1. Reported Speech

2. Basics
When we turn direct speech into indirect / reported speech, some changes are usually necessary:
Sam: ̒I’m leaving today.̕
Sam said he was leaving that day.
DIRECT SPEECH
INDIRECT SPEECH

3. Tense changes
If we have a past tense reporting verb, tenses move back in time!
Sam: ̒I’m leaving.̕
Sam said he was leaving.
Peter: ̒I was at home.̕
Peter said that he had been at home.

4. Tense changes II The past perfect and the past perfect
continuous stay the same!
Jack: ̒I hadn’t forgotten̕ .
→ Jack said that he hadn‘t forgotten.
John: ̒I had already been living in London̕.
→ John said he had already been living in London.

5. Changes of adverbs / reference words
Sam: ̒I’m leaving today.̕
Sam said he was leaving that day.
Tina: ̒I’m going to London tomorrow.̕
Tina said she was going to London the next day.
Joe: ̒I’ll see you here tomorrow, Mary.̕
Joe told Mary he would see her there the next day.

6. Orders / requests Orders are reported with tell and the infinitive:
̒Go away! ̕
→ He told me to go away!
Requests are reported with ask and the infinitive:
̒Please help me.̕
→ He asked me to help him.

7. Reporting questions Yes / No questions are reported using if:
̒Do you like hamburgers? ̕
→ She asked me if I liked hamburgers.
Wh- questions are reported with the question word followed by the verb in the form of a normal statement:
̒Where are we going? ̕
→ She asked me where we were going.

8. Exercise: Report these sentences!
Ex.: Jim: ̒I am working today ̕ .
Jim said he was working that day.
Melinda: ‘I was in Barcelona two weeks ago̕ .
Brad: ̒Will you marry me, Angelina? ̕
Tony: ̒I’ve been working very hard ̕.
Roger: ̒How are the twins, Mirka? ̕
Linda: ̒I had been working as an actress in Hollywood̕ .
Tom: ‘Give me my wallet, Mary!’

9. 1. Melinda: ̒I was in Barcelona two weeks ago̕ .
Melinda said she had been in B. two weeks before.
2. Brad: ̒Will you marry me, Angelina? ̕.
Brad asked Angelina if she would marry him.
3. Tony: ̒I’ve been working very hard ̕.
Tony said he’d been working very hard.
4. Roger: ̒How are the twins, Mirka? ̕
Roger asked Mirka how the twins were.
5. Linda: ̒I had been working as an actress in Hollywood̕ .
Linda said she had been working as an actress in Hollywood.
6. Tom: ̒Give me my wallet, Mary ̕̕ !
Tom told / asked Mary to give him his wallet.

10. Reported Speech
(Part II)

11. Reported speech without tense changes
Present tense reports:
If the reporting verb is in the present tense,
there is no change:
→ Brenda says she’s arriving at about 6 o’clock.

12. Reported speech without tense changes
Past tense reports:
If the reporting words are ̒always true̕ , there
is no change:
→ Harry said that Berlin is the capital of Germany.
If the message is being repeated immediately,
there is no change:
→ Mary said she’s too busy to come.

13. Reported speech in complex sentences
In complex sentences, only the first verb is changed:
James: ̒I was walking home when I saw the accident’.
→ James said he had been walking home
when he saw the accident.

14. Exercises
Tom: ̒I was driving home when all of a sudden a car crashed into the side of my Honda’. → Tom said he had been driving home when all of a sudden a car crashed into the side of his Honda. Jane: ̒I bought a new car when I was in Italy half a year ago ̕ . → Jane said she had bought a car when she was in Italy half a year earlier.