24.

Reported speech: statements

24. Reported speech: statements

24.1 Listening

In this Unit we will deal with things people do at work and with reported statements in the
grammar section. Do exercise 1 on p 84 in your Book, having in mind that

unsocial hours are times when most people don’t work, for example evenings, nights and
weekends;

you can do overtime or work overtime;

run here means manage;

the person in charge of a public company is usually called the mamanging director (UK) or the
CEO (=Chief Executive Officer, US);

customers are people who buy things from shops, restaurants and businesses and clients are
people who pay money for services from lawyers, banks, etc.

Now focus on the photo on p 84. the two people in the picture are Max and Gabi. Max is the boss
of On The Box, a company that makes TV programmes, and Gabi is his PA (personal assistant).
Read questions 1-4 in exercise 3 and then listen to the recording R11.1 from your CD-ROM.
Answer the questions. Listen the recording again and fil in the gaps in exercise 4.

Focus on the photo again. It is now the next dayand Gabi is givingMax his messages from the
previous day. Read the sentences from exercise 5a) and listen recording R11.2 from your CD-
ROM. Now put the sentences in the order Gabi says them. Do exercise 5b).

24.2 Reported speech: statements

Direct speech is the exact words someone said. We use quotation marks (‘’) in direct speech
(Direktni (upravni) govor predstavlja tačne riječi koje je neko rekao. Koristimo znake navoda (‘’) u
direktnom govoru):

- ‘I was in a car accident,’ Gabi said.

Reported speech is the exact meaning of what someone said, but not the exact words. Quotation
marks are not used in reported speech. When we report statements (that is, positive and negative
sentences), we use the verbs ‘say’ or ‘tell’ to introduce the statement. Pronouns and possessive
adjectives change according to the meaning. (Neupravni govor predstavlja tačno značenje onoga
što je neko rekao, ali ne i prave riječi. Kada prenosimo izjave (tj. potvrdne i negativne rečenice),
koristimo riječi ‘say’ ili ‘tell’ da predstavimo izjavu. Zamjenice i prisvojni pridjevi se mijenjaju
prema značenju.)

- Gabi said, ‘I crashed my car in the accident yesterday.’

-> Gabi said (that) she had crashed her car in the accident the day before.

When introductory verb is in the Past Simple, the verb tenses change as follows (Kada je uvodni
glagol u prošlom govoru, glagolska vremena se mijenjaju na sljedeći način):

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24. Reported speech: statements

Direct speech Reported speech

Present Simple Past Simple

- ’I want to find a better job,’ he said. -> He said he wanted to find a better job.

Present Continuous Past Continuous

- ’They’re playing golf,’ he said. -> He said they were playing golf.

Present Perfect Past Perfect

- ’Tommy went to the army,’ she said. -> She said Tommy had gone to the army.

Future (will) Conditional (would)

- ’I’ll call you’, he said. -> he said he would call her.

Modal verbs can, must, may change in could, had to, might. Other modal verbs (would,
could, might, should and ought to) do not change in reported speech. (Modalni glagoli can,
must, may se mijenjaju u could, had to, might. Ostali modalni glagoli (would, could, might,
should and ought to) se ne mijenjaju u neupravnom govoru.)

- ’He may call you,’ she said. -> She said he might call her.

- ’I could run fast when I was young,’ he said. -> He said he could run fast when he was
young.

When the introductory verb is in the present, future or present perfect simple there are no
changes in the verb tenses in reported speech. (Kada je uvodni glagol u sadašnjem, budućem ili
prezent perfekt vremenu, glagolska vremena u neupravnom govoru se ne mijenjaju.)

- She says, ’I don’t like it.’ -> She says (that) she doesn’t like it.

When the sentence expresses something which is general truth, there are no changes in the verb
tenses in reported speech. (Kada rečenica izražava nešto što je generalna (vječita) istina,
glagolska vremena u neupravnom govoru se ne mijenjaju.)

- ’It is cold in the Arctic,’ the teacher said. -> The teacher said (that) it is cold in the
Arctic.

The Past Continuous, Past Perfect simple and Past Perfect Continuous do not change in reported
speech. (Past Continuous, Past Perfect simple and Past Perfect Continuous se ne mijenjaju u
neupravnom govoru.)

- ’I was watching TV while she was cooking,’ he said.

- > He said he was watching TV while she was cooking.

Certain words and time expressions change as follows (Neke riječi i vremenski izrazi mijenjaju se
na sledeći način):

Direct speech Reported speech

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24. Reported speech: statements

tonight, today, this week/month/year etc. that night, that day, that week/month/year etc.

now then, at that time, at once, immediately

yesterday, last night/week/month/year, etc. the day before/the previous day, the previous

night/week/ month/year, etc.

tomorrow, next week/ month/year, etc. the day after/the following/next day, the next/
following week/ month/year, etc.

two days/months/years, etc. ago two days/months/years, etc. before

this, these that, those/the/some

here there

Say – tell. We use the verb say in (Glagol say koristimo u)

• Direct speech without the preposition to when it is not followed by the person being
spoken to. (direktnom govoru bez predloga to kada ga ne prati ime lica kojem se govori)
- Ben said, ’They’re coming tomorrow.’

• Direct speech with the preposition to when it is followed by the person being spoken to.
(direktnom govoru sa predlogom to kada ga prati lice kojem se govori.)
- Ben said to me ’They’re coming tomorrow.’

• Reported speech without the preposition to when it is not followed by the person being
spoken to. (neupravnom govoru bez predloga to kada ga ne prati ime lica kojem se govori)
– Ben said (that) they were coming the following day.

• With expressions (Sa izrazima): say good morning/afternoon, say something, say so, etc.

We use verb tell in (Glagol tell koristimo u)

• Reported speech when it is followed by the person we are talking to (u indirektnom govoru
kada ga prati lice kojem govorimo).
- Ben told me (that) they were coming the following day.
* Ben told to me (that) they were coming the following day.
* Ben said to me (that) they were coming the following day.

• With expressions (Sa izrazima): tell the truth, tell a lie, tell a secret, tell a story, tell the
time, etc.

Now fill in the table in exercise 6, on p 85. Do exercise 8a) and check yourself reading recording
script R11.4 in your Book, p 155.

Key 1. work unsocial hours; sort out people’s problems; organise conferences; do
overtime; go for an audition; run a department; be responsible for the finances; deal with
customers/clients; arrange meetings, work shifts; be in charge of a company.

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24. Reported speech: statements

Key 3. 1 He’s in a meeting all day. 2 She’s in hospital. 3 She was in a car
accident and she’s broken her leg. 4 She’s going to ask him to call Fiona back in the
morning.

Key 4. 2 accident 3 month 4 operation 5 Friday 6 programme

Key 5a). 2d) 3e) 4h) 5g) 6b) 7f) 8c)

Key 5b). 1g) 2a) 3h) 4d) 5e) 6b) 7f) 8c)

Key 8b). 2 Karl told me (that) he was going to be in New York next week/the following week.
3 Sid said (that) hadn’t understood your email.
4 Linda Wise said (that) she couldn’t come to Monday’s meeting.
5 Mrs Lee told me (that) the designs would be ready on Monday.
6 Ted Black said (that) he was having a party on Saturday.
7 Ted Black said (that) he wanted to talk to you about a new project.
8 Your ex-wife told me Ted Black said (that) she’d/she had sold the house.

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