Reported (indirect) speech

We can report people‘s words by using direct speech or reported speech.

Direct speech is the exact words someone used. We use quotation marks in direct speech. e.g. „It’s nice to be home, Tom said.

Reported speech is the exact meaning of what someone said, but not the exact words. We do not use quotation marks in reported speech. We can either use the word that after the introductory verb (say, tell, etc.), or we can omit it. e.g. Tom said (that) it was nice to be home.

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

Tell is always followed by a personal object (told me).

Say is used with or without a personal object. When used with a personal object it is always followed by the preposition to (said to me).

Study the following examples:

direct speech	reported speech
He said, „I’m Ted.”„	He said (that) he was Ted.
He said to me, „I’m Ted.”	He said to me (that) he was Ted.
He told me, „I’m Ted.”	He told me (that) he was Ted. (NOT: He told that he was Ted)

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, say so, say no more, say for certain

tell the truth, a lie, a secret, a story, the time, the difference, sb one‘s name, sb the way, one from another, one‘s fortune

Reporting questions

When reporting a question, you should also change the question into an indirect question. In other words, you need to change this sentence so that it is a normal positive sentence, not a question. You can use the words if or whether for YES / NO questions.

Direct speech	Reported speech
She asked, "Are you well?"	She asked if I was well.
"Where do you live?" he asked me.	He asked me where I lived.
"Why don't we meet?" she asked me.	She asked me why we didn't meet.
I asked, "How does she make them?"	I asked how she made them.
They asked, "Where is the mall?"	They asked where the mall is.

Reporting orders and requests

When reporting an order or request we change them into an infinitive.

Direct speech	Reported speech
"Go home," she told me.	She told me to go home.
"Start talking," he told us.	He told us to start talking.
"Stop right there,"  they ordered us.	They ordered us  to stop right there.
"Could you please open the door?"  she asked me.	She asked me to open the door.
"Don't shout," I asked.	I asked them not to shout.

Exercises

Indirect statements

Ex. 1. Turn the following sentences into reported speech.

1. He said, „I‟m going to the station.‟ ...He said (that) he was going to the station...

2. Tina said, ‘You should exercise regularly.‘ 3. They said, ‘We had booked the room before we left.‘ 4. Tom said. ‘This meal is delicious.‘ 5. ‘I‘ve written you a letter,‘ she said to her friend. 6. ‘We‘ve decided to spend our holidays in Jordan,‘ they told us. 7. Jill said, ‘I‘ll go to the bank tomorrow.‘ 8. She said to him, ‘We‘ve been invited to a wedding.‘ 9. She told me, ‘You must leave early tomorrow.‘ 10. ‘They‘ve gone out for the evening,‘ Jessie said to me. 11. They said, ‘We may visit Joe tonight.‘ 12. She said, ‘I can meet you on Tuesday.‘ 13. Keith said, ‘There is a letter for you on the table.‘ 14. ‘We won‘t be visiting Tom this evening,‘ Sam told us. 15. Eric said, ‘They had been talking on the phone for an hour before I interrupted them.‘ 16. ‘I haven‘t spoken to Mary since last week,‘ Gloria said. 17. They delivered the letters this morning,‘ she said. 18. He said. ‘I‘d like to buy this jumper.‘ 19. They aren‘t going on holiday this year,‘ he said. 20. Jane said. ‘I haven‘t finished my homework yet.‘ 21. ‘I‘m going to bed early tonight,‘ Caroline said. 22. ‘My mother is coming to visit us,‘ I said. 23. ‘We don‘t want to watch a film tonight,‘ the children said. 24. ‘He‘s playing in the garden now,‘ his mother said. 25. She said, ‘You must do your homework now.‘

Ex. 2. Turn the sentences into reported speech. In which off the following sentences do the tenses not change? In which do they not have to be changed? Why?

1. The article says, The artist only uses oil paints.‟ ...The article said (that) the artist only uses oil paints.... ...The tenses do not change because the introductory verb is in the present simple.... 2. They are working hard today,‘ he said. 3. ‘I‘ve done the things you asked me to do,‘ Mary said. 4. ‘The sun rises in the east,‘ she said. 5. ‘I‘ve written you a letter,‘ she said to her friend. 6. ‘We‘ve never been on holiday abroad,‘ they said. 7. Mum says, ‘Dinner is ready.‘ 8. ‘I‘ll start cooking at six o‘clock,‘ she said. 9. ‘We went to the supermarket yesterday,‘ he said. 10. Mrs. Jones says, ‘My daughter is going to have a baby.‘ 11. ‘You‘re never going to get a job,‘ Dad always says. 12. ‘Fish live in water,‘ he said. 13. ‘We went to the beach last weekend,‘ they said 14. ‘He showed me his photographs,‘ she said. 15. ‘I‘m working on my project now,‘ Billy said.