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Reported / Indirect Speech. I-Tenses Changes
I-This spidergram shows the most important types of sentences dealt with in reporting speech. The sentences in blue are examples to demonstrate.
II-This chart shows the changes occuring when moving from direct to indirect speech
A-Reporting Statements
| DIRECT SPEECH | REPORTED SPEECH |
| Simple Present "I live in Paris." | Simple Past He said he lived in Paris. |
| Present Continuous "I'm not feeling well." | Past Continuous He said he wasn't feeling well. |
| Present Perfect Simple "I've never been there." | Past Perfect Simple He said he had never been there. |
| Present Perfect Continuous "She's been working." | Past Perfect Continuous He said she had been working |
| Simple Past "I saw my mother." | Past Perfect Simple He said he had seen his mother. |
| Future Simple "There will be a problem." | Conditional "Would+Verb" He said there would be a problem. |
| Future Continuous "I'll be leaving soon." | Conditional Continuous "Would be+Verbing" He said he would be leaving soon. |
| Present Modals | Past Modals |
| "I will go." | He said he would go. |
| "I can swim." | He said he could swim. |
| "It may rain." | He said it might rain. |
| "I must go to the bank." | He said he had to go to the bank. |
| "I needn't phone her." | He said he didn't need to phone her. |
| THE FOLLOWING MODAL VERBS DO NOT CHANGE: Would, could, might, ought to, needn't have, must have, used to | |
| First Conditional "I'll go if they go." | Second Conditional He said he would go if they went. |
II- Time change
If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the time of reporting. For example we need to change words like here and yesterday if they have different meanings at the time and place of reporting.Today + 24 hours - Indirect speech "Today's lesson is on presentations." She said yesterday's lesson was on presentations. Expressions of time if reported on a different day this (evening) › that (evening) today › yesterday ... these (days) › those (days) now › then (a week) ago › (a week) before last weekend › the weekend before last / the previous weekend here › there next (week) › the following (week) tomorrow › the next/following day
In addition if you report something that someone said in a different place to where you heard it you must change the place (here) to the place (there).
For example:-
| At work | At home |
|---|---|
| "How long have you worked here?" | She asked me how long I'd worked there. |
Pronoun change
In reported speech, the pronoun often changes.
For example:
| Me | You |
|---|---|
| "I teach English online." | She said she teaches English online |
B- Reporting Questions
there are two types of questions.
1- Yes/No questions: They are those questions whose anwsers can be either yes or no.
Examples:
Are you a student? Yes, I am / No, I am not.
Do you speak English? Yes, I do/ No, I don't.
Have you seen the newest film? Yes, I have/ No, I haven't
To report these questions we preceed as :
X + asked (+object) or wanted to know+ if or whether (change tenses accordingly)
1- Teacher: " Are you ready for the exam?"
The teacher asked the students if they were ready for the exam.
2- teacher: " Have you finished the exercises?"
The teacher wanted to know whether the students had finished the exercises.
3- teacher: " Did you write the article?"
The teacher asked the students if they had written the article.
2- WH-questions: They are those questions which begin with WH-word like: what, who, where, when, why, which, whose, how...
Examples:
Where is your book?
What are you thinking about?
When did you arrive last night?
We report such questions as follows:
| X + asked (+object) or wanted to know+WH-word+(change tenses accordingly) |
1- Teacher:"Where have you been?"
The teacher asked me where I had been.
2- teacher :" Why did you choose this topic?"
The teacher asked me why I had chosen that topic.
3- teacher: " What can you say about the topic?"
The teacher asked me what I could say about the topic.
C- Reporting Imperatives
imperative = " Verb..."
Examples:
Go out! Open your books. Answer these questions.
| X+ ordered/told/ wanted+ object+ infinitive(to+verb).... |
1- "Open the window," said the teacher.
The teacher told me to open the window.
2- Teacher:" Clean the blackboard"
The teacher wanted me to clean the blackboard.
D- Reporting Negatives
Negative= " Don't+ verb..."
Don't make noise. Don't writte the questions. Don't cheat in the exams.
| X+ warned+object+ NOT+ infinitive |
1- Teacher" Don't make noise or I will punish you."
The teacher wanrned me not to make noise or he would punish me.
E- Reporting Functions
We need to speak about reporting or intoductory verbs
1-Verbs followed by a that-clause:
add | doubt | reply |
2. Verbs followed by either a that-clause or a to-infinitive:
decide | promise |
3. Verbs followed by a that-clause containing should
advise | insist | recommend |
4. Verbs followed by a clause starting with a question word:
decide | imagine | see |
5. Verbs followed by object + to-infinitive
advise | forbid | teach |
VERBS FOLLOWED BY THE GERUND
acknowledge,* | keep, |
Those marked * can also be followed by a that-clause.
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