We
use reported speech when we want to reproduce what somebody says or said.
When
we report what somebody said in the past we have to change the tense(s)
we use
in reported speech.
These tenses usually go one step back into the past.
Ex:
“I feel tired”, he said.
He
said that he felt tired.
CHANGES IN TENSES
¡
PRESENT SIMPLE â PAST
SIMPLE
¡ PRESENT CONTINUOUS â PAST CONTINUOUS
¡ PAST
SIMPLE âPAST
PERFECT
¡ PAST
CONTINUOUS â PAST
PERFECT CONTINUOUS
¡
PRESENT PERFECT â PAST
PERFECT
¡
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS â PAST PERFECT
CONTINUOUS
¡ PAST
PERFECT â PAST
PERFECT
¡ PAST
PERFECT CONTINUOUS â PAST
PERFECT CONTINUOUS
¡
SIMPLE FUTURE â
PRESENT CONDITIONAL
¡
PRESENT CONDITIONAL â
PERFECT CONDITIONAL
¡
CAN â COULD
¡
MAY â MIGHT
¡
MUST â MUST
OR HAD TO
CHANGES IN TIME / PLACE
Time/place
references are also changed in reported speech:
¡ TODAY â THAT
DAY
¡ NOW â THEN
¡ YESTERDAY â THE
DAY BEFORE
¡ TOMORROW
â THE
NEXT DAY
¡ NEXT
WEEK/MONTH â THE
FOLLOWING WEEK/MONTH
¡ LAST
WEEK/MONTH â THE WEEK/MONTH
BEFORE
¡ AGO â BEFORE
¡ THIS
(TIME) â THAT
¡ THIS/THAT
/ + NOUN â THE +
NOUN
¡ HERE â THERE
¡ GO â COME
SAY AND TELL
In
reported statements we often use the verbs “say” and “tell”.
We use 'say' when
there is no indirect object:
He
said that
he was tired.
Always
use 'tell'
when
you say who was being spoken to (i.e. with an indirect object):
He told me that he was tired.
When
we use “say” with an indirect object we must use the preposition “to” before
the indirect object:
He
said to
me that
she was very happy to be with him.
REPORTING VERBS IN THE PRESENT
We do not need to change the tense if the reporting verb is in the present,
or if the original statement was about something that is still true:
“Mary wants to go to the disco”, Peter says.
Peter says that Mary wants to go to the disco.
“Mary’s boyfriend lives in Paris”, Sue told me.
Sue told me that Mary’s boyfriend lives in Paris.
EXERCISE 1 (introductory verb in the present)
1. Ana: “I live in New York”.
…
… ………......Ana says that she lives in New York……………………………………
2. Tom: “I work in a bank”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Cindy: “I am 15 years old”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. David: “I like rock music”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. Juliette “I don't have a computer”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. Carmen “my favorite color is purple ”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. Tom and Jack: “We have mobile phones”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
8. Janet “I love Friday”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
9. Theodore “I can't stand the sight of blood”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. Maria “My brother is older than me”.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
EXERCISE 2 (introductory verb in the past)
Put the following statements into reported speech.
Use the
introductory verb in the past.
1. “Mary
and Paul are going to get married next week”, Jim said.
………Jim said that Mary and Paul were going to get married the following week……
2. “If Mum
has time, she will make a cake for your birthday”, she said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. “I
often ask my father to help me with my homework”, Bill said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. “He
spent the afternoon reading before his wife arrived”, Mary said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. “I´m
very happy because I have just got my driving license”, I said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. “We
have been shopping this afternoon”, my friends said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. “If she
accepts me, we will get married in June”, Peter told me.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
8. “Dave
says he loves playing computer games”, my brother told me.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
9. “I
can´t go to the party. I’ve got a terrible headache”, Jim said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. “Bill’s
father gets angry when his son arrives late”, they said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
11. “She
doesn’t like doing the housework. She says it is boring”, I said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
12. “John
got a big present for his last birthday!, his brother said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
13. “My
father must travel a lot because he’s a salesman”, she said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
14. “He’s
got the biggest nose I have ever seen”, Marta said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
15. “If he
drives so fast, he will have an accident”, his friend said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
16. “He
studied very hard and got an excellent mark”, his teacher said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
17. “I want
to be a basketball player when I grow up”, Tim said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
18. “There
are three people waiting at the bus stop”, she said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
| 
