Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Reported Speech
Reported Speech
A.If the reporting verb is in the PRESENT, FUTURE or PRESENT PERFECT, all the following tenses
remain the same as in the original speaker´s verbs
“I don´t want to go.”
PRES. He says
FUT. He will probably say he doesn´t want to go.
PR.P. He has already told me
B. If the reporting verb is in the PAST or PAST PERFECT, all the following tenses are backshifted
= they go to the past
BUT!!!
Some “eternal truths” are not backshifted:
“The earth goes around the sun.”
=>Galileo proved that the earth goes (přít.čas!!!) around the sun.
In spoken English, if we report people saying things which are still true at the moment of reporting,
we don´t have to use the backshift.
“ I am only twenty.“
=> She told me the other day, that she is only twenty.
But, some speakers would prefer to use the backshift even here, however.
1st Conditional:
“When I see him, I´ll tell him.“ = He said that he would tell him when he saw him.
2ndConditional:
“If I had a screwdriver, I would repair it.” - ale nemám, takže smůla = nereálné, že by se to
dalo ještě opravit
= He explained that if he had had a screwdriver, he could have repaired it.
“If you came tomorrow, we would discuss it. = a reference to a possible future - mohlo by
se to ještě splnit, zítřek teprve bude, tak ještě může přijít, ale jisté to není
QUESTIONS
Yes / No questions are backshifted with “whether” / ‘if”:
Do you like hamburgers?
They asked me if / whether I liked hamburgers.
= There is no question word “do“ and no question mark.
Wh-questions are reported with the question word:
“What´s your name?“ - They wanted to know what my name was.
“What time is it?“ - She asked what time it was.
“Where do you live?”- They inquired where do we live.
PARAPHRASE:
“Hi, how are you.” - He greeted me.
“What a beautiful coat.” - She praised my coat.
Words like:
yes, no, question tags, exclamations, interjections...are either left out or a paraphrase is used.
REFERENCE WORDS:
All references to places or times have to be changed because the point of view has changed:
“I like it here.” She said she liked it there.
“I like this town (+object).” He said he liked the town.-ne that -nemá význam jako this chair, that chair!!
× “We are meeting them this evening.” He claimed they were meeting them that evening.
“This / That is the last time.“ - He threatened it was the last time.
“The chair is over there.” - They told where the chair was.
“May I use your phone?“ - She asked if she could use our phone.