GIMNASIO PALMA REAL SCHOOL
REPORTED SPEECH
FEBRUARY 2024
By: Gabriel Felipe Bonilla A.
Reported speech
What is Reported speech ?
• If we report what another person has said, we usually do not
use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but reported
speech (indirect) .
Reported speech
• When transforming statements, check whether you have to
change:
• pronouns
• present tense verbs (3rd person singular)
• place and time expressions
• tenses (backshift)
Reported speech
Introductory
verbs
She told me He said They explained We informed her
(that…) (that…) (that..) (that..)
I pointed out She whispered
She added (that..) He claimed (that..)
(that…) (that..)
They thought
(that..)
Remember to change these
CAN COULD
WILL WOULD
AM IS ARE WAS WERE
HAVE HAS HAD HAD
WAS WERE HAD BEEN
Do not change these
Verb –ing
Past participle To + infinitive
Bare infinitive
Remember to change these
This, these That, those
Here There
Now Then
Today That day
This evening That evening
Tonight That night
Remember to change these
Yesterday The previous day
The day before
Last week The previous week
The week before
Tomorrow The next day
The following day
Next year The following year
Example
direct speech
I speak English
reported speech
He said that he spoke English
Practice
She said, "I am reading." She said that she was reading
They said, "We are busy." They said that they were busy
He said, "I know a better He said he knew a better
restaurant." restaurant.
She said, "I woke up early." She said she had woken up early
He said, "I will ring her." He said he would ring her
Practice
They said, "We have just arrived." They said they had just arrived
He said, "I will clean the car." He said he would clean the car
She said, "I did not say that." She said she hadn’t said that
She said, "I don't know where my shoes are." She said she didn’t know where her
shoes were
Reporting questions
When transforming questions,also note
that you have to:
Transform the question into an indirect question
Use the interrogative or if / whether
Whether and If
We can use if or whether before reported speech. Their meaning is
the same:
Do you have enough time?” [direct speech]
I asked her if / whether she had enough time. [reported
speech]
“I don’t know.” [direct speech]
She doesn’t know if / whether she has enough time. [reported
speech]
Whether or If
We can use if or whether before reported speech. Their meaning is the
same:
However, if the reported clause comes first in the sentence, we use whether,
not if:
Whether he’ll come to the wedding we don’t know.
Before to + infinitive we use whether.
We can’t decide whether to go to Scotland or Ireland for our holidays.
Whether –use after a preposition
There was a long discussion about whether they
should sell the company.
about if they should sell
I’m not interested in whether they’re going to sell
the company.
Not -If they are going to sell
WORD ORDER
Normal word order is used in reported questions, that is, the subject
comes before the verb, and it is not necessary to use 'do' or 'did’:
Direct speech Indirect speech
"Where does Peter live?" She asked him where Peter lived.
"Where are you going?" She asked where I was going.
"Why is she crying?" He asked why she was crying.
YES / NO QUESTIONS
This type of question is reported by using 'ask' + 'if / whether' +
clause:
Direct speech Indirect speech
"Do you speak English?" He asked me if I spoke English.
"Are you British or American?" He asked me whether I was British or
American.
"Is it raining?" She asked if it was raining.
"Have you got a computer?" He wanted to know whether I had a
computer.
"Can you type?" She asked if I could type.
"Did you come by train?" He enquired whether I had come by train.
"Have you been to Bristol before?" She asked if I had been to Bristol before.
QUESTION WORDS
This type of question is reported by
using 'ask' (or another verb like 'ask') +
question word + clause. The clause contains
the question, in normal word order and with
the necessary tense change.
Question words
Direct speech Indirect speech
"What is your name?" he asked me. He asked me what my name was.
"How old is your mother?", he asked. He asked how old her mother was.
The policman said to the boy, "Where do you live?" The policeman asked the boy where he lived.
"What time does the train arrive?" she asked. She asked what time the train arrived.
"When can we have dinner?" she asked. She asked when they could have dinner.
Peter said to John, "Why are you so late?" Peter asked John why he was so late.
REPORTING QUESTIONS
Where is my umbrella?" She asked where her umbrella was
she asked
How are you?" Martin Martin asked us how we were
asked us.
"What are they doing?" she asked.
→ She wanted to know ________________
"Are you going to the cinema?" he asked me.
→ He wanted to know _________________
The teacher asked, "Who speaks English?"
→ The teacher wanted to know __________
"How do you know that?" she asked me.
→ She asked me ______________________
"Has Caron talked to Kevin?" my friend asked me.
→ My friend asked me __________________
Let’s Practice!!!
https://test-english.com/grammar-points/b1/reported-speech-indirect-speech/
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech/exercises?10
https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/reported.htm
https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/reported-speech-exercise-1.html
https://create.kahoot.it/details/00ebf13e-c687-49c5-adf1-55e02452f576
https://create.kahoot.it/details/32b9ef7a-e692-43a5-ba87-aa93c1a42ee8
https://create.kahoot.it/details/37136d45-dc93-4ce0-8eb9-da65e080677a
