Reported Speech: Statements, Questions, Commands

Reported Speech

• It is possible for reported speech to consist of various sentence types like statements, questions, or commands
• To report speech, verbs usually shift "one tense back," except for the Past Perfect Simple and Past Perfect Continuous
• Pronouns should be changed as needed to maintain correct context
• Conditions like the time or place require changes to be made to remain accurate

Reported Statements

• Example: "I have found you a new phone." becomes He told me (that) he had found me a new phone

Reported Speech Examples

• Example: "My brothers spend every day of their lives together." becomes He said (that) his brothers spent every day of their lives together
• Example: "I've lost my bag." becomes She said (that) she had lost her bag.
• Example: "I'll meet my brother here tomorrow.” becomes He said he would meet his brother there the following day
• Example: "We are playing football now." becomes The boys said that they were playing football then

Reported Questions and Statement Conversions

• To restate any sentence, use conversion charts for statements and for the two question types: Wh- Questions and Yes/No Questions
• Conversion charts simplify changing verb tenses into indirect speech
• Word order in questions follows a specific rule: ask proceeds an object, the Wh- word, and is arranged like a statement with ask acting as its subject

Direct and Reported Speech Tense changes

Direct and Reported Speech Word changes

Pronoun Changes

When Verb Tense Changes are Unnecessary

• In the case of Present Simple/Present Perfect reporting verbs
• If it occurs in the form of "He says/has said he will be back next week"
• When actions get reported soon after they were said, as context still has relevance

Example: "He said he will be back next week. (It's the same week.)"

• If the reporter finds that the original fact/opinion remains the same as what the speaker noted
• 'Dad said he is very happy.”

Reported Questions and Verbs

• Reported Speech form : Use ask + (object) + wh- word for wh- questions -- word order becomes statement
• Ask is used, followed by the target/referrent, the wh- question word, and then a restatement of the question with the same tense used for the initial ask verb
• Example: "Where do you live?" becomes - He asked me where I lived

Yes/No Questions in Reported Speech

• In Yes/No scenarios, the form becomes: ask + (object) + if/whether for yes/no questions -- word order becomes statement

• Ask is used, followed by the reciever, conjunctions like if/whether, subject and verb to become like a typical statement form

• "Can you write?" becomes - He asked (me) if / whether I could write

Commands and Requests

• Transform commands by placing an infinitive form of “tell + object + (not)”
• Example Meet becomes “He told me to meet him that day”.
• The command is rare, with limited opportunities for refusal
• Requests have possible opportunities for refusal
• Requests: ask + object + (not) + infinitive
  • Example: Buy becomes “He asked me to buy the fish."