Reported Speech

WHAT DID I SAY?

direct speech

- the speaker's exact words

- with "quotation marks".

- very common in stories, novels, newspaper ...

She said, " My name is Joan."

Reported Speech

- do not use ther person's exact words,

- do not use quotation marks.

- need to change : the pronouns ( I, me, you ...), possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her ...)

She said, "My name is Joan."

She said her name was Joan.

He said, " I don't want to do tHT!"

He said that he didn't want to do that.

Backshifting of Tenses

Shaun said he was from Canada.

I ate pancakes for breakfast

He said he had eaten pancakes for breakfast

"I have never seen an alien."

She said that she had never seen an alien.

"It will probably rain this weekend."

You said that it would probably rain this weekend.

I can play the drums.

I said that I could play the drums.

"I hadn't fallen asleep yet"

She said that she hadn't fallen asleep yet.

I should call her back.

I said I should call her back.

would

could

must

might

não muda

Reported Speech : Say or Tell

#19 Reporting People's Words & Thoughts

Juan asked, "Where is my taxi?"

Juan asked where his taxi was.

Daniel hollered, "I've tried a new vegan restaurant, mmm, tempe"

Daniel hollered that he had tried a new vegan restaurant.

Hailey mentioned. " I think we should definitely wear fun hats daily.

Hailey mentioned that we should definitely wear fun hats daily.

Mat asked, "Do you need some slaps?"

Mat asked if/wether I needed some slaps

Sarah stated, " I simply must have a piece of cake!"

Ken muttered, " I don't know whether to kill them or not."

Luca shouted, "You're too fat fly a helicopter."

Luca shouted that I was too fat to fly a helicopter.

Claire says, "German beers are the best!"

Claire says that German beers are the best. (Não coloque assim em textos formais)

Claire said that Gernam beers were the best.

Why do we use Reported Speech ? To report what peopla say.

Why is Reported Speech often in the Past ? Because we often reported past speech

What should we always use after "tell" e "ask" ? object (me, him, her, them ...)

ways commons:

tell + object 

ask + object 

say + (that) *o prof ken diz que vc pode falar says to me, ou seja com objeto, porém não é comum.

Your motther said, "You were a perfect angel when you were young.

Your mother said that you had been a perfect angel when you were young.

Your mother said that you had been a perfect angel when i WAS young.

DIRECT SPEECH - REPORTED SPEECH

SAY - SAID

CAN - COULD

BE, ARE, IS  - WAS. WERE

HAVE WATCHED - HAD WATCHED

WILL - WOULD

WOULD - WOULD

WAS/WERE - HAD BEEN 

HAD WATCHED - HAD WATCHED

Can we ever use Reported Speech in the Present or Future ? 

Yes

My father says that I need to get a haircut and a real job. informal

My father said that I needed to get a haircut and a real job. formal

When I get home, my mother will tell me to come home earlier.

My mom said that I should get a job.

My father said that I ought to get a haircut.

My brother said that I might want to run now.

must

The student bragged that he didn't have to do homework this week.

The teacher explained that he wouldn't pass his class.

verbs followed by either "THAT" or an infinitive 

consider

agree

announce

answer

argue

boast 

claim

comment

complain

confirm

consider

deny

explain

fear

feel

insist

mention

observe

persuade

propose

remark

remember

repeat

reveal

state

suggest

suppose

think

understand

warn

add

admit

agree

doubt

estimate

reply

report

repeat

#19 Reporting People's Words & Thoughts