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Reported Speech 2

This document provides an overview of reported speech in English, highlighting its use and differences from direct speech. It includes guidelines on reporting statements and questions, focusing on changes in pronouns, tenses, and time expressions. The presentation is intended as supplementary material for nursing students at the Escuela Superior de Huejutla, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo.

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3 views

Reported Speech 2

This document provides an overview of reported speech in English, highlighting its use and differences from direct speech. It includes guidelines on reporting statements and questions, focusing on changes in pronouns, tenses, and time expressions. The presentation is intended as supplementary material for nursing students at the Escuela Superior de Huejutla, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo.

Uploaded by

dilsora.dadaboyeva07
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DEL ESTADO DE

HIDALGO

ESCUELA SUPERIOR DE HUEJUTLA

Dadaboyeva
LICENCIATURADilsora 2ES-1
EN ENFERMERÍA

REPORTED
Reported SPEECH
speech

MGIEV Laura Ethel Pérez Ramírez

Julio – Diciembre 2017


Reported speech

Abstract
This work intends to present, in a simple way, basic information on how to
use Reported speech in English. Also, the difference between reported
speech and direct speech will be spotted. This presentation has been
designed to be used as additional material for the 6th level of English of
Nursing Educational Program at Escuela Superior de Huejutla, under the
guidance of the Institutional Program of Foreign Language (Programa
Institucional de Lengua Extranjera - PILE) of the Universidad Autónoma
del Estado de Hidalgo.

Key words: reported speech, backshifting of tenses, reporting state-


ments, reporting questions.
WHAT IS REPORTED SPEECH?

• Reported speech is when you tell another


person what you or somebody else have said
before.

• So, we can report in all of the different tenses


we use to speak. E.g. present simple, past
simple, future, etc.
In English, we find basically two forms of
speaking:

Direct speech and Reported (indirect)


speech
Direct speech (somebody says Reported speech (you tell
something) another person what somebody
has said)

He says: ‘I like fishing on vacation’ He says that he likes fishing on


vacation.

She said: ‘I’m starting my new job She said that she was starting her
tomorrow’ new job the next day.
• In this presentation, we will learn how to
report:

A. Statements

B. Questions
A. Reporting statements

In this case, sometimes we have to


change:

1. pronouns

2. tense

3. place, demonstrative and time


expressions.
1. Pronouns

When reporting what someone has said, very often,


you have to change the pronoun. It depends on who
has said the original statement.

Example: Susan says: ‘My Dad likes pork chops’.

Reported speech: Susan says that her Dad likes


pork chops.
2. Tense

We have two situations here.

a. If we use a reporting verb in present, there is no


backshifting of tenses.
Present tense

‘I like chocolate cake’

She says that she likes chocolate cake.

Reporting verb in present


b. If we use a reporting verb in past tense, then there is
often a backshifting of tenses.

Present tense

‘I like chocolate cake’ Backshift to past

She said that she liked chocolate cake.

Reporting verb in past


Examples of the main changes in tense:

Direct speech Reported speech


Simple present Simple past
She said: I am an excellent student. She said that she was an excellent student.
Present progressive Past progressive
He said: I am looking for a new job. He said that he was looking for a new job.
Simple past Past perfect simple
She said: I finished the report at She said that she had finished the report at
3:00. 3:00.
Present perfect Past perfect
He said: I have seen this movie He said that he had seen that movie three
three times already. times already.
Future simple (will) Modal verb (would)
She said: I will take swimming She said that she would take swimming
lessons next month. lessons the following month.
3. Place, demonstrative and time expressions.
These will change if the context of the reported state-
ment is different from that in the direct speech.
Direct speech Reported speech
Place:
here there
Demonstratives:
this that
these those
Time expressions:
today that day
now then
yesterday the day before
tomorrow the next/following day
___days ago ___ days before
last month the month before
next week the following week
B. Questions

In this case, sometimes we have to


change

1. pronouns

2. tense

3. place, demonstrative and time


expressions.
For pronouns and tenses backshifting, see
previous slides in this presentation.

Now, we need to:

1. Transform the question into an indirect


question

2. Use a question word (information


question)

3. Use if or whether, in case it is a yes/no


question.
With information questions :

We use question words (what, which, who, where,


when, why, how)

Direct speech Reported speech


Why are you here? He asked me why I was there.
Where are you going? He asked me where I was going.
Which movie do you recommend? He asked me which movie I
recommended.
When are you visiting Merida? He asked me when I was visiting Merida.
With yes/no questions :
We use whether or if.
If the question was addressed to the person who is
reporting, we can omit me after the reporting verb:
He asked me … = He asked …

Direct speech Reported speech


Do you live near here? He asked (me) if I lived near there.
Are you buying a new car? He asked (me) whether I was buying a
new car.
Would you lend me some money? He asked (me) if I would lend him some
money.
Did you go to the concert last night? He asked (me) whether I had gone to the
concert the night before.

Text
• Referencias

Brook-Hart, G. , (2012) Complete CAE Student’s Book, UK: Cambridge


University Press.

Maxwell, K. (2017). Reported speech 1 – article. [online]


Onestopenglish. Available at:
http://www.onestopenglish.com/grammar/grammar-reference/verbs-and-
tenses/reported-speech-1-article/152841.article [Accessed 29 Aug.
2017].

Schrampfer, B., (2003), Fundamentals of English Grammar, Third


edition, USA: Longman-Pearson Education.

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