Part II. The Reported Speech

Words that are spoken or thought in one place by one person may be reported in another place at a different time, and perhaps by another person. Because of this there are often grammatical differences between direct and indirect speech. While using the reported speech watch the sequence of tenses as the change of time may mean a change of tense: the person reporting uses tenses that relate to the time when he/she is making the report, not to the time when the original words were used.

e.g. Bill said, “I don’t like the party.”—Bill said that he didn’t like the party.

So after past reporting verbs, the verbs of the original speech are usually “backshifted”—made more past:

Present Indefinite (Simple) → Past Indefinite

Present Continuous           → Past Continuous

Present Perfect             →  Past Perfect

Past Indefinite                   →  Past Perfect

Present Perfect Continuous →  Past Perfect Continuous

Future                                → Future-in-the-Past

Adverbs of time and place, pronouns and modal verbs also undergo several changes (see the exercises below).

Indirect statements

Divide the reporting verbs into three groups introducing statements, questions, commands and requests.

Think, beg, wonder, explain, tell, inform, answer, plead, notice, hope, ask, command, order, be interested to know, exclaim, complain.

What do we change these pronouns, adverbs and modal verbs into, when we use reported speech and the sentences are referred to the past?

Our, yesterday, last week, now, can, this, tomorrow, today, here, I, need, ago, last night, these, we, must, next week, mustn’t, may, may not, your

1.3 These people are saying these things. Report them usingsaidortold. Your new statements should refer to the past.

Note: mind the difference

tell sb sth / tell sb that…    

say (to sb) (that)…

e.g. He told me the truth. He told me (that) he had known it from the very beginning.

e.g. He said( to me) (that) he had known it from the very beginning.

1. “The weather is lovely out”, Deborah said.

2. Ethel said to her husband, “He still comes to the playground nearly every afternoon.”

3. She said, “He’s just walking the dog.”

4. She said to her mother, “He saw me waiting for a suburban train about three hours ago.”

5. Robert said, “I’ll call the police.”

6. The man said to Jack, “We all loved her house.”

7. John said, “We were wasting the time.”

8. Linda said, “We have known each other since we entered the university and she has always been very kind to me.”

9. Tom said, “The football match yesterday was fantastic! Russian football team hasn’t played like that for ages!”

10. She said to Jack, “I’m going shopping tomorrow. I must buy something special for our party.”

11. The boss said to his secretary, “You need to post these letters as soon as possible.”

12. The nanny said to the child, “Today I’m pleased with your behaviour.”

13. Granny said, “Last night was terrible. They were singing and dancing till early hours.”

1.4 Yesterday you met a friend of yours, Charlie. Charlie told you a lot of things. Here are some of the things he said to you:

1. I’m thinking of going to live in Canada.

2. My father is in hospital.

3. Nora and Jim are getting married next month.

4. I haven’t seen Bill for a while.

5. I’ve been playing a lot of tennis recently.

6. Margaret has had a baby.

7. I don’t know what Fred is doing.

8. I hardly ever go out these days.

9. I work 14 hours a day.

10. I’ll tell Jim I saw you.

11. You can come and stay with me if you are ever in London.

12. Tom had an accident last week but he wasn’t injured.

13. I saw Jack at party a few months ago and he seemed fine.

Later that day you tell another friend what Charlie said. Use reported speech.

e.g. Charlie said (that)…

    Charlie told me (that)…

Make use of the other verbs: exclaim (that), inform sb (that), regret (that), explain to sb (that), hope (that) etc

1.5 Somebody says something to you which is opposite to what they said before. Write a suitable answer beginning“I thought you said…”

Example: “That restaurant is expensive.” I thought you said it was cheap.

1. “Ann speaks German very well.”

2. “I have never tasted mussels before.”

3. “You are working hard today.”

4. “I’m going to bed now.”

5. “Ann has been painting the walls in her new room. Her clothes are dirty.”

6. “He has been smoking too much lately.”

7. “Mary has written ten letters today.”

8. “It didn’t rain at all last week.”

9. “I’ll go and shut the door.”

10. “Tom lost his keys yesterday.”

11. “Bill passed his examination.”

12. “Jack and Jill are going to get married soon.”

13. “I can afford a holiday this year.

1.6 Complete the sentences with said, told or talked.

Mind the following verb: talk about sth

1. Jack _______ me that he was enjoying his new job.

2. Tom _______ it was a nice restaurant but he didn’t like it very much.

3. The doctor ________ that I would have to rest for at least a week.

4. Mrs Taylor ________ us she wouldn’t be able to come the next evening.

5. Ann ________ Tom she was going away.

6. George couldn’t help me. He _______me to ask Jack.

7. At the meeting the chairman _____ about the problems facing the company.

8. Jill _________ us all about her holiday in Australia.

Offers and suggestions

Use the verb “offer” :

– to ask someone if they would like to have something

                       offer sb sth/

                       offer sth to sb

e.g. “Can I offer you something to drink?” – He offered her something to drink.

– to say that you are willing to do something

                       offer to do sth

e.g. “Shall I pick you up?” – My dad has offered to pick us up.

Use the verb “suggest”:

– to tell someone your ideas about what they should do, where they should go etc

                       suggest doing sth

                       suggest (that) sb should do sth

e.g. “Let’s hold the conference in Scotland”. – He suggested holding the conference in Scotland.

“We can meet and discuss this” – I suggest that we should meet to discuss this.

Using the information above put the following sentences into the reported speech.

1. “I can help you with all the arrangements”.

2. “What do you feel like drinking tea or coffee?”

3. “You should necessarily visit this exhibition of butterflies.”

4. “Why not go and have a look at it?”

5. “I can give you a lift if you’d like to.”

6. “It will be possible to continue this work if we distribute the tasks among us.”

7. “It’s too hot inside. Shall we go to the garden for a while?”

8. “He looks tired. I think he needs to have a nap.”

9. “Martha can explain to you how to operate this machine. Go and ask her.”

10. “I can show to you how to handle a horse.”

Other reporting verbs

Notice the following groups of reporting verbs

Report the sentences, using one of the verbs in the boxes.

Example: “I think it would be a very good idea for you to go to bed,” the doctor said to Paul. The doctor suggested that Paul should go to bed.

1. “Yes, okay. I'll lend you my car but be careful with it!” Peter said to Ann.

2. “Yes, it was me. I stole the money,” said Bill.

3. “But I didn’t hit the old lady,” said Bill.

4. “I can speak eleven languages, all perfectly”, said the professor.

5. “I’ll leave work early, honest, I will,” Angela said.

6. “Ugh! My soup is cold,” said Henry.

7. “I will never help you with your homework! Never!” said Jane to me.

8. “I give you a lift to the station, if you like,” Kate said to Megan.

9. “What about if we meet on Thursday?” Mark said to James. “That’s fine,” said James.

Indirect questions

Note: In reported questions the subject normally comes before the verb in standard English (so, the direct word order is used), and auxiliary do is not generally used. General questions are reported with if or whether:

e.g. The driver said, “Do you want the town centre?” – The driver asked if/whether I wanted the town centre.

He said, “What do you want to have a look at first of all?” – The driver wondered what I wanted to have a look at first of all.

To put questions into the reported speech also use the following phrases: I wonder, I want to know, I’d like to know, I’m interested to know, tell me, ask him, I’m not sure (that), I have no idea, I have no notion, do you know, do you remember, can you tell me, are you sure, would you mind telling me.