Reported Speech (Indirect Speech)

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:
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

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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