Reported Speech

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Direct and indirect speech can be a source of confusion for English learners. Let's first define the terms, and then look at how to talk about what someone said, and how to convert speech from direct to indirect.

You can answer the question “What did he say?” in two ways:

· by repeating the words spoken (direct speech)

· by reporting the words spoken (indirect or reported speech).

We often have to give information about what people say or think. In order to do this you can use direct or quoted speech, or indirect or reported speech.

1. Indirect Speech / Reported Speech

What is reported speech?

· Reported speech is when you tell somebody else what you or a person said before. Distinction must be made between direct speech and reported speech.

· Direct speech vs Indirect speech:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
She says: "I like tuna fish."	She says that she likes tuna fish.
She said: "I'm visiting Paris next weekend"	She said that she was visiting Paris the following weekend.

· Different types of sentences

When you use reported speech, you either report:

a. Statements

b. Questions

c. Requests / Commands

A. Reporting Statements

When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:

· Pronouns

· Tense

· Place and time expression

1. Pronouns

In reported speech, you often have to change the pronoun depending on who says what.

Example:

She says, “My dad likes roast chicken.” – She says that her dad likes roast chicken.

2. Tenses

· If the sentence starts in the present, there is no backshift of tenses in reported speech.

No backshift:

Do not change the tense if the introductory clause is in a present tense (e. g. He says). Note, however, that you might have to change the form of the present tense verb (3rd person singular).

Example:

He says, “I write poems.” – He says that he writes English.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Simple Present He said: "I am happy"	Simple Past He said that he was happy
Present Progressive He said: "I'm looking for my keys"	Past Progressive He said that he was looking for his keys
Simple Past He said: "I visited New York last year"	Past Perfect Simple He said that he had visited New York the previous year.
Present Perfect He said: " I've lived here for a long time "	Past Perfect He said that he had lived there for a long time
Past Perfect He said: "They had finished the work when Iarrived"	Past Perfect He said that they had finished the work when he had arrived"
Past Progressive He said: "I was playing football when the accident occurred"	Past Perfect Progressive He said that he had been playing football when the accident had occurred
Present Perfect Progressive He said:"I have been playing football for two hours."	Past Perfect Progressive He said that he had been playing football for two hours
Past Perfect Progressive He said: "I had been reading a newspaper when the light went off"	Past Perfect Progressive He said that he had been reading a newspaper when the light had gone off
Future Simple (will+verb) He said: "I will open the door."	Conditional (would+verb) He said that he would open the door.
Conditional (would+verb) He said: "I would buy Mercedes if I were rich"	Conditional (would+verb) He said that he would buy Mercedes if he had beenrich"

· If the sentence starts in the past, there is often backshift of tenses in reported speech.

Backshift:

You must change the tense if the introductory clause is in a past tense (e. g. He said).

Example:
He said, “I am happy.” – He said that he was happy.

Examples of the main changes in tense:

The modal verbs could, should, would, might, needn't, ought to, used to do not normally change.

Example:

He said, "She might be right." – He said that she might be right.

Other modal verbs may change:

Modal	Direct speec	Repored speech
can	"I can do it."	He said he could do it.
may	"May I go out?"	He wanted to know if he might go out.
must	"She must apply for the job."	He said that she must/had to apply for the job.
will	"They will call you."	He tod her that they would call her.

3 . Place, Demonstrative, and Time Expressions

Place, demonstratives and time expressions change if the context of the reported statement (i.e. the location and/or the period of time) is different from that of the direct speech.

In the following table, you will find the different changes of place; demonstratives and time expressions.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Time Expressions
today	that day
now	then
yesterday	the day before
… days ago	… days before
last week	the week before
next year	the following year
tomorrow	the next day / the following day
Place
here	there
Demonstratives
this	that
these	those

B. Reporting Question

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

· Pronouns

· Place and time expressions

· Tenses (backshift)

Also note that you have to:

· transform the question into an indirect question

· use the question word (where, when, what, how) or if / whether

Types of questions	Direct speech	Indirect speech
With question word (what, why, where, how...)	"Why" don’t you speak English?”	He asked me why I didn’t speak English.
Without question word (yes or no questions)	“Do you speak English?”	He asked me whether / if I spoke English.

C. Reporting Requests / Commands

When transforming requests and commands, check whether you have to change:

· Pronouns

· Place and time expressions

Direct speech	Reported speech
“Nancy, do the exercise.“	He told Nancy to do the exercise.
"Nancy, give me your pen, please."	He asked Nancy to give him her pen.

Example:

She said, “Sit down." - She asked me to sit down.

She said, "don't be lazy" - She asked me not to be lazy

For affirmative use to + infinitive (without to)

For negative requests, use not to + infinitive (without to).

D. Other transformations

· Expressions of advice with must, should and ought are usually reported using advise / urge.
Example:
“You must read this book.“
He advised / urged me to read that book.

· The expression let’s is usually reported using suggest. In this case, there are two possibilities for reported speech: gerund or statement with should.
Example:
“Let’s go to the cinema.“=
1. He suggested going to the cinema.
2. He suggested that we should go to the cinema.

Main clauses connected with and/but :

If two complete main clauses are connected with ‚and or ‚but, put ‚that after the conjunction.

Example:
He said,“I saw her but she didn't see me.“ – He said that he had seen her but that she hadn't seen him.“

If the subject is dropped in the second main clause (the conjunction is followed by a verb), do not use ‚that‘.

Example:
She said,“I am a nurse and work in a hospital.“ – He said that she was a nurse and worked in a hospital.“

2. Direct Speech

Direct speech means to say exactly what someone else said. It is usually put inside quotation marks (". . .").

a. Reporting verbs

To report what someone said we usually use verbs such as:

Say, tell, ask, explain, request, etc.

For example:

· She says we should go.

· They told us to bring our stuff.

· He asked them the time.

· I explained the rules to her.

b. The word THAT

The word THAT can be used after reporting verbs to begin the statement. But remember – it isoptional.

You can use it or leave it out, as you prefer.

For example:

· She says they are full = She says that they are full

· I told them we could help = I told them that we could help

· I suggest we start = I suggest that we start

c. How to report

When you quote what someone else has said (direct speech) it's very simple: nothing changes and you put the statement between quotation marks.
But when you report a statement (tell it in your own words), there are obviously some necessary changes.

d. Reported speech – changes

Ø Pronouns

If there are any pronouns present, you may have to change them.

Examples for when and how to change pronouns:

Direct speech	Reported speech
She says, "I like ice cream."	She says she likes ice cream.
They say, "You are right."	They say we are right.
He says, "My name is Gary."	He says his name is Gary.

Third person singular verbs :

Verbs in the third person singular form usually get an S at the end:

I cook He cooks

We talk She talks

You have It has

I am He is

So when reporting speech we must apply this rule.

Examples for when and how to change verbs:

Direct speech	Reported speech
He says, "I work every day."	He says he works every day.
She says, "I am a big girl."	She says she is a big girl.
Bonnie says, "I have a question."	Bonnie says she has a question.

Ø Place and Time expressions

In many cases, when you report someone's speech you are in a different place, and almost always in different point of time (we usually report in the present what someone told us before, in the past).

So we need to change the place and time expressions accordingly.

Examples for when and how to change place and time expressions:

Direct speech	Reported speech
She said, "I work here."	She said she worked there.
They said, "We are eating now."	They said they were eating then.
You said, "She sings today."	You said she sang that day.
He said, "I will come tomorrow."	He said he would come the following day.

A list of common place and time expressions :

this	that
these	those
here	there
now	then / at the time
today	that day / yesterday
yesterday	the day before / the previous day
a week ago / last week	a week before / the previous week
last month	the month before / the previous month
next year	the following year
in three years	three years from then

Note: With these things, always use your common sense. If you are reporting something that someone said ten minutes ago, and your location is still the same, and the time frame is still the same, then don't change these place and time expressions.

For example:

Direct speech	Reported speech
Ten minutes ago you said, "We have a lot of work today."	Ten minutes ago you said we had a lot of work today.

Ø Tense backshift

Backshift is the changing of a tense when reporting what someone said. When reporting what somebody said in the past, the tenses of the verbs in the reported statement go one step backwards.

Here are some more examples:

Direct speech	Reported speech
You said, "We are late."	You said we were late.
They said, "We have plans."	They said they had plans.
He said, "I work hard."	He said he worked hard.
She said, "I drink water."	She said she drank water.

Here is how the tense backshift works:

Direct speech	Reported speech
Simple present He said, "I eat cheese."	Simple past He said he ate cheese.
Present progressive He said, "I am eating cheese."	Past progressive He said he was eating cheese.
Present perfect He said, "I have eaten cheese."	Past perfect He said he had eaten cheese.
Present perfect progressive He said, "I have been eating cheese."	Past perfect progressive He said he had been eating cheese.
Simple past He said, "I ate cheese."	Past perfect He said he had eaten cheese.
Past progressive He said, "I was eating cheese."	Past perfect progressive He said he had been eating cheese.
Past perfect He said, "I had eaten cheese."	Past perfect (no change) He said he had eaten cheese.
Past perfect progressive He said, "I had been eating cheese."	Past perfect progressive (no change) He said he had been eating cheese.

The backshift also works on certain modal verbs:

Direct speech	Reported speech
Will She said, "I will eat cheese."	Would She said she would eat cheese.
Can She said, "I can eat cheese."	Could She said she could eat cheese.
Must She said, "I must eat cheese."	Had to She said she had to eat cheese.
Shall She said, "I shall eat cheese."	Would She said she would eat cheese.
May She said, "I may eat cheese."	Might She said she might eat cheese.

There is NO CHANGE in the following modal verbs:

Direct speech	Reported speech
Would
She said, "I would eat cheese."	She said she would eat cheese.
Could
She said, "I could eat cheese."	She said she could eat cheese.
Should
She said, "I should eat cheese."	She said she should eat cheese.
Might
She said, "I might eat cheese."	She said she might eat cheese.
Ought to
She said, "I ought to eat cheese."	She said she ought to eat cheese.

e. No Tense Backshift

When the reporting verb is in the simple past tense, the verbs in the reported statement usually go one step backwards.
However, if you are reporting facts or something that is still true, you can keep the verbs in the present:

Direct speech	Reported speech
You said, "The Earth is round."	You said the Earth is round. OR You said the Earth was round.
I said, "Rome is in Italy."	I said Rome is in Italy. OR I said Rome was in Italy.
She said, "People sleep at night."	She said people sleep at night. OR She said people slept at night.

Also, if the reporting verb is in the simple present, present perfect, orfuture, then there is no tense backshift:

Direct speech	Reported speech
You say, "I jog daily."	You say you jog daily.
You have said, "I jog daily."	You have said you jog daily.
You will say, "I jog daily."	You will say you jog daily.

f. Reporting Questions

When reporting a question, you should also change the question into an indirect question. In other words, you need to change this sentence so that it is a normal positive sentence, not a question.

You can use the words if or whether for YES / NO questions.

Direct speech	Reported speech
She asked, "Are you well?"	She asked if I was well.
"Where do you live?" he asked me.	He asked me where I lived.
"Why don't we meet?" she asked me.	She asked me why we didn't meet.
I asked, "How does she make them?"	I asked how she made them.
They asked, "Where is the mall?"	They asked where the mall is.

g. Reporting Orders and Request

When reporting an order or request we change them into an infinitive

Direct speech	Reported speech
"Go home," she told me.	She told me to go home.
"Start talking," he told us.	He told us to start talking.
"Stop right there," they ordered us.	They ordered us to stop right there.
"Could you please open the door?" she asked me.	She asked me to open the door.
"Don't shout," I asked.	I asked them not to shout.