Reported speech

There are two ways of reporting what a person says

Direct speech (reports the exact words the speaker says)

She said, "I'm leaving for New York."

"I'm going home," he said.

Indirect speech (does not repeat the speaker's exact words)

She says she's leaving for New York.

He said he was going home.

Reporting verbs

The commonest reporting verbs in both direct and indirect speech are:

SAY, TELL, ASK

SAY + a personal indirect object (to Sally, to me, to her, to us, etc.) means “speak words”

“I don't like them very much,” she said to me quietly.

NOTE:

We normally use SAY without a personal indirect object.

“I can drive," she said.

TELL + a personal direct object (e.g. David, me, him, etc.) means “inform a person”

She told me she was going to be late.

NOTE:

TELL is not used without a personal direct object.

He told Sarah he was in love with her.

TELL is not used with questions

You cannot say - "Have you ever been abroad?" he told me.

ASK + a personal direct object (e.g. me, him, her, etc.) or no object at all.

“Are you happy?” he asked (her).

NOTE:

There are a few fixed expressions with say, tell and ask

say a few words	tell the truth	ask after someone
say so	tell a lie	ask (for) a favour
say no more	tell lies	ask a question
say nothing	tell the time	ask the price
	tell a story

Exercise 17. Put a form of either say, tell or ask in each space.

Example: "Do you like visiting old buildings?" she asked.

1. Do you think he's __ the truth?

2. Could you __ the time, please?

3. Julia smiled and __to me, "I'm very pleased to meet you."

4. "How much are those apples?" — "I've no idea. Go and __ the price."

5. He __ the policeman his address.

6. I didn't hear, what did she__?

7. "Are you comfortable?" he __ me.

8. "There's no match on Saturday?" — "Who _ so?"

Indirect speech

Reported statements: without tense changes

If the reporting verb is in the Present Simple, Present Perfect or Future Simple there is no change of tenses in the reported statement.

	=> Brenda says
“I'm arriving at 7.00.”	=> Brenda has said	that she is arriving at 7.00.
	=> Brenda will say

If the reported words are 'always true' (e.g. a theory, belief or general truth), there is no change.

George said, "Doctors don't like to upset their patients." => Georse said doctors don't like to upset their patients.

If we report something that is still true now, we sometimes use the same tense as the speaker.

"I live in Moscow." => She told me that she lives in Moscow.

NOTE:

But even when something is still true, we often change the tense in reported speech She told me that she lived in Moscow.

Pronouns and possessive adjectives often change in reported statements.

Chuck has just said, "I am on holiday with my friend."

Chucks has just said he was on holiday with his friend.

Exercise 18. Write these sentences in indirect speech using the words given. Change the pronouns where necessary.

Example: "We haven't had anything to eat." (The children say)

The children say (that) they haven't had anything to eat.

1. "I haven't got any money." (He'll tell you)

2. "The plane will land in twenty minutes." (The pilot has just announced)

3. "I don't know how much it costs." (She says)

4. "We've never been to Saudi Arabia." (They say)

5. "There are no tickets left for tonight's performance." (The booking office says)