REPORTED SPEECH

  • The reported speech is used to communicate what someone else said, thought or believed but without using the exact words.
  • A few changes are necessary, often a pronoun or time expression has to be changed and the verb is usually moved back a tense.


Present simple     He asked, “Are you busy tonight?” Past simple He asked me if I was busy tonight.
Past simple Greg said, “I didn’t go to work yesterday.”            Past perfect Greg said that he hadn’t gone to work yesterday.
Future simple(will) “Will you help me move?” she asked.       Would She asked me if I would help her move.
Present continuous “Dan is living in San Francisco,” she said. Past continuous She said Dan was living in San Francisco.
Past continuous “I was working late last night,” Vicki said.             

 

 Past perfect continuous Vicki told me she’d been working last night.
Present perfect simple “Have you worked here before?” I asked.              Past perfect simple I asked her if she had worked there before.
Past perfect simple “I’d been to Chicago before for work,” he said.    Past perfect simple He said that he’d been to Chicago before for work.
Present perfect continuous “Have you been waiting long?” they asked.           Past perfect continuous They asked whether I’d been waiting long.
Past perfect continuous He said, “I’d been working as a policeman

 

 Past perfect continuous  

He said that he had been working as a policeman

MODALS

Can Could
 “Can you open the window, please?”, he asked.  He asked me if I could open the window.
Must Hadto
She said, “You must work tomorrow.” She said I had to work tomorrow.
May Might/Could
 “May I use the bathroom, please?” the boy asked.  The boy asked if he might use the bathroom.

 

CHANGES IN OTHER WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

DIRECT SPEECH   REPORTED SPEECH
now (ahora)
thismorning (esta mañana)
today (hoy)
yesterday (ayer)
tomorrow (mañana)
nextweek (la semana próxima)
lastyear (el año pasado)
here (aquí)
come (venir)		 ►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
►		 at that time / then (en ese momento)
thatmorning (esa mañana)
thatday (ese día)
thedaybefore (el día anterior)
thedayafter (el día siguiente)
thefollowingweek (la siguiente semana)
theyearbefore (el año anterior)
there (allí)
go (ir)
  • REPORTED ORDERS

When reporting order we change the imperative for an infinitive (to + verb infinitive).

   Ex.:  “Go away!”

             The teacher ordered the student to go away

NEGATIVE ORDERS

    Ex.:    “Please, don´t go!”

She begged Sam not to go

 REPORTED SUGGESTIONS

When reporting suggestions we use the verb “suggest”.

There are two different ways to report suggestions:

  1. Someone suggested that someone + infinitive

             Let´s watch the new TV show

            Tom suggested that we watch the new TV show

  1. Someone suggested + gerund

    Ex.:     “Let´s phone the police immediately!”

                    She suggested phoning the police immediately.

           Negative:     “Let´s not do the exam!”

                                 She suggested not doing the exam