Definition: Reported Speech (also called Indirect Speech) is used to communicate what someone else said, think or believe, but without using the exact words. A few changes are necessary; often a pronoun has to be changed and the verb is usually moved back a tense, where possible.
For example:
- He said that he was going to come.
* The person's exact words were "I'm going to come".
For example:
- Direct speech:
- "I'm going to the cinema", he said. - Reported speech:
- He said he was going to the cinema. - Direct speech:
- "I'm going to come", he said. - Reported speech:
- He said that he was going to come. - Direct speech:
- She said, "I saw him." - Reported speech:
- She said that she had seen him.
When reporting questions, it is especially important to pay attention to sentence order. When reporting yes/ no questions connect the reported question using "if". When reporting questions using question words (why, where, when, etc.) use the question word.
- She asked, "Do you want to come with me?"
=> She asked me if I wanted to come with her. - Dave asked, "Where did you go last weekend?"
=> Dave asked me where I had gone the previous weekend. - He asked, "Why are you studying English?"
=> She asked me why I was studying English.
The following chart includes sentences changed from direct speech to reported speech using a past form. Note Simple past, present perfect, and past perfect all change to past perfect in the reported form.
Direct speech | Reported speech |
---|---|
He said, "I live in Paris." | He said he lived in Paris. |
He said, "I am cooking dinner." | He said he was cooking dinner. |
He said, "I have visted London twice." | He said he had visited London twice. |
He said, "I went to New York last week." | He said he had gone to New York the week before. |
He said, "I had already eaten." | He said he had already eaten. |
He said, "I am going to find a new job." | He said he was going to find a new job. |
He said, "I will give Jack a call." | He said he would give Jack a call. |
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