Reported Speech (Indirect Speech) - English - Bac (+PDF)

Reported Speech (Indirect Speech) - English - Bac (+PDF)

Reported Speech (Indirect Speech)

What is reported speech?

Reported speech is when you tell somebody else what you or a person said before.

When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:

• Pronouns
• Tense
• Place ,Time expression and Demonstratives  
• Modal

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:

Tense	Direct Speech	Reported Speech
present simple	I like ice cream	She said (that) she liked ice cream.
present continuous	I am living in London	She said (that) she was living in London.
past simple	I bought a car	She said (that) she had bought a car OR She said (that) she bought a car.
past continuous	I was walking along the street	She said (that) she had been walking along the street.
present perfect	I haven't seen Julie	She said (that) she hadn't seen Julie.
past perfect	I had taken English lessons before	She said (that) she had taken English lessons before.

3-Place and time expression:

Time expression
Now	then / at that time
Today	yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27th of June
Yesterday	the day before yesterday / the day before / Wednesday / the 5th of December
Last week	the week before / the previous week
Tomorrow	today / the next day / the following day / Friday
Next year	The following year

Place
here	There

Demonstratives
this	that
these	those
those	those

4-Modal :

Modal
will	I'll see you later	She said (that) she would see me later.
would	I would help, but..”	She said (that) she would help but...
can	I can speak perfect English	She said (that) she could speak perfect English.
could	I could swim when I was four	She said (that) she could swim when she was four.
shall	I shall come later	She said (that) she would come later.
should	I should call my mother	She said (that) she should call her mother
might	I might be late	She said (that) she might be late
must	I must study at the weekend	She said (that) she must study at the weekend OR  She said she had to study at the weekend

*Using reported speech for questions:  

So far we have looked at using 'said' in reported speech. When a question is asked we do not use 'said'. Instead we use 'asked'. 
We also need to use an interrogative (wh- word) or if / whether.
Take a look at the examples:

questions using interrogatives

Direct John: 'What is your name?'
Reported: 'John asked me what my name was.'

Direct John: 'Where does she live?'
Reported: 'John asked me where she lived.'

questions using if / whether

Direct John: 'Does he play golf?'
Reported: 'John asked if he played golf.'
Reported: 'John asked whether he played golf.'

*Using reported speech for requests:

there are a different ways to make a request ;

sarah: "please wait a minute , tom"

sarah: "will you wait a minute , please"?

sarah:" tom , could you wait a minute please"?

 we can report all of these requests in the same way , using asked :

-Sarah asked tom to waite a minute

=>we do not usually use please in a reported question

*Using reported speech for orders:

there are different ways to give an order:

"stand up , john"

"you must work harder"

we can report orders like this , using told :

he told john to stand up

he told me to work harder

*Using reported speech for advice:

we can give advice like this :

"you should get married , peter"

"you should stop smoking , Jane"

we can report advice like this , using advised :

he advised peter to get married

he advised Jane to stop smoking

PDF Version: Click Here