1. Report the following utterances. Use the reporting verbs best suited to the sense of the utterance.

1. Mike: I’m sure Ann will be an excellent guide. Helen: Yes, she will.

2. Jim to his boss: I’ll finish this report by the end of the day.

3. Henry: I won’t stay at this hotel. The room service is awful here.

4. Victor to Diana: You must go to the bank tomorrow. Don’t you remember?

5. Jack to Jane: If you don’t take a taxi you won’t catch the next train.

6. Roger: How about coming to a party with me tonight? Ann: I’ll be delighted.

7. Nina: I have a terrible headache. Steve: Would you like me to buy some medicine for you?

8. Jim to Harry: I’m late because I missed my bus.

9. Martha: It was me. I ate all the cake yesterday.

10. Adrian: I’m sorry I was rude.

11. Peter: I really must leave.

12. Helen to Nick: I’ll let you know about my arrival. I’ll send you a telegram.

13. Sue: Mum, please let me go to the carnival. I’ll be all right!

14. Tom to Kate: You betrayed me!

2.Put in tell or say.

1. All the experts … the Earth is getting warmer.

2. Did you … Mark and Roger how to find our house?

3. The sales manager is going to … everyone about the meeting.

4. Nora, why don’t you just … what the matter is.

5. They … they’re going to build a new Disney World here.

6. What did he … about his holiday plans?

7. Could you … me the way to the train station, please?

8. The company should … its employees what’s going on.

9. You shouldn’t … lies, you know, James.

10. Did you … anything to Bob about the barbecue?

Unit 3 reported statements

1. To report statements a reporting verb (say, tell, explain, etc.) followed by a that-clause is used. In spoken English that can be omitted: He said, “I feel sick. He said (that) he felt sick.

2. Pronouns and possessive adjectives change according to the context.

Direct Speech: Reported Speech:

He said, “I’ll lend you my car”. He said he would lend me his car.

3. Verb Tenses and time expressions change in Reported Speech:

1. when the introductory verb is in a past tense: She said that she was leaving the following week.

2. in out-of-date reporting: When I saw Alec he said he was going to England the next month.

3. when there is a difference between what was said and what is really true: You said you liked (not ‘you like’) chocolate, but you aren’t eating any.

4. When the reporting verb is in the past, the verb tenses change according to the rules of Sequence of Tenses as follows:

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Present Indefinite 	Past/Present Indefinite
“He likes walking,” she said.	She said he liked/likes walking.
Present Continuous	Past Continuous
“He is watching TV,” he said.	He said he was watching TV.
Present Perfect 	Past Perfect
“He has just left,” she said.	She said he had just left.
Past Indefinite 	Past Indefinite/Past Perfect
“I went home early,” she said.	She said she went/had gone home early.
Future 	Future-in-the-Past
“He’ll be back in an hour,” she said.	She said he would be back in an hour.
Present Perfect Continuous 	Past Perfect Continuous
“I’ve been typing since night,” she said.	She said she had been typing since night.

NOTE 1:

a) If the statement is still up to date when reported, then there is a choice. You can either leave the tense the same, or you can change it:

John said he is/was goingto Rome in April.(a future event is expressed)

Sarah told me that her father owns/owned a racehorse. (it is possible to say that her father owns a racehorse because it is still true)

Peter told me today that he losthis watchsome days ago.(recent report)

Mary said her mother isseriously ill.(the situation hasn’t changed, it’s relevancy at the present moment is emphasized)

b) If the statement is no longer up to date, then the tense is changed.

John said he was goingto Rome in April.(now it is May)

Sarah once told me that her father owned a racehorse. (he may no longer own one)

Peter told me last monththat he had losthis watchsome days before. (remote past report)

Last month I met Mary. She said her mother wasseriously ill. (the event is past, the situation might have changed)

NOTE 2: If the verb is Past Perfect or Past Perfect Continuous, it stays the same: “My money had runout.” Daniel said his money had runout.

5. Certain words can change as follows depending on the time reference.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
tonight, today, this week/month/year 	that night, that day, that week/month/year
now 	then, at that time, at once, immediately
now that 	since
yesterday, last night/week/month 	the day before, the previous night/week/month/year
tomorrow, next week/ month/year 	the following day /the day after, the following/next week/month/year
two days/months etc. ago 	two days/months etc. before
this/these 	that/those
here 	there
come 	go
E.g. ‘Tom is leaving tomorrow,” she said.	She said that Tom was leaving the next day.

6. There are no changes in the verb tenses in Reported Speech when the direct sentence expresses a general truth. (See Unit 3)

“The Earth is a planet,” he said. He said the Earth is a planet.

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