UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación Programa: Licenciatura en Inglés como Lengua Extranjera Curso: Intermediate English I Campo de formación: Componente profesional. Tipo de curso: Teórico - Práctico. Créditos: Tres (3). Diseñador del recurso: Clara Esperanza Bilbao Cortés Reported Speech (Indirect Speech) If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but reported (indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech. The structure is a little different depending on whether you want to transform a statement, question or request. Statements When transforming statements, check whether you have to change: pronouns present tense verbs (3rd person singular) place and time expressions tenses (backshift) Type direct speech reported speech reported speech Example “I speak English.” (no backshift) He says that he speaks English. (backshift) He said that he spoke English. Questions When transforming questions, check whether you have to change: pronouns present tense verbs (3rd person singular) place and time expressions tenses (backshift) UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación Programa: Licenciatura en Inglés como Lengua Extranjera Curso: Intermediate English I Campo de formación: Componente profesional. Tipo de curso: Teórico - Práctico. Créditos: Tres (3). Diseñador del recurso: Clara Esperanza Bilbao Cortés Also note that you have to: transform the question into an indirect question use the interrogative or if / whether Type with interrogative reported speech without interrogative reported speech Example direct speech “Why don’t you speak English?” He asked me why I didn’t speak English. direct speech “Do you speak English?” He asked me whether / if I spoke English Requests When transforming questions, check whether you have to change: pronouns place and time expressions Type direct speech reported speech Example “Carol, speak English.“ He told Carol to speak English. Additional Information and Exceptions Apart from the above mentioned basic rules, there are further aspects that you should keep in mind, for example: main clauses connected with and / but tense of the introductory clause reported speech for difficult tenses exceptions for backshift References: http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech