Absolutenglish is a site for students and teachers of English, grades 9 -12.

REPORTED SPEECH

REPORTED SPEECH consists in telling somebody else what you or a person said before

When reporting speech, a few changes occur:

First....
Choose an appropriate reporting (= introductory) verb - depending on the type of discourse

N.B.: The verb is usually conjugated in the simple past
Then

Change the tenses to their past form, unless what is said is still true

Don't forget to
Change personal pronouns, possessive adjectives or pronouns - depending on the speaker(s)

and to

Remember to
Change the punctuation - depending on the type of discourse

 

 

REPORTING / INTRODUCTORY VERBS

     

DIRECT SPEECH
REPORTED SPEECH
TYPE OF DISCOURSE
INTRODUCTORY VERB
LINK WORD
WORD-ORDER
assertion
 to add / to admit / to announce / to declare / to deny / to explain / to insist / to mention / to promise / to propose / to remind / to say / to suggest / to tell somene...... That / O

No Changes

same word-order as direct speech

yes/no question=

question starting with an auxiliary

to ask someone / oneself / to doubt / to wonder..   S + (Aux.) + Vb.

WH-question

question starting with WH-

 to ask / to inquire / to wonder.. WH- S + (Aux.) + Vb.
answer
 to answer / to reply / to explain that / O

No Changes

same word-order as direct speech

advice

 to advise someone To + Vb

order

 to tell / to forbid / to order (not) To + Vb

 

 

TENSES

     

    Tense in "Direct speech"
    Tense to use in reported speech
    SIMPLE PRESENT
    SIMPLE PAST

    Cindy asked: "Do you like watching TV?"

    Giles said: "I don't mind watching TV, but there are things I like better

    Cindy asked Giles if he liked watching tV

    Giles answered he didn't mind watching TV, but there were things he liked better.
    PRESENT BE-ING
    PAST BE-ING

    Frank declared: " I am thinking about moving"

    Frank declared he was thinking about moving
    PAST BE-ING
    PAST PERFECT BE-ING
    He told them: "I wasn't expecting your visit"

    He told them he hadn't been expecting their visit
    PRESENT PERFECT
    PAST PERFECT
    She said: " I have just seen an old friend of mine"

    She said she had just seen an old friend of hers.
    PRESENT PERFECT BE-ING
    PAST PERFECT BE-ING

    He asked: "Paul, how long have you been studying English?"

    He asked Paul how long he had been studying English
    PAST PERFECT
    PAST PERFECT
    They said: "If we had arrived two minutes later, there would have been no cake left"

    They said that if they had arrived two minutes later, there would have been no cake left.
    PAST PERFECT BE-ING
    PAST PERFECT BE-ING
    He declared: " You had been telling me you wanted to see her"

    He declared they had been telling him they wanted to see her.
    FUTURE (WILL)
    CONDITIONAL (WOULD)
    I asked: " Where will you spend your holiday ?"

    I asked where they would spend their holiday.
    WILL + BE-ING
    WOULD + BE-ING
    Anna declared:" I will be announcing my engagement next month"

    Anna declared she would be announcing her engagement the following month
    WOULD
    WOULD
    Tony said: "I would like something to eat. I wouldn't mind a drink either."

    Tony said he would like something to drink and wouldn't mind a drink either.

 

 

 

ADVERBS OF TIME AND PLACE, DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

     

    Direct speech
    Reported Speechrt
    NOW
    THEN
    LAST (year, month, week...)

    THE (year, month , week...) BEFORE

    THE PREVIOUS (year, month, week...)

    YESTERDAY

    THE DAY BEFORE

    THE PREVIOUS DAY
    TOMORROW

    THE NEXT DAY

    THE FOLLOWING DAY
    NEXT (week, month, year...)

    THE (week, month, year...) AFTER

    THE FOLLOWING (week, month, year...)
    THIS
    THAT
    THAT
    THAT
    THESE
    THOSE
    THOSE
    THOSE
    HERE
    THERE
    THERE
    THERE

PRACTICE

Chat with My Bot , then report the conversation you had with him.

 

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Turn to the following exercices

 

EX 1: