Unit 7 - Reported Speech
Reported Speech
Unit 7 - Reported Speech
Sometimes we need to say what another person said. There are two ways to do this in English, direct speech and reported speech.
Direct Speech
Direct speech restates
exactly what another person said. For example:
- Jane said, "I'm so happy today".
- The president said, "I need a vacation".
Reported Speech
Reported speech reports
indirectly what another person said. For example:
- Jane said she was so happy today.
- The president said he needed a vacation.
Reported speech usually
uses the past form of direct speech. So if the
direct speech is in the present, the reported
speech is in the past. For example:
Direct Speech - I said, "She is
in her office."
Reported Speech - I said she was in her
office.
Also if the direct speech is in the past, the
reported speech uses the past perfect.
Direct Speech - I said, "She was
in her office at lunchtime."
Reported Speech - I said she had been
in her office at lunchtime. OR
- I said she was in her office at lunchtime.
In modern English the past perfect is often
not necessary for past reported speech, you
can simply use the past simple instead.
Here are some common verb forms in direct and reported speech.
|
Tense Simple present: Present continuous: Simple past:
Past perfect: Future: Future continuous:
|
Direct / Reported Speech I said, "She is busy". - I said she was busy. I said, "I am working now". - I said I was working now I said, "She
was here this morning". -
I said she was here this morning.
OR I said "She
was studying all yesterday" - I said
she was studying all yesterday.
OR I said, "She has worked here for 5 years." - I said she had worked here for 5 years. I said, "She had worked here for 5 years." - I said she had worked here for 5 years. I said, "She will work here from July." - I said she would work here from July. I said, "We'll be living here for 6 months." - I said we would be living here for 6 months. I said, "She can play the piano well." - I said she could play the piano well. |
That
Reported speech is
often given as part of a that-clause, especially
in written or more formal language. For example:
- He said that he would arrive at 10.00.
- He said he would arrive at 10.00.
These two mean the same thing, and that
can be omitted without any change in meaning.
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Grammar Exercises
Example: Carlos _____ he can come tomorrow.
a) is saying
b) said that
c) will said
The answer is: b) said that
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