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It is one way of relating what a person has said. In direct speech we repeat the original speaker’s exact words ‘I am going to Oxford with my parents tomorrow,’Ben said. The remark is placed between inverted commas and a comma appears immediately before the remark. 2

We give the exact meaning of a remark or a speech, but without necessarily using the speaker’s exact words. Ben said (that) he was going to Oxford with his parents the following day. Quotation marks disappear. There is no comma after the introductory verb (say/ask/tell…). When we turn direct speech into indirect, some changes are usually necessary. 3

When we report a statement, a question or any other type of sentence, the following changes take Place: 1. VERB TENSES 2. TIME EXPRESSIONS 3. PRONOUNS AND POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES 4. OTHER CHANGES 4

Present Simple Present Continuous Present Perfect Simple Present Perfect Continuous Past Simple Past Continuous Past Perfect Simple Past Perfect Continuous Future Simple 1. VERB TENSES When the introductory verb is in the past, the verb in direct speech changes into the corresponding past tense in reported speech. DIREC T SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH 5 Past Simple Past Continuous Past Perfect Simple Past Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Simple Past Perfect Cont. /No change No change Conditional Simple

MODALS IN REPORTED SPEECH DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH WILL SHALL MAY MUST CAN WOULD SHOULD MIGHT MUST/HAD TO COULD 6

NOTE: COULD, MIGHT, WOULD, SHOULD remain unchanged in reported speech MUST remains the same when it expresses possibility or deduction. When it expresses obligation, we can change it into MUST or HAD TO. 7

2. TIME EXPRESSIONS DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH NOW TODAY, TONIGHT THIS WEEK/MONTH/YEAR YESTERDAY LAST NIGHT/WEEK… TOMORROW NEXT WEEK/MONTH… TWO DAYS/MONTHS … AGO THEN THAT DAY, THAT NIGHT THAT WEEK/MONTH/.. THE DAY BEFORE THE PREVIOUS NIGHT/WEEK THE FOLLOWING DAY THE FOLLOWING WEEK/… TWO DAYS/MONTHS.. BEFORE 8

3. PRONOUNS AND POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES They change according to the context ‘I will lend you our car,’ Bill said. Bill said (that) he would lend me their car. ‘He has just arrived, ‘ I said. I told them he had just arrived. 4. OTHER CHANGES THIS/THESETHAT /THOSE HERETHERE COMEGO 9

A. STATEMENTS INTRODUCTORY VERBS SAY TELL SAY + THAT ‘I have been working since this morning,’ she said. She said (that) she had been working since that morning SAY + TO + OBJECT She said to me that she had been working since that morning TELL + OBJECT ‘I have been working since this morning,’ she said. She told me that she had been working since that morning. 10

STRUCTURE SUBJECT + SAID + (TO+OBJ) + (THAT) + SUBJ. + VERB… SUBJECT + TOLD + OBJECT + (THAT) + SUBJ+ VERB… ‘I know her,’ Richard said. Richard said (that) he knew her. ‘They will never speak to you again,’ Rachel said to her husband. Rachel said to her husband that they would never speak to him again. 11

B. QUESTIONS 1)INTRODUCTORY VERBS ASK, WANT TO KNOW, WONDER, INQUIRE 2) The question mark is omitted 3) The word order is the same as the one in a statement ‘Where do you live? ‘ she said. She asked me where I lived. ‘Did she buy a coat at the sales? ‘ Bruce said. Bruce asked them if she had bought a coat at the sales. 12

B.1. WH- QUESTIONS STRUCTURE: SUBJECT + ASKED + OBJECT + WH – WORD + SUBJ + VERB +… ‘How old is he?’ he asked me. He asked me how old he was. ‘Where did he go last night?’ Milly said. Milly asked them where he had gone the previous night/ the night before. 13

B. 2. YES/NO QUESTIONS STRUCTURE: SUBJECT+ ASKED + OBJECT+ IF/WHETHER + SUBJECT + VERB … ‘Do you know what time it is?’ his mother said. His mother wanted to know if he knew what time it was ‘Do you want to go by air or sea?’ the travel agent asked. The travel agent asked me whether I wanted to go by air or sea Note: We use WHETHER when a choice has to be made or when there is a conditional sentence in the question. 14

C. ORDERS AND COMMANDS INTRODUCTORY VERBS: TELL, ORDER, WARN STRUCTURE: (+) SUBJECT + TOLD/ORDERED + OBJECT + TO INFINITIVE + …. ‘Be quiet!’ the teacher said. The teacher ordered the students to be quiet. (-) SUBJECT + TOLD/ORDERED + OBJECT + NOT TO + INFINITIVE ‘Don’t open the door,’ his mother said. His mother told him not to open the door. 15

D. SUGGESTIONS DIRECT SPEECH A) ‘Let’s have lunch together tomorrow,’ she said. B) ‘Why don’t we have lunch together tomorrow,?’ she said. C) ‘How/What about having lunch together tomorrow?’ she said. D) ‘Shall we have lunch together tomorrow?’ she said. 16

REPORTED SPEECH STRUCTURE: SUBJECT + SUGGESTED + VERB-ING She suggested having lunch together the following day. SUBJECT + SUGGESTED + SUBJECT 2 + SHOULD + BARE INFINITIVE She suggested that they should have lunch together the following day. 17

E. ADVICE DIRECT SPEECH ‘If I were you, I would give up smoking, ‘ she said to them. ‘You had better give up smoking,’ she said to them. ‘Why don’t you give up smoking?’ she said to them. ‘You should /ought to give up smoking,’ she said to them. 18

REPORTED SPEECH STRUCTURE: SUBJECT + ADVISED + OBJECT + TO INFINITIVE + … She advised them to give up smoking. 19

F. OFFERS AND REQUESTS DIRECT SPEECH ‘Will /Can/Could/Would you help me carry these bags, please?’ she said. ‘Shall I help you carry these bags?’ he said. ‘Would you like to go to the cinema?’ they said. REPORTED SPEECH STRUCTURE: SUBJ+ OFFERED/ASKED+ OBJECT + TO-INFINITIVE She asked me to help her carry the bags. She offered to carry the bags for me. They invited me to go to the cinema. 20

REPORTING A DIALOGUE OR A CONVERSATION In conversations we use a mixture of sentences (statements, questions, orders, suggestions….). When we turn into reported speech, we use AND, AS, ADDING THAT, AND HE /SHE ADDED THAT, EXPLAINING THAT, BECAUSE, BUT, SINCE, AND THEN HE/SHE WENT ON TO SAY, WHILE, THEN… Words or expressions such as Oh, Oh dear, Well, etc are omitted in reported speech. We can also use the corresponding introductory verb in the present participle (-ing) 21

EXAMPLE DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH ‘Oh, this is a very nice dress,’ she said. ‘How much does it cost?’ ‘I can’t buy it,’ she said. ‘I can’t afford it.’ ‘Shall I help you?’ he said. ‘We can work on it together.’ She remarked/exclaimed that that was a very nice dress and she asked how much it cost. she said she couldn’t buy it, explaining that she couldn’t afford it. He offered to help me, suggesting that we could work on it together. 22