Transcript Reported speech - IPT Intermediate

Reported speech
• Reported speech is speech in which you report what
somebody else said.
• The most common reporting verbs are say and tell.
Say and tell
• He said *** (that) he was hungry.

• He told me (that) he was hungry.

• He said me (that) he was hungry.

• He told *** (that) he was hungry.

Reporting tenses
• Tenses change when you report someone
else’s speech.
• What usually happens is that verb tenses step
back into their immediate past.
direct speech
present simple
present continuous
present perfect
past simple
past continuous
past perfect
will
can
may
must
 reported speech

past simple
past continuous
past perfect
past perfect
past perfect continuous
past perfect
would
could
might
had to
Examples
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“I like pizza.”
“I’m studying now.”
“I’ve already done it.”
“I saw Jane.”
“I was reading at 9 p.m.”
“I had just had dinner.”
“I’ll call him.”
“I can’t swim.”
“I may go to the party.”
“I must clean my room”
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He said he liked pizza
She said she was studying then.
She said she had already done it.
He said he had seen Jane.
She said she had been reading.
She said she had just had dinner.
She said she would call him.
He said he couldn’t swim.
He said he might go to the party.
He said he had to clean his room.
Attention: Some modal verbs don’t change
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“I might go on vacation.” •
“You should eat less fat.” •
“You mustn’t smoke here.” •
“I could read when I was 5.” •
She said she might go on vacation.
She said I should eat less fat.
He said I mustn’t smoke there.
He said he could read when he
was 5
Other adjustments
Some words that make reference to time and place
may have to be altered as well:
here




this

today
yesterday
tomorrow
that day
the previous day/day before
the following/next day
there
that
Reporting commands
“Do your homework!”
He told us to do our homework
“Don’t be late for the class!”
He told me not to be late for the class.
• Tell is the most usual verb to report commands.
Order and instruct are also possible, but much
less frequent.
Reporting requests
“Can you help me?”
He asked me to help him.
“I’d like a refund, please.”
She asked the shop assistant to give her a refund.
Pay attention: not all requests are formulated as questions.
• Requests are reported in the exact same way as
commands, the only difference being the use of
ask instead of tell.
Reporting questions
 The tense changes as described before.
Word order changes, i.e., reported questions are
organized like statements (subject>verb>complements).
Do/does/did disappear.
 In yes/no questions, you have to insert if or whether.
Reporting questions
 “Where have you been?”
He asked me where I had been.
“Where do you live?”
He asked me where I lived.
“Are you excited about learning reported speech?”
He asked me if I was excited about learning reported
speech. Hell, no.
Reporting questions vs. reporting requests
• In questions, as in requests, you should use
the reporting verb ask, but the structures are
different:
“Can you help me?”
I asked her to help me.
[request]
“Where do you live?”
[question]
He asked me where I lived.