Statements

Reported statements are usually introduced with say or tell. That is optional in the reported sentence. Inverted commas are omitted in Reported Speech. “He is rich,” Ann said. – Ann said (that) he was rich.

Personal pronouns and possessive adjectives change according to context. “ I like your car,” he said to Mary. – He told Mary that he liked her car.

Tenses change as follows:

	Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Present Simple	“She works hard,” he said.	He said (that) she worked hard.
Present Cont.	“She is working hard,” he said.	He said (that) she was working hard.
Past Simple	“She worked hard,” he said.	He said (that) she had worked hard.
Past Cont.	“She was working hard,” he said.	He said (that) she had been working hard.
Future Simple	“She will work hard,” he said.	He said (that) she would work hard.
Future Cont.	“She will be working hard,” he said.	He said (that) she would be working hard.
Present Perfect	“She has worked hard,” he said.	He said (that) she had worked hard.
Present Pert. Cont.	“She has been working hard,” he said.	He said (that) she had been working hard.

Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous do not change in Reported Speech. Past Simple changes to Past Perfect or remains the same. When the reported sentence contains a time clause, the tenses of the time clause remain unchanged. “She came round to my house while I was doing my shopping,” he said. – He said (that) she had come/came round to his house while he was doing his shopping.

If the reported sentence is out of date, the tenses change, but if it is up to date, the tenses can remain the same. “She called last week,” he said. – He said (that) she had called the week before. (Speech reported after she had called – out of date) “He is seeing the dentist tonight,” she said. – She said he is seeing the dentist tonight. (Speech reported before he sees the dentist – up to date)

Tenses do not change in Reported Speech when:

The reporting verb (said, told etc) is in the Present, Future or Present Perfect. “I can’t drive,” he says. – He says (that) he can’t drive.

The speaker expresses general truths, permanent states or conditions. “ The sun rises in the East,” the teacher said. – The teacher said (that) the sun rises in the East.

The reported sentence deals with conditionals type 2/type 3, wishes or unreal past. “I wish I was flying to Brazil,” he said. – He said (that) he wished he was flying to Brazil.

The speaker is reporting something immediately after it was said (up to date). “The food is delicious,” he said. – He said (that) the food is delicious. (up to date)

Note: If the speaker expresses something which is believed to be true, the tenses may change or remain the same. “She likes seafood,” he said. – He said (that) she likes/liked seafood. However, if the speaker expresses something which is believed to be untrue, the tenses change. “India is a rich country,” he said. – He said (that) India was a rich country.

Time words can change or remain the same depending on the time reference.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
tonight, today, this week / month / year	that night, that day, that week / month / year
now	then, at that time, at once, immediately
now that	since
yesterday, last night / week / month / year	the day before, the previous night / week / month / year
tomorrow, next week / month / year	the following day / the day after, the following / next week / month / year
two days / months / years ago	two days / months / years etc before

Certain words change depending on the context: this/these – that/those, here – there, come – go, etc. “He isn’t coming to the meeting,” she said. – She said he wasn’t going to the meeting.

Exercise233. Turn the following sentences into Reported Speech.

1. “They will have arrived in Bali by now,” he said.... He said they would have arrived in ball by then... 2. “I’ve always hated the music they play at this disco,” he said. (out-of-date reporting) 3. “He’ll repair the car next Friday,” she said. (up-to-date reporting) 4. “I’ll be travelling home this time next week,” she said. (out-of-date reporting) 5. “He left last Monday,” she says. 6. “I haven’t decided what type of car I’ll buy,” he said. (up-to-date reporting) 7. “It’s time we went out,” she said. 8. “The earth is round,” he said. 9. “When they were fishing they caught a trout,” he said. 10. “Your reports are all typed up,” the secretary said. (up-to-date reporting) 11. “Dinosaurs are extinct,” the teacher said. 12. “Paris is a small city,” said Lucy. 13. “I’ve been sunbathing all afternoon,” he said. (out-of-date reporting) 14. “She looks very pretty today,” said Paul. 15. “If I were you, I’d enter the competition,” he said. 16. “If they had played well, they’d have won,” the coach said. 17. “She doesn’t seem to be enjoying herself,” he said. (up-to-date reporting) 18. “Water freezes at 0 C,” the professor said. 19. “She ought to see a doctor,” he said. 20. “Mum is making a cake now,” said Tom. (out-of-date reporting) 21. “We went to Australia two years ago,” she said. (out-of-date reporting) 22. “He can’t possibly be serious,” Tim said. (up-to-date reporting) 23. “We were watching television when we heard the news,” her father said. 24. “I am meeting Terry tomorrow,” she said. 25. “Next time you’ll have to do better than that,” my boss said.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-17