Reported speech

The reported speech is used:

In statements:

‘I will not come to the College tomorrow.’ She said (that) she would not come to the College the next day.

‘This is the first bad letter we've had this month.’ He said (that) it was the first bad letter they had that month.

In requests:

‘Can we send you these documents today?’ She asked whether she could send us the documents the same day.

‘Will you count our high grades for this year, please?’ They asked me whether I would count their high grades for that year.

In questions:

‘Are you seeing my classmates next week?’ She wanted to know if they were seeing her classmates the week after.

‘Which of the two grammar Tests is this year's?’ They wondered which of the two grammar Tests was that year's.

We can report someone’s words either a long time after they were said (out-of-date reporting) or a short time after they were said (up-to-date reporting).

Statements

Out-of-Date Reporting

We usually report someone’s words a long time after they were said. In this case the introductory verb is in the past simple and the tenses change as follows:

Observe the Sequence of Tenses:

	Simple	Perfect	Continuous	Perfect Continuous
Past	→		(→)
Present	↑	↑	↑	↑
Future	↓	↓	↓	↓
Future-in-the-Past

When the introductory verb is present simple, present perfect, or future, the verb in the clause is not changed.

He says, ‘I listen to the music every day.’ He says he listens to the music every day.

He has said, ‘I listen to the music every day.’ He has said (that) he listens to the music every day.

He will say, ‘I listen to the music every day.’ He will say (that) he listens to the music every day.

Some pronouns, adverbs and words that indicate the time of acting are changed as follows:

Quoted (or Direct) Speech → Reported Speech

this, these → that, those (time expressions)	the day after tomorrow → two days later	the day before yesterday → two days before
today → that day tonight → that night this week → that week	here → there come → go	last → the previous / before last week – the week before, the previous week
tomorrow → the next day/the following day following day	in (a week) → (a week) later	yesterday → the day before
next → the following / the next	now → then	ago → before

• When this/these are used in time expressions, they change to that/those. E.g. this week – that week; these days – those days

• When this/these are not used in time expressions, they change as follows:

1. They change to the when used as adjectives, that is, when they are followed by a noun. E.g. ‘This film is boring,’ Clare told me. – Clare told me that the film was boring.

2. They change to it or they/them when used as pronouns, that is, when they are not followed by a noun. E.g. ‘This is an unusual situation,’ Dad said – Dad said (that) it was an unusual situation.

• Certain modal verbs change in reported speech as follows:

will / shall – would can – could / would be able to (future reference)

may – might must – had to (obligation)

can – could shall – should (asking for advice / suggestion)

• Would, could, might, should, ought to, had better, used to and mustn’t do not change. Must does not change when it expresses a logical assumption. E.g. a) ‘I might talk to her,’ she said. - She said (that) she might talk to her. b) ‘You must be tired,’ Paul told Susan. - Paul told Susan (that) she must be tired.

• In Type1 conditionals tenses change in reported speech as follows: the present simple becomes past simple in the if-clause and will becomes would in the main clause. E.g. ‘If I have the time, I’ll come round,’ Lisa said. - Lisa said (that) if she had the time, she would come round.

• Type 2 and Type 3 conditionals tenses do not change in reported speech. E.g. a) ‘If she knew, she would help us,’ Tony said. – Tony said (that) if she knew, she would help us. (Type 2) b) ‘If she had known, she would have helped us,’ Tony said. – Tony said (that) if she had known, she would have helped us. (Type 2)

• The verb tenses and time expressions change in reported speech:

a) when reporting someone’s words a long time after they were said (out-of-date reporting).

b) when we consider what the speaker says to be untrue. E.g. ‘I like Shakespeare’s plays a lot,’ he said to us. – He told us (that) he liked Shakespeare’s plays a lot, but he didn’t know the name of any.

• The verb tenses and time expressions either change or remain the same in reported speech:

a) when reporting someone’s words a short time after they were said (up-to-date reporting).

b) when reporting a general truth or law of nature. E.g. ‘The sun sets in the west,’ the teacher said. – The teacher said (that) the sun sets/set in the west.

c) when the reported sentence contains a time clause (in Past Simple / Continuous), the tenses of the time clause remain unchanged. E.g. ‘She came round to my house while I was doing my shopping,’ he said. - He said (that) she had come round to his house while he was doing his shopping.

Study the following information.

We can use say and tell both in direct and reported speech.

• Tell is always followed by a personal object (e.g. told me): He told me, ‘I’m tired.’ - He told me (that) he was tired.

• Say is used with or without a personal object. When used with a personal object it is always followed by the proposition to (e.g. said to me): 1) He said, ‘I’m tired.’ – He said (that) he was tired. 2) He said to me ‘I’m tired.’ – He said to me (that) he was tired.

Say and tell are also used with the following expressions:

say	good morning/afternoon, etc.; something/nothing, etc., one’s prayers; so;. a few words
tell	the truth, a lie, a secret, a story, the time, the difference, smb one’s name; smb the way, one from another, one’s fortune