Indirect speech

Reported speech
/
Indirect speech

Direct speech Indirect speech
George says: “I
want to eat.”
George says that
he wants to eat.

“I hate horor
films.” says
Sergio.
Sergio says that
he hates horror
films.

Statements
Subject + reporting verb + (that)
+ subject + verb…

 Present simple.
 Present continuous.
 Have.
 Will.
 Can.
 Must.
 May.
 Past simple.
 Past continuous.
 Had.
 Would.
 Could.
 Had to.
 Might.

 Past simple.
 Present perfect
simple.
 Past perfect simple.
 Past perfect
continuous.
 Past perfect
continuous.

 Now.
 Today.
 Tomorrow.
 This.
 These.
 Here.
 I.
 My.
 Then.
 That day.
 The next / following day.
 That.
 Those.
 There.
 He / She.
 His / Her.

 Yesterday.
 The day before yesterday.
 The day after tomorrow.
 Next week.
 Last month.
 Ten years ago.
 The day before.
 Two days before.
 Two days later.
 The following week / the week
after.
 The previous month / the month
before.
 Ten years before.

George said: “I
want to eat.”
George said that
he wanted to
eat.

“I want to be
famous,” said
Alex to her
friends.
Alex said that
she wanted to
be famous.

“I want to be
famous,” said
Alex to her
friends.
Alex told her
friends that she
wanted to be
famous.

“I enjoy the
beach,” Jenny
said.
Jenny said that
she enjoyed the
beach.

“Brad is
studying,”his
mum said.
Brad’s mum said
that he was
studying.

“You can see Big
Ben if you go to
London,” the
tour guide said.
The tour guide
said that I
could see Big
Ben if I went to
London.

“You must be 18
to drive,” the
police said.
The police said
that I had to
be 18 to drive.

“I will bring you
my CD
tomorrow,” Jane
said.
Jane said that
she would bring
me her CD the
next day.

“We have been
here before,”
he said.
He said that
they had been
there before.

“There was an
earthquake last
night,” the
reporter said.
The reporter
said that there
had been an
earthquake the
night before.

“I hate reality
TV,” said
Jenny.
Jenny said that
she hated
reality TV.

“I was really
proud of my
brother when he
won a quiz
show,” said
Clare.
Clare said that
she had been
really proud of
her brother
when he had
won a quiz show.

“These people
deserve better,”
stated the MP.
The MP stated
that those
people deserved
better.

“This café is
awful;” we can’t
eat here!” said
Paul.
Paul said that
that café was
awful and they
couldn’t eat
there.

“I moved to
Oxford six
months ago, “
said Scarlett.
Scarlett said
that she had
moved to
Oxford six
months before.

“I buy the paper
every day,” said
Jamie.
Jamie said that
he bought the
paper every
day.

“They are
studying,” Kate
told me.
Kate told me
that they were
studying.

“Daniel called me
on Saturday,”
said Mary.
Mary said that
Daniel had
called her on
Saturday.

“I’ve seen all
Almodóvar’s
films,”
announced
Helen.
Helen announced
that she had
seen all
Almodóvar’s
films.

“I’ll help you
with your
homework,” said
Ana.
Ana said that
she would help
me with my
homework.

“I can speak
Portuguese,”
declared
Richard.
Richard
declared that
he could speak
Portuguese.

“It may snow
today,” warned
the
weatherman.
The weatherman
warned that it
might snow that
day.

“I must go,” said
Betty.
Betty said that
she had to go.

Questions
 Wh-questions.
 Yes / No questions.
 Subject + reporting
verb + wh-word +
subject + verb…
 Subject + reporting
verb + whether / if
+ subject + verb…

Questions
Contamos lo que
alguien ha
preguntado sin
hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
La interrogativa
deja de serlo y
se convierte en
una oración
enunciativa (sin
inversión sujeto
verbo, sin auxiliar,
sin signo de
interrogación).

Questions
Contamos lo que
alguien ha
preguntado sin
hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
El resto de
cambios que
vimos al
principio se
mantienen (verbos,
pronombres, adjetivos,
expresiones de tiempo,
expresiones de lugar).

Questions
Las Yes / No
questions son las
que se contestan
con un sí o un
no.
 Al pasarlas a
estilo indirecto
empleamos el
verbo ask + if…

Questions
Las Wh-questions
no se pueden
contestar con un sí
o un no porque
empiezan con una
partícula
interrogativa (What,
who, where, when, why,how,
…).
 Al pasarlas a
estilo indirecto
empleamos el
verbo ask +
Wh-word…

Questions
“Are they eating
now?” I asked.
I asked if they
were eating
then.

Questions
“Is this our new
car?” asked
Rachel.
Rachel asked if
that was their
new car.

Questions
“What is the
name of the new
film?” she
asked.
She asked what
the name of the
new film was.

Questions
“Where does
Ryan live?”
Carol asked.
Carol asked
where Ryan
lived.

Questions
“Can we meet
now?” Don
asked.
Don asked if we
could meet
then.

Questions
“How often do
you listen to the
Spanish radio?”
Tim wanted to
know.
Tim wanted to
know how often
we listened to
the radio.

Questions
“How is English
changing?” she
asked.
She asked how
English was
changing.

Questions
“Why do girls
want to look like
size zero
models?” asked
the journalist.
The journalist
asked why girls
wanted to look
like size zero
models.

Questions
“Have you seen
the news?”
asked Jude.
Jude asked me if
I had seen the
news.

Questions
“How many
people will be
attending the
conference?”
asked the
organizers.
The organizers
asked how many
people would be
attending the
conference.

Questions
“Are we
obsessed with
celebrities?”
wondered the
magazine editor.
The magazine
editor wondered
whether we
were obsessed
with celebrities.

Orders, requests and
suggestions in
reported speech

Affirmative orders and requests
Subject + reporting verb +
indirect object + to + infinitive…

“Can you buy
some chocolate
when you go to
the shop?”
asked Susan.
Susan asked me
to buy some
chocolate when
I went to the
shop.

“Read the text,”
said the teacher
to the students.
The teacher told
the students to
read the text.

Negative orders and requests
indirect object + not + to +
infinitive…

Negative orders and requests
“Don’t move!” the
policeman
ordered the
criminal not to
move.
The policeman
ordered the
criminal not to
move.

Suggestions
• Subject + suggest + (not) + verb +
-ing…
• Subject + suggest + (that) + subject +
infinitive without to…
• Subject + suggest + (that) + should +
infinitive without to…

Suggestions
“Let’s not go to
France this
year,” suggested
Jack.
Jack suggested
not going to
France that
year.

Suggestions
“How about
having sushi
tonight?” said
Chloe.
Chloe suggested
that we have
sushi that night.

Suggestions
“Why don’t we
recycle more?”
said Liam.
Liam suggested
that we should
recycle more.

Reporting verbs and
structures

Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + (not)
+ to + infinitive…
agree / offer / promise / refuse / threaten

Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
He refused to leave the house.

Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb
+indirect object + (not) + to +
infinitive…
advise / ask / encourage / invite / order/
persuade / recommend / remind / tell / warn

Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The weatherman warned us to
expect a storm that night.

Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + (not)
+ verb + -ing…
apologize for / deny / recommend / suggest

Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The paparazzi apologized for
harassing the actress.

Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + (that)
+ subject + verb…
add / admit / agree / announce / claim /
complain / declare / deny / explain / insist /
mention / predict / promise / reply / reveal /
say / state / suggest

Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The man admitted that he had
stolen the money.

Reporting verbs
indirect object + (that) +
subject + verb…
persuade / remind / tell / warn

Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Max reminded me that he was
going out that night.

Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + if /
whether / wh-word + subject +
verb…
ask / enquire / question / wonder / want to
know

Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The actor wondered whether he
would win a prize at the awards
ceremony that night.

Indirect speech

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