REPORTED SPEECH
2 ways of quoting someone´s words:
1. So he comes into a pub and says: “I´ll have a beer.“ = direct speech
: (colon) “ “(inverted commas - question marks)
2. So he comes into a pub and says (that)he´ll have a beer. = indirect speech
reporting verb
A.If the reporting verb is in the PRESENT, FUTURE or PRESENT PERFECT, all the following tenses
remain the same as in the original speaker´s verbs
“I don´t want to go.”
PRES. He says
FUT. He will probably say
he doesn´t want to go.
PR.P. He has already told me
B. If the reporting verb is in the PAST or PAST PERFECT, all the following tenses are backshifted
= they go to the past
BUT!!!
Some “eternal truths” are not backshifted:
“The earth goes around the sun.”
=>Galileo proved that the earth goes (přít.čas!!!) around the sun.
In spoken English, if we report people saying things which are still true at the moment of reporting,
we don´t have to use the backshift.
“ I am only twenty.“
=> She told me the other day, that she is only twenty.
But, some speakers would prefer to use the backshift even here, however.
DIRECT SPEECH
“ I like apples.”
“ I didn´t recognize you.“
“ I haven´t recognized you.“
“ I´ll be late.“
“ You could be right.” -podm.zp. = stejné
“ You must stop smoking. =permanent ban
“ I must leave.”
“ He must be her brother.”
REPORTED SPEECH
He said, he liked apples.
He explained, he didn´t recognize me.
- II He was afraid, he would be late.
He felt I could be right.
The doctor said I must stop smoking.
She said she have to / must leave.
She believed he must be her brother.
1st Conditional:
“When I see him, I´ll tell him.“ = He said that he would tell him when he saw him.
2ndConditional:
“If I had a screwdriver, I would repair it.” - ale nemám, takže smůla = nereálné, že by se to
dalo ještě opravit
= He explained that if he had had a screwdriver, he could have repaired it.
“If you came tomorrow, we would discuss it. = a reference to a possible future - mohlo by
se to ještě splnit, zítřek teprve bude, tak ještě může přijít, ale jisté to není
SOUVĚTÍ V MINULÉM ČASE
When I was walking home, I saw an accident.
(hl.věta - the main word is backshifted)
=> He said that when he was walking home, he had seen an accident.
QUESTIONS
Yes / No questions are backshifted with “whether” / ‘if”:
Do you like hamburgers?
They asked me if / whether I liked hamburgers.
= There is no question word “do“ and no question mark.
Wh-questions are reported with the question word:
“What´s your name?“ - They wanted to know what my name was.
“What time is it?“ - She asked what time it was.
“Where do you live?”- They inquired where do we live.
“Can you tell me where the station is?”
= He wanted to know where the station was. - polite phrase”can you tell me” = reporting verb”want”
COMMANDS AND REQUESTS:
“Go away.” - He told me / ordered me (+inf.) to go away.
“Please, help me.” She asked (požádala) me to help her.
PARAPHRASE:
“Hi, how are you.” - He greeted me.
“What a beautiful coat.” - She praised my coat.
Words like:
yes, no, question tags, exclamations, interjections...are either left out or a paraphrase is used.
REFERENCE WORDS:
All references to places or times have to be changed because the point of view has changed:
“I like it here.” She said she liked it there.
“I like this town (+object).” He said he liked the town.-ne that -nemá význam jako this chair, that chair!!
× “We are meeting them this evening.” He claimed they were meeting them that evening.
today → that day
tomorrow → the next / following day
next week → the next / following week
yesterday → the previous day / the day before
a week ago → the week before
not yet → so far
“This / That is the last time.“ - He threatened it was the last time.
“The chair is over there.” - They told where the chair was.
“May I use your phone?“ - She asked if she could use our phone.