Reported Speech: Understanding Indirect Speech

Reported Speech

Understanding Reported Speech

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech or secondhand speech, is a way of communicating what someone else has said, but not necessarily repeating their exact words. This type of speech involves reporting a conversation, statement, or thought using different grammatical structures compared to direct speech.

Components of Reported Speech

Reporting Clause

Reported speech includes a reporting clause, which consists of a reporting verb and a reporting clause. The reporting clause introduces the reported information and explains who said it. Common reporting verbs include say, ask, tell, wonder, admit, etc.

Reported Clause

The reported clause represents the original statement, question, or thought, and it follows the reporting clause. It starts with the conjunction that and often includes a relative pronoun (who, which, that) to connect the reported clause back to the reporting clause.

Reporting clause: She said that...
Reported clause: ...she was getting married on Saturday.

Reporting Statements and Thoughts

When reporting statements or thoughts, a reported clause is typically used, beginning with the conjunction that. However, in informal speech and writing, that is often omitted, particularly with frequently used reporting verbs like say and think.

Reporting Questions

Questions put into report structures are referred to as reported questions or indirect questions. They are similar to declarative sentences but do not end with a question mark. The most common verb used for reporting questions is ask.

Modal Verbs and Reported Speech

Modal verbs like will, can, may, must, etc., often change in reported speech. For example, will becomes would, can becomes could, and must becomes had to. However, verbs like should, ought to, and used to remain unchanged in reported speech.

Passives in Reporting

Reporting verbs such as tell and inform often occur in passive report structures. In these cases, the hearer of the original statement becomes the subject of the sentence in reported speech, focusing on the hearer only instead of identifying the speaker of the original sentence.

Reporting Orders and Requests

Orders and requests can be reported using verbs like ask, tell, followed by an object and a to-infinitive. Other verbs that occur in this pattern include order, command, forbid, instructions, beg, and urge. In passive constructions, the original hearer (the object of the reporting clause) becomes the subject of the reporting.

Practice and Usage

To practice reported speech, consider:

• Reading articles and summarizing them, incorporating at least two instances of reported speech.
• Using reported speech exercises to practice shifting tenses and changes to pronouns and modal verbs.

Remember that mastering reported speech takes time and practice.