REPORTED SPEECH

Direct Speech is the exact words someone said. We use quotation marks.

Reported speech is the exact meaning of what someone said but not the exact

words. We do not use quotation marks.

SAY / TELL

o Say is used in Direct speech or Reported speech when it is not followed by

the person the words were spoken to.

She said to me, “I can’t drive.” She said that she couldn’t drive.

o Tell is used in Reported speech when tell is followed by the person the

words were spoken to.

She said to me, “I can’t drive.” She told me that she couldn’t drive.

REPORTED STATEMENTS

o Introductory verbs: admit, announce, answer, apologise, boast, claim,

complain, declare, explain, inform, insist, mention, offer, remind, reply,

say, state, tell, etc. These verbs are followed by a that-clause.

He said, “I feel sick.” He said that he felt sick.

o Pronouns and possessive adjectives change.

He said, “I’ll lend you my car.” He said that he would lend me his car.

o Time words can change depending on the time reference.

Tonight that night

today that day

this week/month/year that week

Yesterday the day before

last night/week/month/year the previous night/week/month/year

Tomorrow the following day/the day after/the next day

next week/moth/year the following week/month/year

two days/moths/years ago two days/months/years before

o Other words also change.

This that

these Those

Here There

He said, “I’ll be here again on Monday,” He said that he would be there on Monday.

o Verb tenses change when the reporting verb is in the past.

Present simple “He likes walking,” she said.

Past simple She said that he liked walking.

Present continuous “He is watching TV,” she said.

Past continuous She said that he was watching TV.

Past simple “He left an hour ago,” she said.

Past perfect simple She said that he had left an hour before.

Past continuous Diana said, “I was sleeping.”

Past perfect continuous Diana said that she had been sleeping.

Present perfect simple “He has just left,” she said.

Past perfect simple She said he had just left.

Present perfect continuous “I’ve been typing since morning,” she said.

Past perfect continuous She said that she had been typing since morning.

Past perfect simple “He had been to Málaga,” she said.

Past perfect simple She said that he had been to Málaga.

Past perfect continuous “He had been writing letters,” she said.

Past perfect continuous She said that he had been writing letters.

Future simple “He’ll be back in an hour,” she said.

Conditional simple She said that he would be back in an hour.

o Modal verbs change when the reporting verb is in the past.

Can “I can play the guitar,” he said.

Could He said that he could play the guitar.

Must/have to “You must be more tolerant,” she said.

Had to She said that I had to be more tolerant.

Shall She said, “How shall I do this?"

Should She asked how she should do that.

May “It may rain,” she said.

Conditional simple She said that it might rain.

REPORTED QUESTIONS

o Introductory verbs: ask, enquire, want to know, wonder.

o We use affirmative word order and the question mark is omitted.

Pronouns, possessive adjectives, tenses, time expressions, etc. change

as in statements. To report a question we use:

ask + wh-word (who, what...) when the direct question begins with

such a word.

He said, “Where did he stay? He asked where he had stayed.

ask + if/whether when the direct question begins with an auxiliary

verb.

He said, “Can I open the window?” He asked me if/whether he could open the window.

REPORTED COMMANDS

o Introductory verbs: demand, tell, ask, advise, and warn. These verbs are

followed by an object + to-infinitive, a not to-infinitive.

He said to me, “Come with me.” He told me to go with him.

He said to Jack, “Open the door, please.” He told / asked Jack to open the door.

My mother said to me, “Tidy your bedroom.” My mother ordered me to tidy

my bedroom.

The teacher said to us, “Be careful with exercise three.” The teacher

warned us to be careful with exercise three.

She said to her child, “Don’t play with matches”. She warned her child not

to play with matches.

REPORTED SUGGESTIONS

o Introductory verbs: advise, suggest, recommend. These verbs are followed

by:

that + subject + verb in base form.

He said, “You’d better see a doctor.” He suggested that I see a doctor.

-ing without specifying the subject.

“Write a letter,” he recommended, He recommended writing a letter.