Indirect speech doesn't use quotation marks. When
reporting speech the tense usually changes. If the sentence contains pronouns, possessive
adjectives and time expressions, we must also change them.
Main reporting verbs:
Accept, advice, agree, announce, apologise, ask, beg, claim, complain, decide, declare, demand, encourage, explain, insist, instruct, invite, offer, order, poing out, promise, protest, refuse, remark, remind, suggest, state, think, warn.
Reporting verbs that allow omission of "that":
Agree, feel, know,mention, promise, say, suggest, tell, think.
1. STATEMENTS: SAY (to sb), TELL (sb) , CLAIM, STATE, ANNOUNCE, EXPLAIN, ANSWER, ADD +
that
1) If the sentence is said in the present, there is no
backshift of tenses in Reported
Speech.
Example: Susan says now: "I work
in an office." → Susan says (that) she works in an office.
2) If the sentence is said in the past, there is often backshift
of tenses in Reported speech.
Example: Susan said in the past: "I
work in an office." → Susan said (that) she worked in an
office.
BACKSHIFT OF TENSES: TABLE
|
from
|
to
|
Simple Present
|
Simple Past
|
Simple Past
|
Past Perfect
|
Present Perfect
|
Past Perfect
|
will
|
would
|
Progressive
forms
|
am/are/is
|
was/were
|
was/were
|
had
been
|
has
been
|
had
been
|
BACKSHIFT OF
TENSES: EXAMPLES
|
from
|
to
|
Jane: "I live in London."
|
Jane said that she lived in London.
|
Jane: "I lived in London."
|
Jane said that she had lived in London.
|
Jane: "I have lived in London."
|
Jane: "I had lived in London."
|
Jane: "I will live in London."
|
Jane said that she would live in London.
|
Jane: "I can live in London."
|
Jane said that she could live in London.
|
Jane: "I may live in London."
|
Jane said that she might live in London.
|
Jane: "I would live in London."
(would, could, should, might →
=/ must: had to)
|
Jane: "I would live in London."
(would, could, should, might →
=/ must: had to)
|
Progressive
forms
|
Jane: "I'm living in London."
|
Jane said that she was living in London.
|
Jane: "I was living in London."
|
Jane said that she had been living in London.
|
Jane: "I have been living in London."
|
Jane: "I had been living in London."
|
this
|
that
|
today tonight yesterday tomorrow
|
that
day that night the day before, the previous day the next/following day, the day after
|
these (days)
|
those
(days)
|
now
|
then,
at that time
|
here
|
there
|
next (week)
|
the following (week) / the
(week) after
|
tomorrow
|
the next or following day / the
day after
|
last (week)
|
the previous (week) / the (week) before
|
yesterday
|
the previous day / the day
before
|
a month ago
|
the previous month / a month
before - earlier
|
2. QUESTIONS: ASK, REQUEST, ENQUIRE, WANTED TO KNOW, WONDER + if/whether
// + wh-particle
I.Yes / No questions:
Direct speech → Did she visit you? Indirect speech → He asked me IF (WHETHER) she had
visited me.
II. Wh- questions:
- The interrogative sentence adopts the form of an affirmative/negative
sentence in Reported Speech:
WH- PARTICLE + SUBJECT + VERB
(without the auxiliary verb) + COMPLEMENTS
Direct speech → What do you want? Indirect
speech → He asked me what I wanted.
3. COMMANDS/ ORDERS: TELL, ORDER, ASK, BEG, INSTRUCT, DEMAND, WARN + sb to (infinitive)/ + sb not to
(infinitive)
Direct speech → Come here. /Don’t come here.
Indirect speech → She told him to come there. / She told him not to come there.
- The imperative form or the requests are constructed in this way in
Reported Speech:
Subject + told / asked / ordered + person + (not) to + infinitive.
Attention - The translation of orders into indirect speech in Spanish is in the subjective mood. E.g. She told me to go to school. (Me dijo que fuera a la escuela).
4. SUGGESTIONS: SUGGEST, RECOMMEND + -ing / that + sentence // ADVISE +
sb to (infinitive)
Direct speech → Go for a walk every day / Let’s go to the concert!
Indirect speech → She suggested that
we went for a walk every day/ She suggested
going to the concert.
- Uses of the gerund
after the reporting verb:
(1) when the speaker is included in the suggestion.
(2) To make the suggestion more polite.
- Another reporting verbs which can followed by both gerund or “that”: Deny, admit.
