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Reported Speech Worskhop
Reported Speech Worskhop
ENGLISH LEVEL V
REPORTED SPEECH WORKSHOP
Warm up:
1. Name three companies you consider are successful and say why you believe they are
successful.
For me, a successful company is MC Donald's because she has managed to establish that people
take care of themselves and pay for a service
Another successful company is Coca Cola, since many companies have competed against it and
none have managed to excel in the market.
Another company that has excelled is HUAWEI, since with all the obstacles that it has had to get
ahead and empowering its brand
2. What characteristics do you think these companies look for when recruiting their employees?
People with different competences, that their specific skills focus on the objectives of the company, also that they
are responsible people and that they work in a group.
I would like to work at Huawei, because of the company structure, the way they give the solution to the problems.
Vocabulary: Look at the following words or expressions and without using a dictionary try to match the
meaning.
Now, you can use a dictionary or your electronic devices to look up the definitions of those words you
couldn´t match.
GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT
1. While you are watching the video, write beside each sentence in column A the name of the person who
said that. The first one is done for you as an example. You might need to watch the video two times.
A B
1. Derrick : “Apple will never give up _ 3 She said that the reason you were hired
because it’s too hard” was because you had the potential to be at
the top of your field.
2. Joel :“There is no company in the world with
such a reverence for expertise”. _ 8 He said that he loved his role in making that
happen.
3. Luciana :“The reason you are hired is
because you have the potential to be at the _ 4 He said that they were always refining
top of your field”. every little last detail until there was no more
time to refine.
4. Gary : “We are always refining every little last
detail until there’s no more time to refine”. _ 2 He said that there was no company in the
world with such a reverence for expertise.
5. Marcus : “When we decided to redesign the
batteries for portable products, the goal was _ 1 He said that Apple would never give up
simple.” because it was too hard.
6. Mkiko : “That’s how new technology is done _ 7 She said that they were curious problem
in Apple”. solvers, up for any kind of challenge.
7. John : “They are curious problem solvers, up _ 6 He said that was how new technology was
for any kind of challenge” done in Apple.
8. Grant : “I love my role in making that _ 5 He said that when they had decided to
happen.” redesign the batteries for portable products,
the goal had been simple.
REPORTED OR INDIRECT SPEECH
If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but
reported (indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech.
Indirect speech is also called reported speech because it is used by a person to report someone’s speech in
his/her own words.
RULES
Rule 1. When reporting speech, the tense usually changes. This is because when we use reported speech, we are
usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past). The
verbs, therefore, usually have to be in the past too (Backshift). If the situation is reported in the present tense,
then the tense does not change.
DIRECT SPEECH (“”) INDIRECT SPEECH
Verb to be Verb to be
am/is was
are were
Will Would
May Might
Rule 2: TIME EXPRESSIONS Words expressing nearness in time or place are generally changed into words
expressing distance.
Examples:
In reporting commands and requests, the Indirect Speech is introduced by some verb expressing command or
request, and the imperative mood is changed into the Infinitive.
“Eat the apple!” Mom said. Mom said to eat the apple.
“Don’t use your cell phones.” The The teacher demanded not to use our cell
teacher demanded. phones.
Let’s practice!
From the video you just watched; report some things the employees said using Reported Speech.
“One of the unique things about Apple is the level of cross-collaboration between different groups.”
Marcus said.
One of apple’s unique things was the level of cross-collaboration between different groups.
“You don’t know how much work goes in each Apple product” Gary said.
That I did not know much work goes in each Apple product