REPORTED SPEECH

Tense Changes When Using Reported Speech

Normally, the tense in reported speech is one tense back in time from the tense in direct speech:

She said, "I am tired."  She said that she was tired.

The changes are shown below:

Simple present		Simple past
"I always drink coffee", she said		She said that she always drank coffee.
Present continuous		Past continuous
"I am reading a book", he explained.		He explained that he was reading a book
Simple past		Past perfect
"Bill arrived on Saturday", he said.		He said that Bill had arrived on Saturday
Present perfect		Past perfect
"I have been to Spain", he told me.		He told me that he had been to Spain
Past perfect		Past perfect
"I had just turned out the light," he explained.		He explained that he had just turned out the light.
Present perfect continuous		Past perfect continuous
They complained, "We have beenwaiting for hours".		They complained that they had been waiting for hours.
Past continuous		Past perfect continuous
"We were living in Paris", they told me.		They told me that they had been living in Paris.
Future		Present conditional
"I will be in Geneva on Monday", he said		He said that he would be in Geneva on Monday.
Future continuous		Conditional continuous
She said, "I'll be using the car next Friday".		She said that she would be using the car next Friday.

NOTE:

1. You do not need to change the tense if the reporting verb is in the present, or if the original statement was about something that is still true, e.g.

• He says he has missed the train but he'll catch the next one.
• We explained that it is very difficult to find our house.

2. These modal verbs do not change in reported speech:

might, could, would, should, ought to, e.g.

• We explained that it could be difficult to find our house.
• She said that she might bring a friend to the party.

DIRECT AND REPORTED SPEECH

You can answer the question What did he/she say? in two ways:

• by repeating the words spoken (direct speech)
• by reporting the words spoken (indirect or reported speech).

Direct Speech

Direct speech repeats, or quotes, the exact words spoken. When we use direct speech in writing, we place the words spoken between inverted commas (....) and there is no change in these words. We may be reporting something that's being said NOW (for example a telephone conversation), or telling someone later about a previous conversation

Examples

• She says "What time will you be home?"
• She said "What time will you be home?" and I said "I don't know! "
• "There's a fly in my soup!" screamed Simone.
• John said, "There's an elephant outside the window."

Reported Speech

Reported speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense of the words spoken. We use reporting verbs like 'say', 'tell', 'ask', and we may use the word'that' to introduce the reported words. Inverted commas are not used.

• She said, "I saw him."  She said that she had seen him.

'That' may be omitted:

• She told him that she was happy.
• She told him she was happy.

'Say' and 'tell':

• Use 'say' when there is no indirect object:
• He said that he was tired.
• Always use 'tell' when you say who was being spoken to (i.e. with an indirect object):
• He told me that he was tired.

'Talk' and 'speak' are used:

- to describe the action of communicating:

• He talked to us.
• She was speaking on the telephone.

- with 'about' to refer to what was said:

• He talked (to us) about his parents.

DIFFERENCE WORDS

OTHER, ANOTHER

These words refer to something different, remaining, or additional.

They are placed before the noun.

Another is used with singular nouns.

Otherwith singular or plural.

• There are other jobs you could try.
• Where's the other packet of cereals?
• Is there any other bread?
• Have another cup of tea.

	(I)	my	mine
	(you)	your	yours
	(he)	his	his
	(she)	her	hers
	(it)	it	its
	(we)	our	ours
	(you)	your	yours
	(they)	their	theirs

• Jane's brother is married to John's sister.
• Her brother is married to his sister.
• Peter and his sister.
• Jane and her father.
• Do you know where your books are?
• Is this their picnic? No, it is ours.
• I think this is your passport. Yes, it is mine.

PRE-DETERMINERS

SUCH, WHAT, RATHER, QUITE

These words are normally placed before the indefinite article.

Such and what are often used to express surprise or other emotions:

Examples

• What a lovely day!
• She's such a lovely woman!
• What an incredible film!
• He's such a fantastic guitarist!

Rather and quite are 'commenting' words, referring to the degree of a particular quality. They can express disappointment, pleasure, or other emotions, and are used before a/an + adjective + noun:

Examples

• It's rather a small car. (= I'm a bit disappointed because it's small)
• It was quite a nice day.(= I was agreeably surprised.)
• He's had quite a bad accident. (= I'm worried)
• I've just met rather a nice man. (= I'm pleased)