Reported Speech
When we directly quote what someone says we use quotation marks “ ” in direct speech.
“I’m sorry” admitted Billy.
However it is much more common to use reported speech without the quotation marks.
Billy said that he was sorry.
In the real world, reports usually come after events. This is true of reported speech; we are simply reporting what someone has said before the time of speaking. For this reason we usually change the tense of the quote to the past narrative tenses.
“I’m sorry” said Billy.
becomes
Billy said that he was sorry.
In addition, the person who is being quoted is different to the person who is reporting the speech so we must change the pronoun.
“I’m sorry” said Billy.
becomes
Billy said that he was sorry.
Including the word that gives the sentence a more formal style, but is not necessary.
Billy said he was sorry.
In questions we change the question to a statement and add the word if before the subject. Notice how the ‘speech’ verb changes to asked.
“Are you sorry Billy?” I asked
becomes
I asked Billy if he was sorry.
When the quote is in the past we take it one step back so the past simple becomes the past perfect and the past continuous becomes the past perfect continuous.
“I was sorry.” said Billy.
becomes
Billy said that he had been sorry.
Task 1
Change the direct speech to reported speech
1. “I am hungry!” said my daughter.
2. “My teacher says that I am doing well” said the student.
3. Carol said “Your books are on the table.”
4. “Can we go now?” asked Adrianna.
5. Jane asked “Can you give me a job?”
6. “The exams were difficult!” said Kim.
7. Kerry said “I was waiting for half and hour.”
8. “I could do what I wanted to when I was a young man.” said my father.
If we are talking about a general truth, the tense does not change.
“I am from France” said Jean-Phillipe
becomes
Jean-Phillipe said that he is from France
Task 2
Decide whether these quotes refer to a general truth and change them to reported speech.
1. “I am hot!” said Carly.
2. “The law says that you cannot take what is not yours” said the police officer.
3. Dave said “I play badminton every Monday.”
4. “Are you ready now?” asked Jenny.
5. John asked “Are you five foot ten?”
There are many verbs that we can use to replace say and tell when we want to describe how someone says something.
ACCUSE ADMIT ADVISE AGREE APOLOGISE BLAME CONGRATULATE DECIDE DENY ENCOURAGE EXPLAIN INSIST INVITE OFFER PROMISE RECOMMEND REFUSE REMIND THREATEN WARN
Task 3
Find the definitions of each of these verbs in a dictionary as well as collocations e.g. which verbs collocate with which verb forms
Task 4
Put each verb into the column with the words it collocates
Verb + Infinitive |
Verb – Object - Infinitive |
Verb + that |
Verb + gerund |
Verb – object- preposition- gerund |
Verb – preposition - gerund |
He agreed to go |
He advised me to go |
He admitted that… |
He denied stealing the car |
He accused me of stealing… |
He apologised for stealing… |
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Task 5
Write a sentence with a ‘speech verb’ from each column
