They Say That Reported Speech is Easy

They Say That Reported Speech is Easy

We often need to tell others what someone else said. There are two ways to do this. One is to say the same words and use quotation¹ marks. That is "direct speech." The other method is to summarize, or tell about what someone said. This is called "reported speech." 

Before we get into the rules for reporting speech, here are the terms we are using to explain it.    

In the sentence, "She said that she wanted a cookie," 'she' is the subject, 'said' is the reporting verb, 'that' is the conjunction and 'she wanted a cookie' is the reported speech clause².

Subject noun or pronoun	Reporting verb	Conjunction	Reported speech clause
She	said	that	she wanted a cookie.

 

Rules for reporting speech

To get this kind of sentence right, there are four things you should keep in mind:

The first rule is to choose a reporting verb and tense.

When did the speech happen? With current, repeated or recent events, the reporting verb is in the present tense. "He says he is hungry, so let's go to lunch." A habitual⁴ or repeated statement is in the present tense: "Everyone says the water is safe to drink." For reporting less immediate⁵ speech, choose the past tense. The reporting verb is often said, but it can also be told, or other verbs like ordered, stated, or reported, depending on the situation. When reporting questions, you can use verbs like asked or requested.

The second rule is to change the perspective, or point of view.

That means I becomes he, she, or they.

"Mary said 'I ate the pie."' becomes

"She said that she ate the pie."

"The boys said, 'We are coming tomorrow'" becomes

"They said they are coming tomorrow."

Next, choose whether to include "that or "if."

You can say, "He says he is at home" or "He says that he is at home." That is a conjunction here, linking the two parts of the sentence. It is optional. Another conjunction, if, is required when reporting on a question: "He asked me if I knew how to play tennis."

The fourth rule is to "backshift" the tense.

This is the trickiest⁶ part of reported speech. When the reporting verb is in the past tense, the verb in the reported clause is in the past tense, too. The verb aspect, showing whether the action is completed, matches. Here are some examples:?

"I am buying my ticket." (present continuous)

-> He said he was buying his ticket. (past continuous)

Ashley: "I have fixed⁷ my bicycle." (present perfect)

-> She said she had fixed her bicycle. (past perfect)

Reporting speech in English would be easy if these rules were all learners needed to know. But as usual, there is more to learn. Let's look at what happens with questions and modals.

Reporting on questions

When we report questions, we have to pay attention to the auxiliary⁸ verb. These are words like do, be, and have. Yes or no questions begin with an auxiliary, such as

       "Do you like pizza?"

To report that question, drop the auxiliary and add if:

       He asked me if I liked pizza.

Learners often make the mistake of leaving the auxiliary verb in the reported speech: He asked me do I like pizza.

Don't say it like that! That is a mistake.

Information questions start with a question word:

       "Where are you going?"

To report on these, simply change the pronoun and word order.

       She asked me where I was going.

Here, learners often make the mistake of keeping the same word order: She asked me where was I going.

Don't say it like that! That is a mistake.

A similar word order switch appears with the verb "be" in questions.

They asked, "When is the party?"

-> They asked me when the party was.

The question word "when" remains⁹. "Be" moves from a position before the noun to after the noun.

Reporting speech with modals

Finally, pay attention to whether the speech you are reporting uses a modal verb. Will, can, and shall change to would, could, and should when reported. Will is used to make statements about the future in English. When reporting this kind of statement, will becomes would. Compare these sentences:

Kelly said, "I will pick up the sandwiches."

-> Kelly said she would pick up the sandwiches.

Modal verbs may appear in questions, as well:

Caty asked, "Can you answer the phone while I'm out?"

-> Caty asked me if I could answer the phone while she was out.

If the modal verb is already in its past form, it does not change when reported.

George stated, "I would not do that."

-> George said he would not do that.

Test your knowledge

Let's try a few sentences. I'll say the direct speech, and you make a sentence in reported speech.

Our boss said, "You can all go home early today."

-> Our boss said we could all go home early.

Anna asked "When is your birthday?"

-> Anna asked me when my birthday was.

Adam said, "I am leaving on Tuesday."

-> Adam said he was leaving on Tuesday.

Chris said, "I will bring the cake."

-> Chris said he would bring the cake.

Reported speech in song

Reported speech sometimes shows up in popular songs. The singer Lisa Loeb begins the song "Stay" with a reported verb in the present tense to show that the action is a habit.

you say I only hear what I want to

you say I talk so all the time so

Later she reports something in the past. So the reported speech verb is in the past tense.

you said that I was naive¹⁰,

and I thought that I was strong.

I thought, "hey, I can leave, I can leave."

but now I know that I was wrong, 'cause I missed you.

Follow these simple rules and you will be reporting speech like a pro³.

She said that you would be reporting speech like a pro.

Reference                                         

ReportingVerb Tense	Direct Speech	DirectSpeechTense	Indirect Speech	ReportedSpeech Tense
Present	Adam says, "I have aheadache. I can't go."	Presentsimple	Adam says he has aheadache, so he can't go."	Present Simple(it is still true)
Past	Adam said, "I am goingto Seattle."	Presentcontinuous	Adam said he was going toSeattle.	Past continuous
Past	Ashley said, "I can cleanup."	PresentModal form	Ashley told us she couldclean up.	Past Modal form
Past	Ashley said, "I havenever been to Seattle."	PresentPerfect	Ashley said she had neverbeen to Seattle.	Past perfect

Words in This Story

aspect – grammar : the characteristic of a verb that expresses the way an action happens

auxiliary verb – n. a verb (such as have, be, may, do, shall, will, can, or must) that is used with another verb to show the verb's tense, to form a question, etc.

modal verb – n. a verb (such as can, could, shall, should, ought to, will, or would) that is usually used with another verb to express ideas such as possibility, necessity, and permission

1 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。

2 clause   

n.（正式文件或法律文件的）条款，从句，分句

参考例句：

• The sentence consists of a main clause and a subordinate clause.这句中有一个主句和一个从句。
• What clause do you require in the contract?你要求在合同中订上什么条款？

3 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

4 habitual   

adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 trickiest   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的最高级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• Many believe this is the trickiest area to navigate. 很多人认为这是最难驾驭的领域。 来自时文部分
• Establishing confidence in a new monetary system was the trickiest part. 建立对新货币体系的信心是其最棘手的部分。 来自互联网

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 auxiliary   

adj.辅助的，备用的

参考例句：

• I work in an auxiliary unit.我在一家附属单位工作。
• The hospital has an auxiliary power system in case of blackout.这家医院装有备用发电系统以防灯火管制。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。