Grammar: REPORTED SPEECH

Reported speech consists in telling somebody else what you or a person said before (Indirect Speech).

We use reported speech when we want to tell someone else what the first person said.

When reporting speech, a few changes occur:

Ø  TENSES 

Tense in "Direct speech"	Tense to use in reported speech
SIMPLE PRESENT	SIMPLE PAST
Cindy asked: "Do you like watching TV?" Gina said: "I don't mind watching TV, but there are things I like better	Cindy asked Gina if he liked watching TV Gina answered he didn't mind watching TV, but there were things he liked better.
PRESENT BE-ING	PAST BE-ING
Fajar declared: " I am thinking about moving"	Fajar declared that he was thinking about moving
PAST BE-ING	PAST PERFECT BE-ING
He told them: "I wasn't expecting your visit"	He told them that he hadn't been expecting their visit
PRESENT PERFECT	PAST PERFECT
She said: " “I have seen Julie”	She said that she had seen Julie
PRESENT PERFECT BE-ING	PAST PERFECT BE-ING
He asked: "Paul, how long have you been studying English?"	He asked Paul how long he had been studying English
PAST PERFECT	PAST PERFECT
They said: "We had worked hard"	They said that they had worked hard
PAST PERFECT BE-ING	PAST PERFECT BE-ING
He declared: " I  had been studying for two years"	He declared that he had been studying for two years
FUTURE (WILL)	CONDITIONAL (WOULD)
I asked: “Where will you spend your holiday?”	I asked where they would spend their holiday.
WILL + BE-ING	WOULD + BE-ING
Anna declared:" I will be announcing my engagement next month"	Anna declared that she would be announcing her engagement the following month
WOULD	WOULD
Tony said: "I would like something to eat. I wouldn't mind a drink either."	Tony said he would like something to drink and wouldn't mind a drink either.

Note:

In idirect speech, “the past continuous tense” that used with when clause is not changed

Example:  He said, ‘I was talking to my teacher when Ann called me.’

He said (that) he was talking to his teacher when Ann called him

 The structure of sentence doesn’t change if the sentence contains the words below:

a.       Could

I could swim when I was four

She said she could swim when she was four.

b.      Should

I should call my mother

She said she should call her mother

c.       Might

I might be late	She said she might be late

Ø Kinds Of Reported Speech

1.      REQUEST

What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example:
 Requests for objects are reported using the pattern
ask + for + object: Examples:
a. "Can I have an apple?", she asked.         She asked for an apple.
b. "Can I have the newspaper, please?"     He asked for the newspaper. 
c. "May I have a glass of water?" he said. He asked for a glass of water.
d. "Sugar, please."                                      She asked for the sugar.
e. "Could I have three kilos of onions?"    He asked for three kilos of onions.

To report a negative request, use 'not':

• Direct speech: "Please don't be late"
• Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.

2.      ORDER

And finally, how about if someone doesn't ask so politely? We can call this an 'order' in English, when someone tells you very directly to do something. For example:

• Direct speech: "Sit down!"

In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as a request. We just use 'tell' instead of 'ask':

• Reported speech: She told me to sit down

When we want to report an order or request, we can use a verb like 'tell' with a to-clause.

Examples:

He told me to go away.
The pattern is verb + indirect object + to-clause.
(The indirect object is the person spoken to.)

Examples:
a. The doctor said to me, "Stop smoking!” 
The doctor told me to stop smoking.
b. "Get out of the car!" said the policeman. 
The policeman ordered him to get out of the car.

c. The man with the gun said to us, "Don't move!" 
The man with the gun warned us not to move.

3.      SUGGESTION

Suggestions are usually reported with a that-clause. 'That' and ‘should' are optional in these clauses:
She said: "Why don't you get a mechanic to look at the car?" 

 She suggested that I should get a mechanic to look at the car.

   OR She suggested I get a mechanic to look at the car.

Examples:

a. "It would be a good idea to see the dentist", said my mother. 

 My mother suggested I see the dentist.

b. The dentist said, "I think you should use a different toothbrush".

The dentist recommended that I should use a different toothbrush.

c. My manager said, "I think we should examine the budget carefully at this meeting."  My manager proposed that we examine the budget carefully at the meeting.

d. "Why don't you sleep overnight at my house?" she said. 

 She suggested that I sleep overnight at her house.

4.      REPORTED QUESTION

In fact, it's not so different from reported statements. The tense changes are the same, and we keep the question word. The direct question is in the present simple tense.and the verb in the present simple is chaged to the past simple.

Example:

·         Direct speech: "where do you live?"

• She asked me where I lived.

How about another example:

• Direct speech: "where is Julie?"

• She asked me where Julie was.

The direct question is the present simple of ‘to be'. We make the question form of the present simple of “to be “by inverting (changing the position of) the subject and verb. So, we need to change them back before putting the verb into the past simple.

Here are some more examples: 

Direct Question	Reported Question
“Where is the Post Office, please?”	She asked me where the Post Office was.
“What are you doing?”	She asked me what I was doing.

 But, what if you need to report a 'yes / no' question? We don't have any question word to help us. It's easy, instead use 'if':

Direct Question	Reported Question
“Do you love me?”	He asked me if I loved him.
“Have you ever been to Mexico?”	She asked me if I had ever been to Mexico.
“Are you living here?”	She asked me if I was living here.