Reported speech

Reported speech

1. Statements

   • We use reported speech to tell someone what another person said.
     • We use reporting verbs such as say and tell in reported speech.
       • When we report what someone said we change personal pronouns, possesive pronouns, possesive adjectives, etc.
         • In reported speech, the main verb usually moves back one tense into the past.
           • Dean said (that) he had seen that DVD
         • Paula said (that) she had fixed her CD player
       • He said (that) he had a calculator
     • David said that he was tired

2. Questions

   • Word order
     • Normal word order is used in reported questions, that is, the subject comes before the verb, and it is not necessary to use 'do' or 'did
       • Direct speech
         • "Where does Peter live?"
       • Indirect speech
         • She asked him where Peter lived.
   • Yes / no questions
     • This type of question is reported by using 'ask' + 'if / whether' + clause
       • Direct speech
         • "Do you speak English?"
       • Indirect speech
         • He asked me if I spoke English.
   • Question words
     • This type of question is reported by using 'ask' (or another verb like 'ask') + question word + clause. The clause contains the question, in normal word order and with the necessary tense change.
       • Direct speech
         • "What is your name?" he asked me.
       • Indirect speech
         • He asked me what my name was.

3. Commands & requests

   • When we report commands and requests, we change the imperative to a full infinitive
     • For negative commands and requests we add not before the full infinitive
       • We use tell to report commands. We use an object after tell
         • We use ask to report requests. We use an object after ask.
           • He asked me to relax
         • He told me to sit down
       • He told me not to break that
     • I asked her to leave

4. Reporting verbs

   • We can use different reporting verbs to summarise what someone said. Different structures are used depending on the verb
     • verb + (object) + full infinitive
       • He advised me to leave
     • verb + (preposition) + gerund
       • He denied breaking my laptop
     • verb + (object) + that
       • She informed us that our printer was fixed
   • Some reporting verbs can be followed by more than one structure
     • He suggested that we should buy him a DVD

5. Refereces

   • https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/sentence/reported-statements.htm
   • https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/question-forms-and-reported-speech/
   • English Book