REPORTED SPEECH

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What do we need REPORTED SPEECH for?

to retell what somebody said / asked / advised / ordered... so that we could pass on important pieces of information

• Jerry told me Ann had bought a new lipstick.• I learned my parents were going to work in a circus.• My best friend announced she was pregnant with my

husband.• Sarah said Jane looked awful in that flowery dress.

How do we form REPORTED SPEECH? DIRECT SPEECH:

“Ann’s bought a new lipstick,” Jerry told me.

REPORTED SPEECH:

Jerry told me that

Subject + reporting verb + (that) + tense change

“Ann’s bought a new lipstick,”

Ann had bought a new lipstick.

REPORTING VERBS=> to introduce reported speech we can use different verbs

• say => said• tell => told• ask => asked• answer => answered• reply => replied• announce => announced• report => reported• …

• reporting verbs are in the past tense

REMEMBER !!!• say something • tell somebody

Common verb form changes

• Present Simple

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Simple • Past Simple

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Simple

“We hate reported speech,” my students said.

• Past Simple

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Simple

“We hate reported speech,” my students said.

• Past Simple

My students said they hated reported speech.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Simple

“We hate reported speech,” my students said.

“I can’t stand her terrible accent,” he said.

• Past Simple

My students said they hated reported speech.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Simple

“We hate reported speech,” my students said.

“I can’t stand her terrible accent,” he said.

• Past Simple

My students said they hated reported speech.

He said he couldn’t stand her terrible accent.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Continuous

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Continuous • Past Continuous

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Continuous

“I’m planning to quit the school,” he told his mum.

• Past Continuous

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Continuous

“I’m planning to quit the school,” he told his mum.

• Past Continuous

He told his mum he was planning to quit the school.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Continuous

“I’m planning to quit the school,” he told his mum.

“You aren’t listening to me,” she shouted at her dog.

• Past Continuous

He told his mum he was planning to quit the school.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Continuous

“I’m planning to quit the school,” he told his mum.

“You aren’t listening to me,” she shouted at her dog.

• Past Continuous

He told his mum he was planning to quit the school.

She shouted at her dog it wasn’t listening to her.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Perfect

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Perfect • Past Perfect

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Perfect

“I’ve learnt Hamlet by heart,” she said.

• Past Perfect

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Perfect

“I’ve learnt Hamlet by heart,” she said.

• Past Perfect

She said she had learnt Hamlet by heart.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Perfect

“I’ve learnt Hamlet by heart,” she said.

“We’ve been driving her crazy for a long time,” they admitted.

• Past Perfect

She said she had learnt Hamlet by heart.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Present Perfect

“I’ve learnt Hamlet by heart,” she said.

“We’ve been driving her crazy for a long time,” they admitted.

• Past Perfect

She said she had learnt Hamlet by heart.

They admitted they had been driving her crazy for a long time.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Past Simple

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Past Simple • Past Perfect Simple• Past Simple

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Past Simple

“I robbed two banks last week,” he boasted.

• Past Perfect Simple• Past Simple

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• Past Simple

“I robbed two banks last week,” he boasted.

• Past Perfect Simple• Past Simple

He boasted he had robbed two banks last week.

He boasted he robbed two banks last week.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• be going to

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• be going to • was/were going to

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• be going to

“I’m not going to buy Christmas presents for anybody,” he told his mum.

• was/were going to

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• be going to

“I’m not going to buy Christmas presents for anybody,” he told his mum.

• was/were going to

He told his mum he wasn’t going to buy Christmas presents for anybody.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• will

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• will • would

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• will• can

• would

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• will• can

• would• could

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• will• can• shall

• would• could

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• will• can• shall

• would• could• should

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• will• can• shall

“I won’t/can’t tell you everything,” she said.

• would• could• should

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• will• can• shall

“I won’t/can’t tell you everything,” she said.

• would• could• should

She said she wouldn’t/ couldn’t tell me everything.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• must

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• must • had to• must

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• must

“We must leave soon,” they said.

• had to• must

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Common verb form changes

• must

“We must leave soon,” they said.

• had to• must

They said they had to/must leave soon.

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

How do we form YES/NO REPORTED QUESTIONS?

DIRECT SPEECH:

“Are you proud of being Czech?” the teacher asked.

REPORTED SPEECH:

The teacher asked if we were proud of being Czech.

Subject + reporting verb + if/whether + tense change

“Are you proud of being Czech?”

if we were proud of being Czech.

How do we form WH-REPORTED QUESTIONS?

DIRECT SPEECH:

“What time are you meeting the president?” the reporter asked.

REPORTED SPEECH:

The reporter asked what time I was meeting the president.

Subject + reporting verb + question word + tense change

“What time are you meeting the president?”

what time I was meeting the president.

REPORTED QUESTIONS

REMEMBER !!!The word order of a reported question is the same

as the word order of an affirmative sentence!

I asked him what the time was.

He didn’t know if she was going to fire him.

How do we report IMPERATIVES? DIRECT SPEECH:

“Be more careful,” mum told me.

“Don’t forget to phone me!”

REPORTED SPEECH:

Mum told me to be more careful.

He told me not to forget to call him.

Subject + told + object + (not) + infinitive with to

How do we report REQUESTS? DIRECT SPEECH:

“Can you come on Wednesday evening?” she asked.

“Will you pick me up at the airport?” he asked her.

REPORTED SPEECH:

She asked me to come on Wednesday evening.

He asked her to pick him up at the airport.

Subject + asked + object + (not) + infinitive with to

Common pronouns changes

• I

• we • mine • my • myself • me/you • us • ours

• he, she• they• his, hers• his, her• himself, herself• him/her• them• theirs

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Time references changes

• now • at the moment • two days ago • today • tonight • tomorrow • yesterday• last night

• then, at that time• at that moment• two days before• that day• that night• the following day• the day before• the night before

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

Place references changes

• here • this place • these places

• there• that place• those place

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

We do not change the verb form when

the reporting verb is in the present tense

“I understand everything.”

He says he understands everything.

we report on something that is always true

He didn’t believe the moon goes round the earth.

Change these quotations into reported speech

• “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” (Albert Einstein)

Change these quotations into reported speech

• “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” (Albert Einstein) Albert Einstein said it was a miracle that curiosity

survived formal education.

Change these quotations into reported speech

• “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” (Albert Einstein) Albert Einstein said it was a miracle that curiosity

survived formal education.

• “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” (Sir Winston Churchill)

Change these quotations into reported speech

• “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” (Albert Einstein) Albert Einstein said it was a miracle that curiosity

survived formal education.

• “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” (Sir Winston Churchill)Sir Winston Churchill mentioned history would be

kind to him for he intended to write it.

Change these quotations into reported speech

• “A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.” (Oscar Wilde)

Change these quotations into reported speech

• “A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.” (Oscar Wilde)Oscar Wilde said that a man could be happy with any

woman as long as he didn’t love her.

Change these quotations into reported speech

• “A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.” (Oscar Wilde)Oscar Wilde said that a man could be happy with any

woman as long as he didn’t love her.

• “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.” (Charles de Gaulle)

Change these quotations into reported speech

• “A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.” (Oscar Wilde)Oscar Wilde said that a man could be happy with any

woman as long as he didn’t love her.

• “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.” (Charles de Gaulle) Charles de Gaulle said that the better he got to know

men, the more he found himself loving dogs.