The Reported SpeechWhat is it? How do you use it?

Yesterday, my brother told me that he was bad to the

bone!

The Reported Speechis the grammar we use when we want to tell

another person about a conversation that took place in the past.

We often use the reported speech to . . .1. Give someone a telephone message:Example:Example: Marge said she couldn’t come today because…

2. Tell someone news that we heard from someone else:Example:Example: Bart told me that he and Lisa had a fight!

3. To report something that happened:Example:Example: Homer said that the other driver wasn’tpaying attention and hit his car.

How to use the reported speech:

When we use the reported speech, we are usually talking about the past.

Therefore, verbs usually change to the past tense in the reported speech.

am / is becomebecome wasare becomesbecomes were

have / has

becomebecome had

can / can’t becomebecomecould couldn’t

will / won’t

become

would wouldn’t

The Reported Speech typically uses the following structure IN STATEMENTS:

Someone said (that) … Sentence, past

ORSomeone told me (that) … Sentence, past

However, in English, you can NEVER say

Someone said me . . .

Examples of Examples of reporting what reporting what

someone said . . .someone said . . .

“I’m not enjoying my job anymore.

I think I’ll quit.”

“I’m not enjoying my job anymore.

I think I’ll quit.”

Homer said, “I’m not enjoying my job anymore. I

think I’ll quit.Now you want to tell someone else what Homer said. In this situation, it’s natural to

use the reported speech:reported speech: You can say:

Homer told me that he

enjoying his job anymore and he he quit.

1. Lisa said:“I don’t feel like going to the movies tonight.”

Reported speech:

Lisa said that she didn’t feel like going to the movies that night.

2. Marge said:“My sister is coming to visit me soon.”

Reported speech:

Marge told me that her sister was coming to visit her soon.

REPORTING QUESTIONS

Why don’t you go out for a

beer?

Do you really want to do that?

When reporting a question you have to mind the following aspects:

• When the question starts: with a interrogative pronoun you must

use the PRONOUN+SUBJECT+VERBWhy he didn’t go out for a beer.with a verb you must use the word IF +

SUBJECT+ VERBIf he really wanted to do that.