Reported Speech

REPORTED SPEECH

Reported speech is a key skill in English that allows you to convey what someone else has said without quoting them directly. It’s essential for effective communication, whether you’re sharing information in a conversation, writing a story, or summarizing a speech.

Learning Goals

Content

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is used when you want to tell someone what another person said, without using the exact words. Unlike direct speech, which quotes someone word-for-word, reported speech requires you to make some changes, especially with pronouns, tenses, and time expressions.

How to Convert Direct Speech to Reported Speech

Tense Changes

Present Simple → Past Simple

• Direct Speech: “I live in London.”
• Reported Speech: He said that he lived in London.

Present Continuous → Past Continuous

• Direct Speech: “I am reading a book.”
• Reported Speech: She said that she was reading a book.

Present Perfect → Past Perfect

• Direct Speech: “I have finished my homework.”
• Reported Speech: He said that he had finished his homework.

Past Simple → Past Perfect

• Direct Speech: “I visited Paris last year.”
• Reported Speech: She said that she had visited Paris the previous year.

Past Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous

• Direct Speech: “I was playing football.”
• Reported Speech: He said that he had been playing football.

Future Simple (will) → Conditional (would)

• Direct Speech: “I will call you tomorrow.”
• Reported Speech: She said that she would call me the next day.

Modal Changes

Modals also often change when you report speech. Here are some common changes:

1. Will → Would
   • Direct Speech: “I will go to the party.”
   • Reported Speech: He said that he would go to the party.
2. Can → Could
   • Direct Speech: “I can swim.”
   • Reported Speech: She said that she could swim.
3. May → Might
   • Direct Speech: “I may travel to Spain.”
   • Reported Speech: He said that he might travel to Spain.
4. Shall → Should
   • Direct Speech: “Shall I open the window?”
   • Reported Speech: He asked if he should open the window.
5. Must → Had to
   • Direct Speech: “I must finish my work.”
   • Reported Speech: She said that she had to finish her work.
6. Would, Could, Might, Should, Ought to (These generally stay the same in reported speech because they are already in the past tense or represent a hypothetical situation.)
   • Direct Speech: “I would like to visit Japan.”
   • Reported Speech: He said that he would like to visit Japan.

Pronoun Changes

Pronouns must be changed to match the perspective of the person reporting the speech.

Example:

• Direct Speech: “I will help you.”
• Reported Speech: “He said he would help me.”

Time and Place Changes

Time expressions often change when converting to reported speech.

Examples:

• Direct Speech: “I saw her yesterday.”
• Reported Speech: “He said he had seen her the day before.”
• Direct Speech: “I’ll do it tomorrow.”
• Reported Speech: “She said she would do it the next day.”

Reporting Verbs

Common verbs used in reported speech include “say,” “tell,” “ask,” “explain,” and “mention.”

Examples:

• Direct Speech: “I’m leaving now.”
• Reported Speech: “He said he was leaving then.”

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Reported Statements

Definition: Reported statements involve reporting what someone has said without quoting their exact words. Instead of using quotation marks, the statement is integrated into the sentence, and the verb tense is often backshifted.

How to Form Reported Statements

Reported Questions

Definition: Reported questions involve reporting what someone asked without using their exact words. Unlike reported statements, reported questions have different structures based on whether the original question is a “yes/no” question or a “wh-” question.

How to Form Reported Questions

1. Change in Word Order: The question word order (subject-verb inversion) used in direct questions changes to statement order in reported questions.
2. No Question Marks: Reported questions do not use question marks.
3. Tense Backshifting: Similar to reported statements, the verb tense is often backshifted.
4. Use of “If” or “Whether”: For yes/no questions, “if” or “whether” is used in reported speech.

Examples:

Example with Tense Backshifting:

Example with Pronoun Changes:

Example with Time Changes:

Additional Resources:
If you want to continue practicing, you can click on this link: The diary of a double agent-Reported speech

Learning Activities

EGB

Reported Speech Relay

Objective: Practice converting direct speech into reported speech in a fun and competitive way. Instructions:

1. Preparation: Write several sentences in direct speech on slips of paper.
2. Task: In teams, you will take turns picking a slip of paper, converting the sentence into reported speech, and passing it to your teammate to check and continue.
3. Class Activity: The team that correctly converts the most sentences in a given time wins.
4. Example: Direct Speech: “I’m going to the store.” Reported Speech: “She said she was going to the store.”

Dialogue to Reported Speech

Objective: Convert dialogues into reported speech.

Instructions:

1. Task: Write a short dialogue between two or more characters.
2. Writing: Convert the dialogue into a paragraph of reported speech.
3. Sharing: Share your paragraph with a partner and discuss any differences in conversion.
4. Example: Dialogue: “Tom: I need help with my homework. Sara: I can help you after school.” Reported Speech: “Tom said he needed help with his homework, and Sara offered to help him after school.”

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BGU

News Reporting Role-Play

Objective: Practice using reported speech in a simulated news report.

Instructions:

1. Pairs: Pair up, with one student acting as a news reporter and the other as the interviewee.
2. Task: Conduct a short interview on a current event, with the reporter taking notes.
3. Reporting: The reporter then shares the news using reported speech.
4. Class Activity: Some pairs present their reports to the class.
5. Example: Interview: “The mayor said, ‘We are working hard to improve public safety.'” Reported Speech: “The mayor mentioned that they were working hard to improve public safety.”

Reported Speech Writing Challenge

Objective: Use reported speech in writing a short summary of a speech or conversation.

Instructions:

1. Task: Choose a famous speech or conversation from history, literature, or a movie.
2. Writing: Write a summary of the speech or conversation using reported speech.
3. Class Activity: Share your summary with the class and discuss the tense, pronoun, and time changes.
4. Example: Original Speech: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up.” Reported Speech: “He said he had a dream that one day the nation would rise up.”