• Elvis said, “I don’t
know anything
about music. In my
line, you don’t have
to”
• Quoted speech tells who said
something and what they said. We
use quoted speech for the exact
words someone uses. We use it in
novels, stories and newspaper
articles.
• When we don’t want to use the exact
words someone said, we use reported
speech. We use reported speech
often in both speech and writing. It
has a main clause and a noun
clause.We use reported verbs such as
say or tell.
• Quoted speech: Muhammad Ali said,
“I´m the greatest.”
• Repoted speech: Muhammad Ali said
he was the greatest.
Changes in reported
speech
Simple present
Simple past
Present continuous
Past continuous
Simple past
Past perfect
Present perfect
Past perfect
Will
Would
Can
Could
Have to / had
Had to
Other changes
• There are many possible pronoun changes
in reported speech. We use the logic of
each situation to decide on the changes.
• Bob said to Alice, “You gave me the wrong
book.”
• Bob said to Alice she had given him the
wrong book.
Time and place expressions
can change in reported
speech.
now
then, at that time
today, tonight
that day, that night
yesterday
the day before
tomorrow
the next day
this week
that week
last / next week
the week before / after
two weeks ago
two weeks before
here
there
in this place
in that place
Rewrite the sentences as reported
speech. Make the necessary changes.
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1. I really like this house,” she said.
She said she really liked that house.
2. She said, “We can walk to the shops from the house.”
She said they could walk to the shops from the house.
3. “We have looked for a long time.”
She said they had looked for a long time.
4. He said, “we’re getting married next month.”
He said they were getting married the following month.
5. She said, “My parents saw the house yesterday.”
She said her parents had seen the house the day before.
6. My father said, “You have to do some work on the house.”
My father said we had to do some work on the house.
Reported questions
• The president of the company wanted to
know why nobody had finished the report.
 We use verbs like ask, inquire, wonder or the expresssion
want to know to report questions. We do not use say or tell.
• “Where do you live?”, she asked me.
• She asked me/wanted to know/wondered where I lived.
 When the question begins with a wh- word- when, where,
what, how, …, the noun clause in the reported question
begins with the same word.
• He asked me, “What do you want?”
• He asked me what I wanted.
 When the question is a yes/no question, we begin the noun clause in
the reported question with if or whether.
• “Are yo coming?” he asked
• He asked if/whether I was coming.
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In reported questions, the words are in statement form.
He asked me, “How are you?”
He asked me how I was. (subject+verb)
He asked me, “Do you like classical music?”
He asked me if I liked classical music. (subject-verb)
 Reported questions use the same rules as reported speech for
chnaging verb tenses, modal auxiliaries and other words.
Write the following conversation in
reported questions.
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1. Can you speak English?
She asked me if I could speak English.
2. Where do you want to go?
She asked me where I wanted to go.
3. Have you got a map?
She inquired if I had a map.
4. Have you seen Buckingham Palace?
She asked if I had seen …
5. Is this your first time in London?
She wanted to know if that was my first time in London.
6. How long are you going to stay?
She asked how long I was going to stay.
7. Would you like to have a cup of tea?
She asked me if I would like to have a cup of tea.
Reported commands
• The man said, “Stop.”
• The man told me to stop.
Reported commands
 To report commands, we can use a reporting verb
like tell or order + someone + (not) infinitive.
• “Don’t talk!” the teacher said to us.
• The teacher told us not to talk.
• “Stay in the car,” the police officer said.
• The police officer ordered us to stay in the car.
 We can report commands with the reporting verb
ask.
• “Wait a minute, please,” Ted said.
• Ted asked me to wait a minute.
Report the speaker’s words.
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1. “Don´t leave your job,” my father said.
My father told me not to leave my job.
2. “Write your essay,” the teacher said.
The teacher told us to write our essay.
3. “Please, give me the key to the car,” Mary said to her brother.
Mary asked her brother to give her the …
4. “Please, don’t tell Dad,” Mary told Steve.
Mary asked Steve not to tell Dad.
5. Paul said to his mother, “Don’t touch my CD player.”
Paul told her mother not to touch his CD player.
6. “Sit down, please,” the interviewer said.
The interviewer asked me to sit down.
Extra practice
• http://www.englischhilfen.de/en/exercises_list/reported.htm
• http://esl.lbcc.cc.ca.us/eesllessons/reported%20
speech/repmult.htm