Transcript Reporting - scu.edu.tw

Reporting
Introduction
There are two main ways of
reporting people’s words,
thoughts, beliefs, etc.

Direct Speech
 Indirect Speech
Direct Speech
We can give the exact words
(more or less) that were said, or
that we imagine were thought.
 Did she say, “What do you
want?”
 And then I thought, “Well,
does he really mean it?”
Indirect Speech
We can make a speaker’s words or
thoughts part of our own sentence,
using conjunctions (e. g. that), and
changing pronouns, tenses and
other words where necessary.
 Did she just ask what I wanted?
 And then I wondered whether he
really meant it.
Mixing Structures
These two structures cannot normally be mixed.
 She said to me “I have got no money” and
asked me for help.
OR
 She said to me that she had got no money and
asked me for help.
NOT
She said to me that I have got no money and
asked me for help.
Basic Rules for Indirect
Speech
 Change of Situation
 Pronouns
 “Here and Now” Words
 Tenses
 Dropping that
 Questions and
Answers
 Actions
Change of Situation
Words that are spoken or thought in one place
by one person may be reported in another place
at a different time, and perhaps by another
person:
BILL (on Saturday): I don’t like this party. I want to go
home now.
JACK (on Sunday): Bill said that he didn’t like the party,
and he wanted to go home right away.
Pronouns
A change of speaker may
mean a change of
pronoun:
Bill said that he didn’t like
the party. . .
NOT Bill said that I didn’t
like the party . . .
“Here and Now” Words
A change of place and
time may mean
changing words like
here, this, now,
today.
Peter, reporting what Bill
said, does not use this
and now because he is
no longer at the party:
Bill said that he didn’t like
the party . . .
NOT Bill said that he
didn’t like this party . . . )
Tenses
A change of time may
mean a change of
tense: the person
reporting uses
tenses that relate to
the time when s/he
is making the report,
not to the time when
the original words
were used.
NOTE
Ex:
Bill said that he didn’t
like the party . . .
NOT Bill said that he
doesn’t like the
party . . .
NOTE
It is not always necessary to change the verb when you
use reported speech. If you report something and it is
still true, you do not need to change the verb:
 Tom said that New York is more lively than London.
(New York is still more lively than London.)
Dropping that
The conjunction that is
often dropped, esp.
after common
reporting verbs (e.g.
say, think) in
informal speech.
 I think (that) you’re
probably right.
Questions and Answers
 Reported Questions
 Question Marks
 Yes/No Questions
 Say and Tell
Reported Questions
In reported questions,
the subject normally
comes before the
verb. The same
structure is used for
reporting the answers
to questions, and in
other uses of
question-word
clauses.
Ex:
He wanted to know
when I was leaving.
NOT . . . when was I
leaving.
Question Marks
Question marks are
not used in reported
questions:
 We asked where the
money was.
NOT . . . where the
money was?
Yes/No Questions
Yes/no questions are
reported with if or
whether.
The driver asked
if/whether I wanted
the town center.
Say and Tell
Say and tell are not
used to report
questions.
NOT
The driver said
whether I wanted
the town center.
Actions: Promises, orders,
requests, advice etc.
 Speech relating to actions (e.g. promises, orders, etc.)
is often reported with infinitives, or object + infinitive.
He promised to write. She agreed to wait for me.
I told Andrew to be careful.
 The structure question word + infinitive is common.
Don’t tell me what to do.
Activity
Yesterday you met Charlie. Here are some of the things he said
to you:
I’m living in London now. My father
isn’t very well. Sharon and Paul are
getting married next month. Margaret
has had a baby. I don’t know what
Fred is doing. I saw Helen at a party
in June and she seemed fine. I
haven’t seen Diane recently. I’m not
enjoying my job very much. I’ll tell
Ann I saw you.
Later that day you met Pete. How would you tell him what
Charlie said? (Use reported speech).
Where can you go for more exercises
and advanced points on reporting?
 R. Murphy’s English
Grammar in Use, 2nd
Edition, Cambridge
University, 1994, pp.
92-95.
 M. Swan’s Practical
English Usage, New
Edition, Oxford,
1997, pp. 500-507.