Reported speech: time and place changes

 

· With reported speech, we also usually have to change words and phrases connected to time and place. These changes include:

 

Direct speech	Reported speech	Example
here	there	‘I usually shop here,’ said Tim. Tim said he usually
		shopped there.
now/at the moment	then/at that moment	‘I’m shopping at the moment,’ said Tim. Tim said
		he was shopping then/at that moment.
tomorrow	the next/following	‘I’m going shopping tomorrow,’ said Tim. Tim said
	day	he was going the next/following day.
tonight	that night	‘I’m going shopping tonight,’ said Tim. Tim said he
		was going shopping that night.
next	the following	‘I’m going shopping next week,’ said Tim. Tim said
week/month/year	week/month/year	he was going shopping the following week.
yesterday	the day before/ the	‘I went shopping yesterday,’ said Tim. Tim said
	previous day	he’d been shopping the day before/ the previous
		day.
last	the week/month/year	‘I went shopping last week,’ said Tim. Tim said he’d
week/month/year	before / the previous	been shopping the week before/the previous week.
	week/ month/year
ago	before/previously	‘I went shopping two days ago,’ said Tim. Tim said
		he’d been shopping two days before/previously.

 

WATCH OUT!!! We do not need to make any changes to time words/phrases when the informationis still true at the moment of speaking /writing.

 

e.g. ‘I’m going shopping tomorrow,’ said Tim to Ben. Ben immediately called Lizzie and said, ‘Tim said he’s going shopping tomorrow ’.

 

Reported questions

 

· We use reported questions when we want to say what someone else asked. e.g. Tim asked Tom if he wanted to go shopping with him.

 

· We use the same rules regarding tense, pronoun and time and place word/phrase changes with reported questions as we do with reported speech.

 

Direct speech	Reported speech	Example
have, do, be or	use if or whether	‘Can you get me an ice cream, Tom?’ asked Tim.
modal (i.e. yes/no		Tim asked Tom if/whether he could get him an ice
questions)		cream.
		79

what, who, which,	what, who, which,	‘Why did you buy these shoes?’ asked Tim. Tim
when, where, why	when, where, why	asked me why I had bought those shoes.
and how	and how

 

WATCH OUT!!! In direct questions we use the question form and question marks (Can you…?).

In reported questions we don’t use the question form or question marks (asked if he could…).

 

Reporting verbs

 

· Different reporting verbs take different grammatical patterns. Some verbs can take more than one pattern.

^ü deny (verb + noun) Katie denied the accusation.

^ü deny (verb + that clause) Katie denied (that) she was a shoplifter.

^ü deny (verb + ing) Katie denied stealing the chocolate biscuits.

 

1. Complete using the correct form of the verb in brackets.

1. Stewart said he _________________ (not/want) any dessert as he was full.

 

2. Derek said that he and Belinda _________________ (see) Adam recently.

 

3. When I called, Susie said she ____________________ (give) the dog a bath, so she asked me to phone back in half an hour.

 

4. Marcus said he _________________________ (try) to find a flat for ages before he finally found one he liked.

 

5. Debbie says she ____________________ (decide) to quit her job, but I don’t believe her.

 

6. Our English teacher said that Shakespeare ______________________ (be) probably the greatest writer in the English language ever.

 

7. Richard said he and Patricia ____________________ (be going to) invite her parents for the weekend, but I don’t know if they went or not.

 

8. Charlotte said last night that she really ______________________ (love) me, even if she doesn’t always show it.

 

9. Ollie said to Linda that he _____________________ (ask) me to be his best man on Monday, but in fact he asked Grant.

 

10. Pete told Francis his grandparents ________________________ (bring him up), but in fact he hadn’t at all.

 

2. If a word or phrase in bold is correct, put a tick. If it is incorrect, rewrite it correctly.

 

1. On Monday, my boss said I can take Wednesday off, but he changed his mind today for some reason. ___________________________

 

2. The receptionist said that if I wanted to have breakfast, I will have to pay extra.

____________________________________

 

3. A lot of people at school have said that Andrew may get the lead in the school play. _______________________________

 

 

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4. Colin said he’d been planning to ask Rich to move in with him for ages.________________________________

 

5. Lucy says she would let us know as soon as she gets the tickets._______________________________

 

6. Jordan said that she has to get up at five thirty every morning._____________________________

 

7. Before he got his results, Philip said that he may have to retake some exams, but now he knows he doesn’t have to.___________________________

 

8. Did Mrs Morgan say why she’d called?__________________________

 

9. Paul said he should be here tomorrow night at about nine._____________________________________

 

10. Dan said he must drive to Liverpool that night, but apparently he didn’t go in the end.____________________________________

 

3. Rewrite as reported questions, beginning with the words given.

 

1. Have you had your ear pierced?

My mum asked me if_______________________________________.

2. Can I meet you there at six o’clock tonight, Doug?

Julian wanted to know whether_______________________________.

 

3. Are you still moving to Blackpool next week?

Fiona asked Rod and Jenny whether___________________________.

4. Does Graham have to wear a suit to work?

I asked Mrs Daley if Graham_________________________________.

5. Do you want someone to feed your cat while you’re away?

Jane asked me if___________________________________________.

 

6. Can you guess what I’ve given Lindsay for her birthday?

Daisy asked Wendy if_______________________________________.

7. Do you love me or not, Gloria?

Fred asked Gloria whether___________________________________.

8. Will Simon be coming to the party tomorrow night?

Adrian wondered whether___________________________________.

 

4. Complete using the correct form of the words in the box.