Friday, June 3, 2011

Reported Speech

Indirect Speech (also referred to as 'reported speech') refers to a sentence reporting what someone has said. It is almost always used in spoken English.
If the reporting verb (i.e. said) is in the past, the reported clause will be in a past form. This form is usually "one tense back" into the past from the original.

Examples:
  • He said the test was difficult.
  • She said she watched TV every day.
DIRECT SPEECH
REPORTED SPEECH
Simple Present
Simple Past
Present Continuous
Past Continuous
Simple Past
Past Perfect
Past Perfect
Past Perfect
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
Past Continuous
Past Perfect Continuous
Am/is/are going to
Was/were going to
Future will
Would
Present Perfect Cont
Past Perfect Cont


Can
Could
May
Might
Must
Had to / must
Could
Could
Would
Would
Should
Should
Might
Might


This
That
Today
That day
Yesterday
The day before
Tomorrow
The next day/the following day
Last night
The night before
Last week/month/year
The week/month/year before
Now
Then
Here
There


Note1: if we report sth that is still true now, we sometimes use the same tense as the speaker.
Example:
Speaker: “the population of Brazil is around 170 million”, he said.
R.Speech: He said the population of Brazil is around 170 million.

Note 2: Pronouns and possessive adjectives change in Reported Speech
Example:
Speaker: “I´m only on holiday with my friend”, Caroline said.
R.Speech: Caroline said that she was only on holiday with her friend.


More examples

       Direct Speech                                       Reported Speech
He said, "I live in Paris." He said he lived in Paris.
He said, "I am cooking dinner." He said he was cooking dinner.
He said, "I have visted London twice." He said he had visited London twice.
He said, "I went to New York last week." He said he had gone to New York the week before.
He said, "I had already eaten." He said he had already eaten.
He said, "I am going to find a new job." He said he was going to find a new job.
He said, "I will give Jack a call." He said he would give Jack a call.

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