How to make reported speech

1. Reported speech
I’m going home
Direct speech
• She said, “I’m going home”.
February 25th March 4th
Reported speech
• She said (that) she was going home.

2. Reported speech /2
Posibles cambios:
• Tiempos verbales.
He said, “I love you”
He said (that) he loved me.
• Orden de las palabras
Mum says, “Why aren’t you at school?”
Mum wants to know why you aren’t at school.
• Pronombres (Ver ejemplo en tiempos verbales)
• Otras palabras
Peter said, “I’m seeing the doctor tomorrow”.
Peter said (that) he was seeing the doctor the following
day.

3. Reported speech /3
Cambios en los tiempos verbales:
Direct speech Reported speech
• Present simple Past simple
‘I like peaches’. He said he liked peaches.
• Present continuous Past continuous
‘Is it raining?’ He asked if it was raining.
• Past simple Past simple / Past Perfect
‘I didn’t recognize you’. She explained that she
hadn’t recognized /didn’t
recognize me.
• Past continuous Past continuous or past
perfect continuous
‘I was joking about the price.’ He said he was joking (Or:
had been joking) about the
price.

4. Reported speech /4
Cambios en los tiempos verbales (continuación)
Direct speech Reported speech
•Past perfect Past perfect
‘I hadn’t seen her before that day.’ You said you hadn’t seen
her before that day.
• shall / will should / would
‘We’ll be late.’ I told him we’d be late.
• can, may could, might
‘I can swim.’ She thought she could swim.
• must must or had to
‘I must go.’ He said he must / had to go.

5. Reported speech /5
Reporting questions
Two kinds of questions
1. Yes / No questions
He wanted to know if / whether I was leaving.
‘Are you leaving?’ he said.
s vaux
aux s v

6. Reported speech /6
2. Wh-questions
‘Where is the President staying?’ the reporter said.
Wh-word aux s v
The reporter asked where the President was staying.
Wh-word s aux v

7. Reported speech /7
Otras palabras
• here there
•now then, at the time
•today that day
• yesterday the day before / the previous day
• tomorrow the next / following day
• this week that week
• last week the week before, the previous week
• an hour ago an hour before / earlier

8. Reported speech /8
Say or tell
Tell
Daniel told me (that) he was ready.
Say
Daniel said (that) he was ready.
Ask, want to know, wonder
‘What’s the problem?’ he said.
He wanted to know / asked (me) / wondered what the problem was.
+ el oyente
no se menciona el oyente

9. ‘Andrew is working,’ Jessica said.
Jessica said (that) Andrew was working.
‘I’ve fixed the shelves,’ John told Susan.
John told Susan (that) he had fixed the shelves.
‘My money had run out,’ said Daniel.
Daniel said his money had run out.
‘You can sit over here,’ the steward said.
The steward said we could sit over there.
‘When did you start acting, Melissa?’ Guy said.
Guy asked Melissa when she had started acting.
‘Has the taxi arrived yet?’ someone asked.
Someone asked if / whether the taxi had arrived yet.