2335

Ann. 6. ‗How long does it take to get to Edinburgh by coach?‘ asked the tourist. 7. ‗How much do you think it will cost?‘ he said. 8. ‗What did you miss most when you were in prison?‘ Mary asked the ex-convict. 9. Another passenger came in and said, ‗Is this seat taken?‘ 10. ‗How do you get on with your mother-in-law?‘ said Paul. 11. ‗How did you get into the house?‘ they asked him. 12. ‗What were you doing with these skeleton keys?‘ said Mr Jones. 13. ‗Did you sleep well?‘ asked my hostess. 14. ‗ have you been here long?‘ the other student asked him. 15. ‗Can you tell me why Paul left the university without taking his degree?‘ Paul‘s sister asked. 16. ‗How many people know the combination of the safe?‘ said the detective. 17. ‗Are there any letters for me?‘ said Mary. 18. ‗How long have you been learning English?‘ the examiner said. 19. ‗Why aren‘t you taking the exams?‘ said Paul. 20. ‗Are these freerange eggs?‘ said the customer. 21. ‗Where are you going for your summer holidays?‘ I asked them. 22. ‗Will it be right if I come in a little later tonight?‘ asked the au pair girl. 23. ‗Have you ever seen a flying saucer?‘ said the man. 24. ‗Where can I park my caravan?‘ she asked the policeman. 25. ‗Would you like a lift?‘ said Ann. ‗Which way are you going?‘ I said. 26. ‗Who do you want to speak to?‘ said the telephonist. 27. ‗Does anyone want tickets for the boxing match?‘ said Charles. 28. ‗What are you going to do with your old car?‘ I asked him. 29. ‗Do you grow your own vegetables?‘ I asked. 30. ‗What train are you going to get?‘ my friend inquired. 31. ‗Could you change a five-pound note? I‘m afraid I haven‘t got anything smaller,‘ said the passenger to the conductor. 32. ‗How many sleeping pills have you taken?‘ said the night sister. ‗I have no idea,‘ said Mr Jones sleepily. 33. ‗Could we speak to the manager, please?‘ said the two men. ‗Have you an appointment?‘ said the secretary. 34. ‗Do you think you could live entirely on your own for six months,‘ said Tom, ‗or would you get bored?‘ 35. ‗Did any of you actually see the accident happen?‘ said the policemen. 36. ‗Could I see Commander Smith?‘ the lady asked. ‗I‘m afraid he‘s in orbit,‘ I said. ‗Would you like to leave a message?‘

REPORTED COMMANDS

When we turn direct commands into indirect commands, the following changes are necessary:

(1) The introductory verb, say, etc., changes to a verb of command or request, such as tell, order, command, ask, etc.

He said, ―Close the gate, Tom.‖ - He told Tom to close the

gate.

(2) The introductory verb of the indirect command must be followed immediately by the person addressed and the infinitive (i.e. the complex object).

He said, ―Get your coat, Tom.‖ — He told Tom to get his

coat.

In direct commands the person addressed is often not mentioned.

She said, ―Go away.‖

But in indirect commands the person addressed must be included, so that in cases such as the above it is necessary to add a noun or a pronoun.

She told me (the children) to go away.

(3) Negative commands are expressed by placing not before the infinitive.

He said, ―Don’t move, boys.‖ —He told the boys not to

move.

(4) Pronouns and adverbs of place and time change as in statements.

She said, ―Shut the door after you, children.‖— She told the children to shut the door after them.

I said, ―Stop making this noise.‖ — I told him to stop making that noise.

He said, ―Please, come with me.‖ — He asked her to come with him. (―please‖ is omitted)

―Don’t go,‖ I said.— I told them not to go.

―Don‘t sit on my hat,‖ he shouted.— He told them not to sit on his hat.

He said, "Don‘t come tomorrow as I won‘t be here.‖ — He told us not to come the next day as he wouldn‘t be there.

Exercise 11. Turn the following sentences into reported speech.

1. The teacher said to the student, ‗Come and see me after the lesson.‘ 2. He said, ‗Shall we go out for dinner?‘ 3. Colin said to Dave, ‗Please hold this book for me.‘ 4. He said to her, ‗Close the door, please.‘ 5. Father said, ‗How about going to the beach?‘ 6. She said, ‗Let‘s watch the game on TV.‘ 7. He said to them, ‗Please, please don‘t hurt me.‘ 8. The policeman said to the thieves, ‗Put your hands up!‘ 9. The man said to the waiter, ‗Can you bring me some water, please?‘ 10. Jason said to his father, ‗Please, please let me go to the party.‘ 11. The librarian said to the boys, ‗Don‘t make so much noise.‘ 12. The chef said to me, ‗Put the cake in the oven.‘

INTRODUCTORY VERBS

*Note: The verbs marked with an asterisk can also be followed

Exercise 12. Report what the teacher told the students before the exam.

1.Please leave your bags at the front of the room.

2.Don‘t talk during the exam.

3.Raise your hand if you need anything.

4.Write all your answers in pen.

5.Answer all the questions.

6.Don‘t forget to write your name at the top of the page.

7.Check your answers again before you hand the paper in.

8.Please leave quietly when you finish.

Two Other Ways of Expressing Reported Commands

Indirect commands can also be expressed by object clauses containing be + infinitive or should + infinitive.

(1) is/are/were/was + infinitive

This construction can be used instead of tell + noun/pronoun + infinitive, but it is less imperative.

She said, ―Open your books.‖ — She told us to open our books. О г: She said that we were to open our books.

It is more usual than tell + complex object when the introductory verb is in the present tense.

She says, ―Meet me at the station.‖ — She says that we are to meet her at the station.

It can also be used when the person who is to obey the order is mentioned but not necessarily addressed directly.

She said that he was to leave the house. (We don‘t know whether she gave the order directly to him or sent it by another person.)

(2) order + should + infinitive

He ordered that they should leave the country.

The conjunction that must be placed after the verb and cannot be omitted.

This construction can be used instead of the be + infinitive construction, but it is more formal and therefore less common.

He said that Tom was to apologize. = He ordered that Tom should apologize.

Like the be + infinitive construction, it-can be used when the recipient of the order is mentioned but not necessarily addressed directly.

Reported Commands in the Passive

Indirect commands can also be used in the passive, but in the first type (tell + complex object) tell must be replaced by order or give orders (for).

The Captain ordered a salute to be fired.

The Captain ordered that a salute should be fired. The Captain gave orders for a salute to be fired.

The Captain gave orders that a salute should be fired.

MIXED TYPES

Direct speech may, of course, be a combination of question and statement, statement and command, etc. When we turn such sentences into indirect speech, each of the questions, commands, and statements must be introduced by its proper verb.

He said, ―Mary looks terrible. Is she ill?‖ — He said that Mary looked terrible and asked if she was ill.

He said, ―I don‘t know the way. Ask the old man sitting on the gate.‖ — He said that he didn‘t know the way and told me to ask the old man.

She said, ―Did you hear that crash? Go and see what has happened.‖ —She asked if he had heard the crash and told him to go and see what had happened. .

Exercise 13. Turn the following sentences into reported speech.

1. ‗I‘m hungry,‘ she said. ‗I haven‘t eaten all day.‘ 2. ‗Let‘s go to the cinema,‘ he said. ‗We haven‘t seen a film for months.‘ 3. Tim: Dave is ill. He can‘t come to the party. Mike: What‘s wrong with him? Tim: He‘s got flu. He has to stay in bed. 4. ‗You‘re early,‘ he said to her. ‗I‘m not ready yet.‘ 5. ‗Hurry up!‘ she told him. ‗We‘re going to miss the bus.‘ 6. ‗Have you got your key?‘

she said. ‗I‘ve forgotten mine.‘ 7. ‗I‘m going out,‘ Colin said. ‗I might be back late.‘ 8. Sally: I‘ve bought a car. It‘s being delivered tomorrow. John: What kind of car is it? Sally: It‘s a sports car. It was very expensive. 9. ‗I‘m sorry I‘m late. I overslept,‘ he said to them. 10. Martin: Can you help me? I need some advice. James:

What‘s the problem? Martin: I don‘t know what to buy my mother for her birthday. I want to get something special.

Exercise 14. Put the following into reported speech, avoiding as far as possible the verbs say, ask and tell and choosing instead from the following: accept, accuse, admit, advise, agree, apologize, assure, beg, call (= summon), call (+ noun/pronoun + noun), complain, congratulate, deny, exclaim, explain, give, hope, insist, introduce, invite, offer, point out, promise, protest, refuse, remark, remind, suggest, thank, threaten, warn, wish.

1. He said, ‗Don‘t walk on the ice; it isn‘t safe.‘ 2. ‗Miss Brown, this is Miss White. Miss White, this is Miss Brown.‘ 3. ‗Here are the car keys. You‘d better wait in the car,‘ he said to her. 4. ‗Please, please don‘t tell anyone,‘ she said. ‗I won‘t, I promise,‘ I said. 5. ‗Would you like my torch?‘ I said, holding it out. ‗No, thanks,‘ he said. ‗I have one of my own.‘ (Omit thanks) 6. Tom: I‘ll pay. Ann: Oh, no, you mustn‘t!‘ Tom: ‗I insist on paying.‘ 7. ‗Come in and look round. There‘s no obligation to buy,‘ said the shopkeeper. 8. ‗If you don‘t pay the ransom, we‘ll kill the boy,‘ said the kidnappers. 9. ‗I won‘t answer any questions,‘ said the arrested man. 10. ‗He expects a lot of work for very little money,‘ complained one of the typists. ‗Yes, he does,‘ agreed the other. 11. ‗I wish it would rain,‘ she said. 12. ‗You pressed the wrong button,‘ said the mechanic. ‗Don‘t do it again. You might have a nasty accident.‘ 13. ‗Your wait‘s got up a lot!‘ I exclaimed. ‗I‘m afraid it has,‘ she said sadly. 14. ‗I hope you‘ll have a good journey,‘ he said. ‗Don‘t forget to send a card when you arrive.‘ 15. ‗Hurrah! I‘ve passed the first exam!‘ he exclaimed. 16. ‗All right, I‘ll wait a week,‘ she said. (Omit all right) 17. ‗Many happy returns of your

birthday!‘ we said. 18. ‗Your door is shabbiest in the street,‘ said the neighbour. ‗It is,‘ I said. 19. ‗Cigarette?‘ – ‗Thanks,‘ I said. 20. ‗I‘ll sell the TV set if you keep quarrelling about the programme,‘ said the mother. ‗No, don‘t do that! We won‘t quarrel any more,‘ said the children. 21. ‗I‘ll give you £ 500 to keep your mouth shut,‘ he said to me. 22. ‗I‘ll wait for you, I promise,‘ he said to me. 23. ‗I‘m sorry I‘m late,‘ she said. ‗The bus broke down.‘ 24. ‗You‘ve been leaking information to the Press!‘ said his colleagues. ‗No, I haven‘t,‘ he said. ‗Liar!‘ said Tom. 25. ‗I‘ll drop you from the team if you don‘t train harder,‘ said the captain. 26. ‗If the boys do anything clever, you call them your sons,‘ complained his wife. ‗But if they do anything stupid, you call them mine.‘ 27.‘Let‘s have a rest,‘ said Tom. ‗Yes, let‘s,‘ said Ann. 28. ‗Ugh! There‘s a slug in my lettuce. Waiter!‘ he cried.

Exercise 15. Turn the conversation into reported speech.

Mrs Parker: Do you think it‘s too damp to sit on the grass? Mr Parker: Oh, no! I should think it‘s dry enough for that after yesterday‘s sunshine. Well, is it

warm enough for you? Who said the English climate is changeable? It hasn‘t rained for at least 48 hours.

Mrs Parker: Don‘t speak too soon! There‘s a nasty looking cloud just coming up behind you.

Mr Parker: Oh, that cloud isn‘t big enough to do any harm.

Robert: What have we got to eat, Mum?

Mrs Parker: Don‘t worry, Robert! I‘ve got enough food here for a dozen people.

Mr Parker: Pity Peter couldn‘t come! It would have done him

good.

Mrs Parker: Never mind! He gets quite enough fresh air since he joined Scouts.

Mr Parker: Don‘t be too quick about spreading that table cloth, Nora. I felt a spot of rain.

Mrs Parker: Oh, dear! What did I tell you? It‘s coming on to