8/3/2019 Pmm Changes in Reported Speech

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CHANGES IN REPORTED SPEECH

When we report someone's words we are usually in a place and time and with people

different from the place, time and people the speaker was with. So, although we are basically

reporting what he/she said we have to do some changes. (It's the same in Spanish!)

Look at the tables carefully and fill in the blanks:

A. Changes in tenses 

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH EXAMPLE

Present Simple- "I like tennis"

- He said (that) he liked tennis 

Past Continuous- "Dylan is doing his homework"

- He said that Dylan ..................................... 

Past Simple / Past

Perfect

- "We opened the meeting at 2 o'clock"

- He said they (had) opened the meeting at 2 o'clock  

Present Perfect- "I have never seen her before"

- He said he had never seen her before 

- " Jo hadn't arrived when I got there"

- He said Jo hadn't arrived when he got there 

Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous- "Vince was reading a book"

- He said Vince ...................................... a book  

Present Perfect Cont. Past Perfect Continuous- " It ............................................... for two days"

- He said it had been raining for two days 

Conditional Simple- "I will never do that again"

- He said he ..................................... that again 

Future Continuous- "We will be sleeping then"

- He said they ........................................ then 

Future Perfect- "She will have finished by then"

- He said she ............................................. by then 

Can- "I can speak four languages"

- He said she ................. speak four languages 

Might - "It may rain in the evening"- He said it .................... rain in the evening  

Must- "I must go"

- He said he must/had to go"

Have to- "She has to do a lot of homework"

- He said she ............................. a lot of homework  

Didn't need to- "You ................... get up early today. It's Sunday" - He said she ......................... get up early that day.  

Could / Should / Might / Would NO CHANGE - " I couldn't come yesterday"- He said he couldn't come/go the day before 

* If you are reporting something and you feel that it is still true, you do not need to change

the tense of the verb. Ex: Tom said: "New York is bigger than London" 

Tom said (that) New York is / was bigger than London 

8/3/2019 Pmm Changes in Reported Speech

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B. Changes in time expressions, place and personal reference

DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH EXAMPLE

today- "I won't do any work today"

- She said she wouldn't do any work .................. 

the day before / 

the previous day

- "Jack called ....................."

- He said Jack had called the day before 

last week/month...- "Louis left his job last month"

- He said Louis had left his job ........................... 

... ago- "Myrna had a baby two weeks ago"

- She said Myrna had had a baby two

........................ 

the following day / the day after - "I'll bring it back ......................."- He said he would bring it back the following day 

next week/month ...- "We'll meet at ten next Friday"

- He said they would meet at ten the following

Friday 

here- "Helen doesn't like living here"

- He said Helen didn't like living ................ 

go- " ................. and sit near me"

- She told her to go and sit near her. 

this / these - She said she didn't like ................ glasses 

personal pronouns

possessive adj./pronouns

depending on the noun

referred to-" Have you seen my new car?" Jo asked Tim

- Jo asked Tim if he had seen her new car 

REPORTED SPEECH: STATEMENTS 

If you want to report a statement you use a "that- clause" after a verb such as say (or tell).

Other verbs you can use instead of say are: (See photocopy)

admit agree answer argue claim complain deny explain mention reply 

You often omit "that" but not after certain verbs like: answer / argue / explain or reply.

You mention the hearer after "to" with:

say admit announce complain mention suggest 

You mention the hearer after no preposition * with:

tell inform persuade promise remind

(* These verbs can be used in the passive voice having the indirect object as a subject)

 Examples: He complained to me that you were rude // He informed her that she was dismissed