Reported Speech

Reported speech

Pay attention to:

1. Who is speaking.

2. Who is receiving the information (check if it is necessary to report this)

3. About who the people are talking.

Examples:

Pat: - I like the Beatles.
Ken: - Really? Me too!

1. Pat is speaking.
2. Ken is receiving the information. It is not important.
3. Pat is talking about herself.

Pat said she liked the Beatles.
Ken said he liked them too. (1? 2? 3?)

Pat and Kim: We don’t like you.
Carol: I don’t care.

(1? 2? 3?)

Ken: Pat and Kim told Carol they didn’t like her.
Rob: Wow!

Rob (to another friend): Ken told me that pat and Kim told carol they didn’t like her.

Time expressions:

Today – that day
Tonight – that night

Now – then

Tomorrow – the next day

Next week – the following week

Last week – the previous week

Here – there

Reported Speech – transformation of verb tenses

Simple present →Simple past
I am a student. →She said she was a student.
I study at Uptime →She said she studied at Uptime.

Present continuous →Past continuous
I am studying. →She said she was studying.

Simple past →Past perfect
I studied French at the University. →She said she had studied French at the university.

Past continuous →Past perfect continuous
I was taking a shower. →She said she had been taking a shower.

Present perfect →past perfect
I have already seen this film. →She said she had already seen that film.

Present perfect continuous →Past perfect continuous
I have been teaching English for 7 years. →She said she had been teaching English for 7 years.

be + going to + verb →past of be + going to + verb
I am going to visit my grandma. She said she was going to visit her grandma.

Can →Could
I can do the exercises. →She said she could do the exercises.

May →Might
I may be late to the party. →She said she might be late to the party.

Will →Would
I will have an ice-cream. →She said she would have some ice-cream.

Imperative →infinitive
Open the door! →She told me to open the door.
Don’t open the door! →She told me not to open the door.

Questions with Wh: repeat the Wh and continue the sentence in the affirmative form.
Where is the party? →She asked where the party was.

Yes/No questions: use if and continue the sentence in the affirmative form.
Did you enjoy the party? →She asked me if I had enjoyed the party.