NO CHANGE - She said she'd
›
already been teaching for five
minutes.
b. modals
Direct Modal
speechverb forms also sometimes change:
Indirect speech
will
›
would
She said she would teach English
online tomorrow./the following day
›
could
She said she could teach English
online.
must
She said, "I must have a computer
to teach English online."
›
had to
She said she had to have a computer
to teach English online.
shall
She said, "What shall we learn
today?"
›
should
She asked what we should learn today.
›
might
She asked if she might open a new
browser.
She said, "I'll teach English online
tomorrow."
can
She said, "I can teach English
online."
may
She said, "May I open a new
browser?"
Note - There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought
to.
Things are slightly more complicated with imperatives.
positive imperative
Shut up!
tell + infinitive
He told me to shut up.
negative imperative
Don't do that again!
tell + not + infinitive
He told me not to do it
again.
imperatives as requests
Please give me some money.
ask + infinitive
He asked me to give him
some money.
You can use the present tense in reported speech if
you want to say that something is still true i.e. my name has
always been and will always be Lynne
Direct speech
Indirect speech
She said her name was Lynne.
"My name is Lynne", she
or
said.
She said her name is Lynne.
You can also use the present tense if you are
talking about a future event.
Direct speech (exact
quote)
"Next week's lesson is
on reported speech ",
she said.
Indirect speech (not exact)
She said next week's lesson is
on reported speech.
2. Time and place changes
Time and place references often have to change:
If the reported sentence contains an expression of
time, you must change it to fit in with the time of
reporting.
now
›
then
today
›
that day
here
›
there
this
›
that
this week
›
that week
›
the following day
the next day
the day after
tomorrow
the following week
the next week
next week
›
Yesterday
› the day before
last week
› the week before
Ago
› before
2 weeks ago
› 2 weeks before
Tonight
› that night
last Saturday
› the Saturday before
next Saturday
the previous day
the previous week
the previous Saturday
›
the following Saturday
the next Saturday
Examples:
I went to the theatre last night.
He said he had gone to the theatre the night before.
I'm staying here until next week.
He said he was staying there until the following week.
In addition if you report something that someone said in
a different place to where you heard it, you must change
the place (here) to the place (there).
Example:
At work
At home
"How long have you She asked me how long I'd (I
worked here?"
had) worked there.
3. Pronoun changes
In reported speech, the pronoun often changes.
For example:
Me
"I teach English online."
You
She said she teaches
English online.
You also need to be careful with personal pronouns.
They need to be changed according to the situation. You
need to know the context. For example, there is possible
confusion when you try to change reported speech to
direct speech:
She said she'd been waiting for hours.
(Is she one person or two different people?)
I told them they would have to ask permission.
(Are we talking about two groups of people or
only one?)
4. Reporting Verbs
Said, told and asked are the most common verbs used in
indirect speech.
 We use “asked” to report questions:
I asked Lynne what time the lesson started.
 We use “told” with an object.
Lynne told me she felt tired.
 We usually use “said” without an object.
Lynne said she was going to teach online.
If “said” is used with an object we must include “to”
Lynne said to me that she'd never been to China.
There are many other verbs we can use apart from said,
told and asked. These include:
accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed, apologised,
begged, boasted, complained, denied, explained, implied,
invited, offered, ordered, promised, replied, suggested and
thought.
Using them properly can make what you say much more
interesting and informative.
For example:
He asked me to come to the party:
He invited me to the party.
He begged me to come to the party.
He ordered me to come to the party.
He advised me to come to the party.
He suggested I should come to the party.
5. Use of 'That' in reported
speech
In reported speech, the word “that” is often used.
He told me that he lived in Greenwich.
However, “that” is optional.
He told me he lived in Greenwich.
Note – “That” is never used in questions, instead we
often use “if”.
He asked me if I would come to the party.
6. Indirect Questions
Use verbs of speech for questions (asked, wondered,
enquired, wanted to know, tried to find out, etc.)
Use question words (where, when, who, why, how, etc)
instead of “that”
Change verb tenses, pronouns, and time expressions
(just like reported statements)
Use question word + subject + verb word order (unlike a
direct question)
question word + subject + verb
He asked when they would arrive.
My friend asked if I was coming
QUESTION FORM
INDIRECT FORM
My friend said "Are
you coming?"
My friend asked if I was coming
TRANSFORMATION
PROCESS:
My friend said
1) Put the subject
before the verb.
2) Change the
pronoun: you to I
My friend asked IF
3) Join the clauses
using if
4) Adjust the 2nd verb
to the time frame of
the 1st verb.
"Are you
"
I
was
coming?
coming.
KOOL!!!
THANKS FOR
your
Attention!!