reported speech

1. Reported Speech
2º Bachillerato

2. ' I know quite a lot of people
here.'
Robert said.
Present
Simple
Simple Past He said that
he ...............................
quite a lot of people there
'John is feeling much better '
Paul said.
Present
Continuous
Past
Continuous
He said that
John ...........................much
better
' I enjoyed my holiday in the
States'
David said.
Simple Past Past Perfect He said that
he ............................... his
holiday in the States
'Jackie wasn´t feeling very
well '
The teacher said.
Past
Continuous
Past Perfect
Continuous
He said that
Jackie .........................
very well
' They've seen the Eiffel
Tower '
John said.
Present
Perfect
Past Perfect He said that
they ............................
the Eiffel Tower
' I have been waiting for
ages '
My father said.
Continuous
Past Perfect
Past Perfect
Continuous
He said that
he ............................
for ages
' Nobody had warned them
about the storm ' The
politician said.
Past Perfect He said that
nobody .................... about
the storm
' She had been reading all
day '
Brenda said.
Past Perfect
Continuous
Past Perfect
Continuous
She said that
she ........................ all day
REPORTED SPEECH

3. ' I will be here with you.'
Robert promised me.
Future
Simple
Conditional
Present
Robert promised that
he ...............................
there with me
'John is going to study
French '
Paul said.
Be going to Was/Were
going to
Paul said that
John ...........................
to study French
' We can start the lesson'
David said.
Can Could David said that
we ............................... start
the lesson
' They may come home '
My husband said.
May Might My husband said that
they .........................
come home
' You must be quiet in class '
The teacher said.
Must Had to The teacher said that
we ............................
be quiet in class
REPORTED SPEECH

4. REPORTING STATEMENTS( 2º Bachillerato)
Useful introductory verbs + that ...
ADD
ADMIT
ANSWER
ANNOUNCE
BOAST
CLAIM
COMPLAIN
DENY
DECLARE
EXPLAIN
INFORM
MENTION
POINT OUT
PROMISE
REMARK
REMIND someone of…
REPLY
SHOUT
SAY & TELL

5. •Advise, agree, beg, invite, refuse, offer, promise,
warn + infinitive
Ann: “Would you wait half an hour?”
Tom: “All right”
Tom agreed to wait for half an hour.
Chris: “Would you lend me another €50?”
David: “No, I won´t lend you any more money”
David refused to lend Chris more money.
REPORTING STATEMENTS (2º Bachillerato)

6. •accuse of, admit, apologise for, boast about,
complain about, deny, insist on, remind someone
of , + gerund
“You took my money!”
“I stole/ didn´t steal it!”
“I am sorry I’m late”
“Let me pay, please, let me.”
He accused him of taking his money.
He admitted/ denied stealing it.
He apologised for being late.
He insisted on paying.
REPORTING STATEMENTS (2º Bachillerato)

7. YES / NO QUESTIONS
Reporting verbs: ask, enquire, wonder,
would like to know, want to know
There is no inversion (subject/verb)
No auxiliary verbs: do, does, did
No question mark
If or whether after the reporting verb
“Are you working these days?” he said.
He asked if/whether I was working those days
“Did you speak to John last night?” she asked
She wanted to know if I had spoken to J. the night before.
REPORTING QUESTIONS

8. WH- QUESTIONS
•There is no inversion (subject/verb)
•No auxiliary verbs: do, does, did
•No question mark
•Wh-word after the reporting verb
“Where did you go last summer?”.
He asked me where I had gone the previous summer.
REPORTING QUESTIONS

9. •The imperative changes into infinitive
He said to us: “Stay here” He told us to stay
there.
•The reporting verb must indicate “order”
He said: “Be quiet” He told me to be quiet
•Reporting verbs: tell, ask, beg, invite, warn,
order...
“Say that again”, he said to me He asked me to
say that again.
REPORTING COMMANDS

10. •Reporting verbs: beg, ask, demand & request
•The word “please” is omitted
• In direct speech we use imperative or modal verbs.
“John, don’t open the window, please” I said
I asked /requested/begged John not to open the window.
“Can you let me use your phone, please?” I asked my
neighbour
I asked my neighbour to let me use her phone.
“Can I use your phone?” I asked my neighbour.
I asked my neighbour if I could use her phone.
REPORTING REQUESTS

11. •We normally use suggest + V-ing
•Also suggest that + sentence
•The suggestions : Let’s, why don’t we, shall we,
why not…are omitted
“Let’s go to the theatre” she said.
“Why don’t we go to the theatre?”
“Shall we go to the theatre?”
She suggested going to the theatre
She suggested that we could go to the theatre
“Let’s not argue again,” he said.
He suggested not arguing again
He suggested that they should not argue again.
REPORTING SUGGESTIONS