Grammar and usageDirect speech and reported speech &

Reported speech: statements,

questions and imperative sentences

Look at the following sentences:

Tom: What are you going to do this

summer holiday?

Amy: I am going to travel to Beijing

with my parents.

Now try to answer:

What did Amy say?

Amy said that she was going to

travel to Beijing with her

parents.

Direct speech & reported speechDirect speech & reported speech

What is the difference between direct

speech and reported speech?

Direct speech is to report what exactly

has been said while reported speech or

indirect speech is to report what has

been said without using exact words.

How can we change direct speech

into reported speech?

We can change direct speech into

reported speech by using an object

clause or an infinitive phrase.

For example:

He said, ‘I’m used to such embarrassing

comments.’

He said that he was used to such

embarrassing comments.

‘We must not give up in the face of

pressure!’ she said.

She encouraged us not to give up in

the face of pressure.

Besides the major changes in

sentence structure, there are also

changes in:

• Personal pronouns

• Tenses

• Adverbials of time and place

• Other cases

Personal pronouns:

She said, ‘I did some research.’

She said that she had done some

research.

Ann said, ‘I have finished this letter.’

Ann said that she had finished that

letter.

Direct speech Reported speech

Simple present Simple past

Simple future Future in the past

Simple past Past perfect

How to change the tenses:

Direct speech Reported speech

Present continuous Past continuous

Present perfect Past perfect

Past perfect Past perfect

‘Light travels at a great speed,’ said Ms

Li.

Ms Li said that light travels at a great

speed.

Tips:

We do not change the tense when we

report a proverb or a fact that doesn’t

change over time.

Adverbials of time and place:

e.g. Tom said, ‘I am working here

today.’

Tom said he was working there

that day.

The following table shows other examples:

Direct

speech

Reported speech

today

tomorrow

yesterday

next month

a week ago

that day/yesterday, etc.

the next day/the following day, etc.

the day before/ the previous day, etc.

the month after/the following month

a week before/ a week earlier, etc.

Other cases:

Some more examples of the

changes:Direct speech Reported

speech

this

these

come

that

those

go

Read the advertisement and complete the

letter on page 9.

Answers:

1. _______ 2. _______ 3. _________

4. _______ 5. _______ 6. _________

7. _______ 8. _______ 9. ________

10. ______

was would be had read

that would had thought

that would those

her

Reported speech: statements, questions and imperative

sentences

1. Statements• We use noun clauses introduced by that

to report statements. The word that can

be omitted.

e.g. She said (that) advertisements were

almost everywhere nowadays.

There are more reporting verbs other

than say and tell:

advise explain insist promise

announce suggest warn

e.g. The write explained that PSAs were

often run for free.

2. Questions:

We use noun clauses introduced by

whether/if to report yes/no questions.

e.g. Matt asked Ann, ‘Does Jason deserve

this ward?’

Matt asked Ann whether/if Jason

deserved this award.

We use noun clauses introduced by wh-

words to report wh-questions.

e.g. ‘Where did you find the advertiseme

nts for jobs abroad?’ Bill asked.

Bill asked where I had found the

advertisements for jobs abroad.

3. Imperative sentences

• To report imperative sentences, we can

use the structure: reporting verb + object

+(not) + to infinitive

e.g. The candidate said to the manager,

‘Please give me five minutes for

preparation.’

The candidate asked the manager to

give him five minutes for preparation.

• There are other verbs that can be used

in this structure to report imperative

sentences:

advise encourage invite recommend warn

e.g. ‘Don’t believe every advertisement

you read,’ Michelle said to me.

Michelle advised me not to believe

every advertisement I read.

总 结

1.如果直接引语是一个陈述句，变成间接 引语时用 that 引导，有时也可省略。e.g. She said, ‘Father, the boy is very naug

hty now.’

She told her father (that) the boy was

very naughty then.

2. 如果直接引语是客观真理，变为间 接引语时，时态不变。e.g. ‘Light travels much faster than so

und,’ she said to me yesterday.

She told me the day before that li

ght travels much faster than sound.

3. 如果直接引语中有明确表示过去的 时间状语，在变为间接引语时，一 般过去时不必变为过去完成时。e.g. He said, ‘The great inventor was

born in 1884.’

He told me that the great inventor

was born in 1884.

4. 如果直接引语是一般疑问句，变为间 接引语时用 whether/if 引导，且用陈述 句语序。e.g. She asked me, ‘Are you the happiest

person in your family?’

She asked me whether/if I was the

happiest person in my family.

5. 如果直接引语是特殊疑问句，变为间接 引语时，仍用该特殊疑问词，用陈述句 语序。e.g. She asked me, ‘When will the

advertisements be on air?’

She asked me when the advertisements

would be on air.

6. 转述祈使句时，我们使用该结构 : 转述 动词 (ask/ tell/ order/ advise/ remind/

warn/ insist/ suggest/ invite/

encourage… ) + 宾语 + (not) to do

e.g. ‘Go and see a doctor after class,’ my

teacher said to me.

My teacher advised me to go and see

a doctor after class.

Read Part A on page 11 and practise report

ing questions using whether/if or wh-words.

Answers:

2. Wang Qin ________________________

__________________________________.

3. Lu Kai ___________________________

__________________________________.

asked how it could help him

remember English words.

asked whether/if it taught listening

and speaking

4. Liu Fang _________________________

_________________________________.

5. Gu Jin ___________________________.

asked what the designer would

do if she was not satisfied with the software

asked whether/if it was easy to use

Read the advertising tips on page 11 and

report each of them to your boss.

Answers:

2. The expert encourages us to

_________________________________.

3. The expert recommends that

________________________________.

use interesting and attractive photos

we (should) use eye-catching logos

4. The expert suggests that __________

______________________________.

5. The expert tells us to _____________

______________________________.

we (should) make

the slogans short and easy to remember

make good use of

colours to attract people’s attention

选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。1. My classmate asked me ______.

A. had I seen the film three days ago

B. had I seen the film three days before

C. if I had seen the film three days ago

D. whether I had seen the film three

days before

2. He asked me ______ with me.

A. what the matter is

B. what the matter was

C. what is the matter

D. what was the matter

3. My friend really didn’t know _____ to

help the dying boy.

A. what he could do B. how could he do

C. whether he can do D. what can he did

4. Shelly asked Andy _____ water the

flowers while she was away.

A. didn’t forget to B. don’t forget to

C. not to forget to D. not forget to

5. She exclaimed ( 惊呼 ) ______.

A. what a difficult task it was

B. what it was a difficult task

C. what difficult task it was

D. what task it was difficult

将下列直接引语改为间接引语。1. Mother said to her little daughter,

‘The earth is not flat but round.’

Mother told her little daughter (tha

t)

the earth is not flat but round.

2. He asked, ‘How are you getting along

with your studies these days, Mary

and Jane?’

He asked Mary and Jane how they

were getting along with their studies

those days.

3. “Alice, you feed the baby,” Mother said.

Mother asked Alice to feed the baby.

4. “Let’s have a rest,” our teacher said.

Our teacher suggested (that) we have a

rest.

5. “Don’t make this kind of foolish mistake

again,” she said to me.

She told / warned me not to make that

kind of foolish mistake again.

• To do Part C2 on Page 92 of the

Workbook.

• To preview the Task.