Indirect & Reported Speech by Viv Quarry

(www.vivquarry.com)

Remember, that with indirect and reported speech:

 

1.   There is no Auxiliary verb Do/Does/Did             Where does he live?

      and third person 's' is used.                              I'd like to know where he lives.

 

2.   Auxiliary verb 'To Be' = If or Whether                He's French.

      (Yes/No questions & statements)                       I can't  remember if he's French or not.

 

3.     The word order changes.                                What's your name?

                                                                           He wants to know what your name is.

 

4.     The pronoun and puncuation                           Am I right?

sometimes change.                                         He is asking whether he is right.

 

In reported speech, time expressions and demonstratives (this/these) often change:

todaythat day, yesterdaythe day before/the previous day, tomorrowthe next day/the following day, tonightthat night, this weekthat week, this bookthat/the book, these peoplethose/the people

 

5.     If the reporting verb is in the past -                  Do you live in Rio?

        ONE TENSE BACK.@                        She asked me if I lived in Rio.

Tense..........................................................	Changes to:
Present Simple............................................	Past Simple
Present Continuous....................................	Past Continuous
Past Simple.................................................	Past Perfect Simple (When referring to a state - There may be no change).
Past Continuous.........................................	Past Perfect Continuous
Present Perfect Simple...............................	Past Perfect Simple
Present Perfect Continuous.......................	Past Perfect Continuous
Will.............................................................	Would
Can.............................................................	Could
Must	Had to or No Change.
Past Perfect Simple & Continuous Would, Could, Should, Might.	No Change.

 

1. Reported statements

There are two types of verbs used for reporting statements in English.

 

a)   Verbs like 'say' are usually followed directly by the expression being reported.

     (You can use 'that' if you like, it's optional).

 

Eg.      "I'm OK!"                             He said (that) he was OK.

 

Other verbs like this are:

 

add, admit*, accept, agree**, argue, complain, deny*, explain, insist, point out, promise**, protest, and warn**.

*         These verbs can also be followed by a gerund (~ing)

**       These verbs can also be followed by the infinitive (to do sth.)

b)     Verbs like 'tell' which are usually followed by an object pronoun (me, you, him, her, us, them).

         (You can use 'that' if you like, it's optional). These verbs can also be followed by the infinitive.

 

Eg.      "I'm OK!"                  He told me (that) he was OK.

 

Other verbs like this are:

 

advise, ask, beg, challenge, encourage, forbid, force, invite, order, permit, persuade, remind, request, urge and warn.

 

2.        Reported commands

 

Commands are reported using the infinitive (to do sth.).

 

Eg.      "Stop doing that!"                  He told me to stop doing it.

 

Note! The verb 'tell' can be used for both statements and commands. Compare the two examples given for 'tell' used in statements and 'tell' used in commands.

 

Other reporting verbs for commands are:

 

advise, ask, order, persuade, remind, urge and warn.

 

3.        Reported questions

 

When reporting questions in English, you have to remember TWO THINGS.

 

1.        The word order and pronoun changes in indirect speech (see rules 1 - 4 on page 1)

 

2.        The tense must also be moved back in time (see the table on page 1)

 

Eg       "Where did you go?"              He asked me where I had gone.

 

Indirect and reported speech expressions (@ = see note on page 1)

 

Can/Could you tell me....?                                       He couldn't tell me....@

Can/Could you explain....?                                      I was wondering....@

Do/Don't you know....?                                          We didn't find out....@

Who knows....?                                                     We never found out....@

I can't imagine....                                                   He asked sb.....@

Nobody knows....                                                  They wanted to know...@

I don't know....                                                                She didn't know....@

I'd like to know.....                                                We needed to know....@

I'd love to know....                                                She had to tell him.....@

I wonder....                                                          Nobody knew

I can't remember....                                               He wondered....@

I have forgotten....                                                 I wish I knew....@

I'd like to say/tell you....                                         I wanted to tell you....@

I've no idea....                                                       We had no idea....@

Indirect and reported speech exercises

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