11.

1 Reported speech

1 We can talk about what somebody else says by using say or tell. We need an
indirect object with tell but not with say. We can use that after reporting verbs.

I’ve never been

1 She told me that she had never been here before.
here before.

John, we were 2 They saidthey had been freezing cold last night!
freezing cold
last night!

© Oxford University Press

 11.1 Reported speech

1 We generally use the past form of reporting verbs, e.g. said/told, and change what
was said one tense back into the past. For example: present to past, present
perfect/past simple to past perfect, and will/can/must to would/could/had to.

Maria, I love you! 1 He said that he loved her.

We’ve seen this film before. 2 They said they’d seen the film before.
We saw it last week They told me they’d seen it last week.

I won’t be late. I can catch 3 She said she wouldn’t be late and that
the earlier train. she could catch the earlier train.

© Oxford University Press

 11.1 Reported speech

1 We report questions using verbs such as ask, want to know, wonder.

1 He asked me what I was doing on Sunday.

What are you doing on Sunday?
He wanted to know what I was doing on Sunday.

2 He wanted to know where I had got married.

Where did you get married?
He wondered where I had got married.

2 We change the verb tenses in the same way as for reported statements, and we
generally use an indirect object after ask. Note that reported questions are indirect
questions, and that the word order is the same as normal statement word order.

3 We use if/whether to report yes/no questions.

Do you have a spare pen? She asked me whether/if I had a spare pen.
© Oxford University Press
 11.1 Reported speech

1 Sometimes we need to change time references in reported speech.

John saw
the doctor David: I don’t know,
John: Hi David, I Anna: Hi David, but on Tuesday he said
saw the doctor have you seen John? he had seen the
yesterday. Is he better? doctor the day before.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

yesterday the day before/the previous day

tomorrow the next day/the following day
next week the week after
© Oxford University Press
© Oxford University Press
© Oxford University Press
 11.1 Reported speech
1 Correct any mistakes you find in the reported speech.
I’ve worked here for 20 years,
since the company started.
You two can come back
tomorrow if you want.
Anne, what do you want?
Do you know where they went?
Which picture are you
looking at?
1 He told he had worked there since the company started.
He told us/He said he had worked there since the
company had started.
2 She said us we could come back tomorrow if we want.
 She told us/She said we could come back the
next/following day if we wanted.
3 He asked her what she wanted.

4 He asked me did I knew where they went.
 He asked me if/whether I knew where they had gone.
5 She asked me which picture was I looking at.
She asked me which picture I was looking at.
© Oxford University Press