1. Reported speech
February 25th March 4th
Direct speech
I’m going home • She said, “I’m going home”.
Reported speech
• She said (that) she was going home.

2. Reported Speech
is the grammar we use when we want to tell another
person about a conversation that took place in the past.
We often use reported speech to . . .
1. Give someone a telephone message:
Example: Ellen said she couldn’t come today because…
•2. Tell someone news that we heard from
someone else:
•Example: Tom told me that he and Karen got engaged!
•3. To report something that happened:
•Example: Sam said that the other driver wasn’t
paying attention and hit his car.

3. Reported speech /2
Posibles cambios:
• Tiempos verbales.
He said, “I love you”
He said (that) he loved me.
• Orden de las palabras
Mum says, “Why aren’t you at school?”
Mum wants to know why you aren’t at school.
• Pronombres (Ver ejemplo en tiempos verbales)
• Otras palabras (time expressions)
Peter said, “I’m seeing the doctor tomorrow”.
Peter said (that) he was seeing the doctor the following
day.

4. am / is •become •was
•are •becomes •were
•have / has •become •had
•can / can’t •become
•could
couldn’t
•will / won’t •become
•would
wouldn’t

5. Reported speech /3
Cambios en los tiempos verbales:
Direct speech Reported speech
• Simple Present Tense Simple Past Tense
‘I like peaches’. He said he liked peaches.
• Present continuous Tense Past continuous Tense
‘Is it raining?’ He asked if it was raining.
• Simple Past Tense Past Perfect Tense
‘I didn’t recognize you’. She explained that she
hadn’t recognized me.
• Present Perfect Tense Past Perfect Tense
“she hasn’t recognized me” She explained that she
hadn´t recognized me.
.

6. Reported speech /4
Cambios en los tiempos verbales (continuación)
Direct speech Reported speech
•shall / will should / would
‘We’ll be late.’ I told him we’d be late.
• can, may could, might
‘I can swim.’ She thought she could swim.
• must must or had to
‘I must go.’ He said he must / had to go.

7. Reported speech /5
Reporting questions
Two kinds of questions
1. Yes / No questions
‘Are you leaving?’ he said.
aux s v
He wanted to know if / whether I was leaving.
s aux v

8. Reported speech /6
2. Wh-questions
‘Where is the President staying?’ the reporter said.
Wh-word aux s v
The reporter asked where the President was staying.
Wh-word s aux v

9. Reported speech /7
Otras palabras (TIME EXPRESSIONS
• here there
•now then, at the time
•today that day
• yesterday the day before / the previous day
• tomorrow the next / following day
• this week that week
• last week the week before, the previous week
• an hour ago an hour before / earlier

10. Reported speech /8
Say or tell
Tell + el oyente
Daniel told me (that) he was ready.
Say no se menciona el oyente
Daniel said (that) he was ready.
Ask, want to know, wonder
‘What’s the problem?’ he said.
He wanted to know / asked (me) / wondered what the problem was.

11. Reported speech typically
uses the following
structure:
Someone said (that) … Sentence, past
OR
Someone told me (that) … Sentence,past
However, in English, you can NEVER say
•Someone said me . . .

12. ‘Andrew is working,’ Jessica said.
Jessica said (that) Andrew was working.
‘I’ve fixed the shelves,’ John told Susan.
John told Susan (that) he had fixed the shelves.
‘My money had run out,’ said Daniel.
Daniel said his money had run out.
‘You can sit over here,’ the steward said.
The steward said we could sit over there.
‘When did you start acting, Melissa?’ Guy said.
Guy asked Melissa when she had started acting.
‘Has the taxi arrived yet?’ someone asked.
Someone asked if / whether the taxi had arrived yet.

13. Examples for practice:
1. Shawn said:
“I don’t feel like going to the movies today.”
Reported speech:
Shawn said that he didn’t feel like going to the movies
that day.
2. Tina said:
“My sister is coming to visit me soon.”
Reported speech:
Tina told me that her sister was coming to visit her
soon.

14. . . . And more examples:
3. The counselor said:
“I’ll always be available for your students.”
Reported speech:
The counselor said that she would always be available for
my students.
4. The students said:
“We want to do oral presentations in class so we can
practice speaking more.
Reported speech:
The students told me that they wanted
to do oral presentations so they could practice
speaking more.

15. Do you understand reported
speech better NOW than you
did BEFORE?
BEFORE
•Congratulations!
Keep practicing!!!
And please . . . ask
if you need assistance!