Reported 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.

Type	Example
direct speech	“I speak English.”
reported speech (no backshift)	He says that he speaks English.
reported speech (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)

Also note that you have to:

§  transform the question into an indirect question

§  use the interrogative or if / whether

Type		Example
with interrogative	direct speech	“Why don’t you speak English?”
	reported speech	He asked me why I didn’t speak English.
without interrogative	direct speech	“Do you speak English?”
	reported speech	He asked me whether / if I spoke English.

Requests

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

§  pronouns

§  place and time expressions

Type	Example
direct speech	“Carol, speak English.“
reported speech	He told Carol to speak English.

Additional Information and Exeptions

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

§  exeptions for backshift

§  requests with must, should, ought to and let’s