REPORTED SPEECH

ENGLISH II
LIVE SESSION X
 REPORTED STATEMENT
When do we use reported speech? Sometimes someone says a sentence, for example "I'm going
to the cinema tonight". Later, maybe we want to tell someone else what the first person said.

Here's how it works:

We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell’. If this verb is in the present tense, we change it to
the simple past. We just put 'she said' and then the sentence with the verb in simple past.

• Direct speech: I like ice cream.

• Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.

We need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We also may need to change
words like 'my' and 'your'.
 REPORTED QUESTIONS
• Direct speech: Where do you live?
• How can we make the reported speech here?

In fact, it's not so different from reported statements. The tense changes are the same, and we
keep the question word. The very important thing though is that, once we tell the question to
someone else, it isn't a question any more. So we need to change the grammar to a normal
positive sentence.
• Direct speech: Where do you live?
• Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
• Direct speech: Where is Julie?
• Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.
• Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?
• Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.
REPORTED QUESTIONS
Direct Question
Where is the Post Office, please? What do you study?
What are you doing? / When is your birthday?
Where are you from? / where do you work? Where do you
live? / Why are you here?
Direct Question
Do you love me? / Are you married?
Do you like pets? / Does he like fast food?
Reported Question
She asked me where the Post Office was. / She asked me what
I studied.
She asked me what I was doing. / He asked me when my
birthday was. / He asked me where I was from / He asked me
where I worked / she asked him where he lived
She asked him why he was there.
Reported Question
He asked me if I loved him. / He asked her if she was married
She asked him if he liked pets. / She asked him if he liked fast
food
 REPORTED REQUESTS
• Direct speech: Close the window, please
• All of these requests mean the same thing, so we don't need to report every word when we
tell another person about it. We simply use 'ask me + to + infinitive':
• Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.
*To report a negative request, use 'not':

Direct Request Reported Request

She asked me to help her. / He asked her to close the window

Please help me. / Close the window , please!
She asked him to pass the salt / I asked her to bring me a glass of
Pass me the salt please. / Bring me a glass of water , please
water.
She asked me not to smoke. / He asked her not to eat too much
Please don't smoke. / Don´t eat too much
She asked her not to touch her things / She asked them not to
Don’t touch my things! / Don’t color my books!
color her books!
REPORTED ORDERS
• 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.

Direct Order Reported Order

He told the child to go to bed. / She told him not to

Go to bed! / Don’t run! / Put your books
run. / She told the students (them) to put the books
away!
away.
He told her not to worry. / He told her to be silent
Don't worry! / Be silent! / Clean your room!
She told him to clean the room.
He told me to be on time. / We told her to be
Be on time! / Be patient!
patient
He told us not to smoke. / He told them not to
Don't smoke! / Don’t copy!
copy!
TIME EXPRESSIONS WITH REPORTED SPEECH
now then / at that time

today yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27th of June

Thank you!!! ☺