Reported Speech

by Septi Lastiani 10.55.00 0 comments

REPORTED SPEECH 

What is it ?

How do you use it?

Reported speech is the grammar we use if we want to tell another person about a conversation that took place in the past (e.g telephone call, news or story that someone told us etc. Look at the example:

Mrs Brown said that her favourite film was on TV that night. She said that she loved comedies.

What has changed?

- Pronoun:

My      >her

I           >she

Tense:

Am      >was

Love    >loved

- Time words:

Tonight            >that night

In the Reported Speech we preferably use the past tense.

am /is               >was

are                   >were

has / have        >had

see                   >saw

can(’t)              >could(n’t)

will/won’t        >would(n’t)

- Changes in verb tenses

do (Present Simple)                             > did (Past Simple)

am /is doing (Present Continuous)      > was doing (Past Continuous)

are doing (Present Continuous)           > were doing (Past Continuous)

has / havedone (Present Perfect)         > had done (Past Perfect)

If we want to report a sentence that is already in the Past Tense, we normally use the Past Perfect.

Become : He said he had seen the film the week before.

- Changes expressions of Place and Time

1.   Reported Speech Statements 

When we want to tell someone what someone else said, there are two ways of doing so; You can repeat that person’s words( direct speech) or you can use reported speech. For example: Tom said “I am feeling ill” > Tom said (that ) he was feeling ill.

RULES:

·      We introduce reported speech with said that or told + indirect object+ that. (That can be omitted)

·      We change verbs from present to past and from past or present perfect to past perfect.

·      We change modal verbs from will to would, from can to could and must to had to.

·      Pronouns and time expressions change when necessary.

Reporting verbs

The most common reporting verbs are say (that) and tell somebody (that). Others such as admit, claim, explain, insist, reply , apologize, inform, advise,agree or suggest can be used.

Ø  “It’s my fault” she said.

She said it was her fault.

Ø  “I haven’t been thinking about you” Ann told me.

Ann told me she hadn’t been thinking about me.

Ø  “I have been very tired” She explained.

She explained that she had been very tired.

Say / Tell

It is important to know the difference of say and tell.

Say is not followed by the indirect object: Say (that)+ reported statement, for example: He said he was tired ® He said to me he was tired

Tell is always followed by an indirect object, for example: He told me that he was tired.

PRONOUNS

Pronouns (I, she, we, etc.) and possessive adjectives (my, your, his, etc.) may change depending who is reporting and who /what they are reporting. Example:

Report 1: My mother told me that she understood my ideas but that she didn’t agree with them.

Report 2: Ted’s mother told him that she understood his ideas but that she didn’t agree with them.

2.  Imperative Clauses In Reported Speech (Indirect Speech)

Imperative sentence is a sentence which expresses command, request, advice, or suggestion. For examples : Open the door. Please help me. Do not smoke.

Quoted Imperative

A quoted imperative begins with a main clause including the speaker and (mostly) the introductory verb say, and it is followed by a comma and the exact words of the quote, enclosed in quotation marks.

The doctor said,                                   “Get some rest”

The doctor said,                                   “Don’t smoke”

The doctor said,                                   “Call me immediately”

(Main Clause)                                     (Imperative)

The quoted speech may also be placed before the main clause, for example :

“Get some rest”,                      The doctor said.

“Don’t smoke”,                       The doctor said.

“Call me immediately”,            The doctor said

(Main Clause)                         (Imperative)

Reported Imperative

A reported imperative usually includes introductory verb in the main clause, and it is followed by the content of the quote expressed as a that-clause or an infinitival clause.

When transforming quoted speech into reported speech, check whether you have to change: Pronouns, place and time expressions, tenses and verb.

Affirmative Imperative

·      Change “Said to” into any one of these words as suitable Introductory Verb such as: Ordered, Commanded, Advised, Requested, etc.

·      If you use “TO”, the verb of the direct speech is changed into the infinitive form: to bring, to write

·      Do not use the conjunction word THAT, if you have used TO.

Examples :

Ø  I said to my brother, “Go away”         > I told my brother to go away

Ø  He said to his sister, “Tell the truth.”   > He advised his sister to tell the truth.

Ø  He said to me, “please help me”          > He requested me to help him.

Ø  Jimmy said, “Let us enjoy ourselves for an hour first” > Jimmy proposed that we should enjoy ourselves for an hour first.

Negative Imperative

·      Change “Said to” into any one of these words as suitable Introductory Verb such as: Ordered, Commanded, Advised, Requested, etc.

·      If you use TO, the verb of the direct speech is changed into the infinitive form: to bring, to write,etc.

·      Do not use the conjunction word THAT, if you have used TO.

·      In the negative sentences, NOT is put before the Infinitive: Not to speak, not to walk or you can use suitable Introductory Verb such as: Forbade, but the Reported Speech form is positive.

Examples :

Ø  Doctor said to me, “Do not smoke” > Doctor said to me not to smoke.

Ø  She said, “Don’t tell a lie, Aslam” She forbade Aslam to tell a lie >  She advised Aslam not to tell a lie.

3. Reported Question

Ø  “Do you trust me, Harry?” asked Hermione.

Hermione asked Harry if he trusted her.

Ø  “Why are you still here?” Harry asked Ron.

Ø  Harry asked Ron why he was still there.

As you can see there are some changes we have already mentioned when studying reporting statements (personal pronouns, possessive adjectives and pronouns, tenses, time adverbials). And, there are some new ones, though. Moreover, The reporting verbs used are mainly: ask, want to know, wonder.

Type of Question

We distinguish two types of questions: Yes/no questions (the ones starting with an auxiliary or modal verb to which we reply with yes/no). And Wh-questions (the ones starting with a question word, such as what, when, where, why, how etc.)

·      Yes/no questions

When we report these questions we link two parts with if/whether. Example:

Ø  Harry asked Lupin: “Will George be OK?”

Harry asked Lupin whether George would be OK.

Ø  Harry asked Ron: “Do ghouls normally wear pyjamas?”

Harry asked Ron if ghouls normally wore pyjamas.

·      Wh-questions

The two parts are linked with the question word used in direct speech. Example:

Ø  “Where are we?” asked Ron.

Ron asked them where they were.

Ø  “How does she know?” wondered Hermione.

Ø  Hermione wondered how she knew.

Word order

·      In reported yes/no questions, we use if/whether + the subject + the verb.

·      In reported –wh questions, we us the wh- word + the subject + the verb.

·      We do not use the interrogative form of the verb: do/does/did.

·      Question marks are not used.