Roberto had a text conversation with his friend Moisés about how the pandemic has changed his life. Roberto said that his life was very different now and that there were both positives and negatives. Some negatives included having to be more organized with his time, not being able to see friends or family, and feeling worried. However, some positives were not spending money commuting to school, eating home-cooked meals, and having more time with family. When discussing online classes, Roberto said that some teachers made the classes boring while others engaged students well.

1. said vs told / think
Reporting
Information about
the Present

2. Read the next text conversation
Hi, Roberto, how is it going?
Not bad, Moisés, but my life is
very different due to the
pandemic.
Yeah, I know what you are talking
about.
Yeah, I think there are both
positive and negative things.
Well, to me most of them are
negative. :(
No really, what is not good is that
now we need to be more
systematic to organize our time.
Another thing is that we can’t
hang out with our friends or
beloved ones, and what is worst,
we are continuously worried
about our welfare.
I agree with you, but still, I can’t
think about the good things you
mentioned.
Some benefits are for example
that we don’t spend money or
time to commute to school; also,
we can eat heathy food cooked at
home, and we have plenty of time
to enjoy with our family.
Wow, that’s true! And what about
online classes?
They depend a lot on teachers;
some of them are boring and
confusing, but others are
engaging and meaningful. I hate
online classes because I don’t
interact with my classmates, I like
them as they help me to become
a more independent learner.
Now I’m more optimistic about
the contingency, thank you!
You’re welcome; I just shared
things from my personal
experience.

3. Essential ideas from the conversation
After texting with Roberto, these are some relevant ideas I recovered:
• My friend’s life is very different due to the pandemic.
• There are both positive and negative things about it.
• Negative:
• We need to be more systematic to organize our time.
• We can’t hang out with friends or beloved ones.
• We are continuously worried about our welfare.

4. Essential ideas from the conversation
• Positive:
• We don’t spend money to commute to school.
• We can eat home-made food.
• We have plenty of time to enjoy with our family.
• Concerning online classes:
• Not good:
• Some of them are boring and confusing.
• Roberto doesn’t interact with his classmates.
• Good:
• Some others are engaging and meaningful.
• They help him become a more independent student.

5. Reporting the conversation essential ideas
I had an interesting text-message conversation with my friend, Roberto
and this is an account of what we talked about. He said (that) his life was
very different due to the pandemic; he thinks (that) there were positive
and negative things about it.
For example, he told me (that) we needed to be more systematic to
organize our time; he said (that) we couldn’t hang out with our friends or
beloved ones, and the worst thing, (that) we were continuously worried
about our welfare.

6. Reporting the conversation essential ideas
But he thinks (that) some positive things were that we didn’t spend money
to commute to school, and (that) we could eat home-made food. He also
said (that) we had plenty of time to enjoy with our family.
With regards to online classes, he told me (that) some of them were boring
and confusing; however, others were engaging and meaningful. He said
(that) he hates not interacting with his classmates, but (that) he loves
becoming an independent student.

7. The reporting verbs (say, tell &
think)
Reporting information mostly occurs after certain time, so
when giving an account of what someone mentioned, it
becomes a past time; that’s why ‘say’ and ‘tell’ take their
past forms:
Kim said (that)... Leo told us (that)...
However, ‘think’ as a synonym of ‘believe’ expresses a
relatively permanent opinion, so it keeps its form; it
represents something that does not easily change.
My mom thinks (that)... My friends think that...

8. said vs told
Both options can take a direct object; this direct object is the
reported idea.
‘said’ does not take an indirect object; instead, it ‘addresses the
message’, so the preposition ‘to’ + object pronoun is necessary
although it is not a common usage, thus it can be omitted.
• Eva said to me that she was sad./ Eva said (that) she was sad.

9. said vs told
‘told’ always takes an indirect object (people)
when it is used for reporting information, so it
is preceded by an object pronoun or a subject:
• My mom told us (that) she felt sick. / Adam told them
(that) he was hungry.
• My best friend told his girlfriend (that) he wanted to go
to the movies.
• I told my dad (that) I failed my math exam.
*‘tell’ is NOT only used for reporting, but
that’s another story.

10. Omitting the
conjunction
‘that’
Only when reporting information,
omitting the conjunction ‘that’ is
acceptable; in Spanish, this omission it is
not possible.
• My sister said (that) she was at home.
• Daniel told us (that) he broke his cell phone.
• My parents think (that) we are misbehaving.
When we omit ‘that’, we sound “less
Hispanic”.

11. The present is reported in a ‘past form’
Thinks that are likely to change:
Ana: I’m thirsty. 👉🏼 Ana said she (that) was thirsty.
Pedro: I get up at 9am. 👉🏼 Pedro told me (that) he got up at 9am.
Laura: I can’t speak French. 👉🏼 Laura said she couldn’t learn French.
Sue: my aunts aren’t here. 👉🏼 Sue told me her aunts weren’t there*.

12. Be careful with facts
Thinks that are NOT likely to change, facts:
Ana: I’m Mexican. 👉🏼 Ana said she (that) is Mexican.
Pedro: I live in Actopan. 👉🏼 Pedro told me (that) he lives in Actopan.
Laura: I can play the piano. 👉🏼 Laura said she can play the piano.
Sue: My aunts aren’t nice. 👉🏼 Sue told me her aunts aren’t nice.
Present facts are reported in a ‘present form’.

13. Thanks for your attention!
Remember that practice makes perfect.