ENGLISH – Grade IX

Grammar
Reported Speech
USE
Reported speech is used to retell or report what other person has actually said. It is a very
usual function in everyday language.

STRUCTURE

 Formal aspects
We can find different ways of expressing the Direct Speech:
- John said: “It is quite hot today”.
- “It is quite hot today.” he said .
- “It is quite hot today.” said John.

All of them are reported in the same way, taking the usual word order (SVC):
- John said it was quite hot that day

 Reporting verbs
- The most usual verbs are SAY, TELL or ASK, but they only report the information
without adding any extra meaning. “Say” may be followed by the indirect
complement, always preceded by the preposition “to”. “Tell” is always followed by
the indirect complement, without preposition.
- Mary said (to her mother) she was tired / Mary told her mother she was tired.
- There are other verbs that also add the speaker‟s intention or the way, or intonation
used while speaking:
o In statements: admit, agree, answer, apologize, boast, claim, complain, declare,
deny, explain, inform, insist, offer, promise, refuse, remind.
o In questions: enquire, request, want to know, wonder.
o In orders: demand, order, shout, threaten, warn.
o In insistent requests: beg
o In other functions: advise, invite, suggest, recommend.

TYPES OF SENTENCES

 Statements
Statements are affirmative and negative sentences. When reporting this type of sentences we
have to take into consideration the changes in personal pronouns, demonstrative determiners,
verbal tenses and adverbial expressions of time and place.

Changes in pronouns: Pronouns and possessive adjectives usually change from first or
second person to third person, except when the speaker is reporting his/her own words or is
included in the conversation.
e.g.: “I‟ve forgotten the combination of my safe”, he said.
He said he had forgotten the combination of his safe.
„this‟ and „these‟ usually change into „that‟ and „those‟
Changes in verbal tenses: When the introductory verb (the main verb) is in the present
tense, the verb of the words we are reporting doesn‟t change:
e.g.: She says, “It is a lovely day.”
She says it is a lovely day.

But when the introductory verb is in the past tense, some verbal changes are required:
Direct speech Indirect speech
Present simple Past simple
Present continuous Past continuous
Present perfect (continuous) Past perfect (continuous)
Simple past Past perfect or simple past
Past continuous Past perfect continuous
Past perfect (continuous) Past perfect (continuous)
Future simple (will) Conditional (would)
Future continuous Conditional continuous
Future perfect Conditional perfect
Conditional Conditional

Changes in expressions of time and place:

Direct speech Indirect speech
Today That day
Tonight That night
Yesterday The day before/ the previous day
The day before yesterday Two days before
Tomorrow The day after / the following day
/ the next day
The day after tomorrow In two days‟ time / two days
after
Next week / month /year… The following week / month…
The week / month… after
Last week / month / year… The week / month… before
The previous week / month…
A week / month/ year ago A week / month… before
Now Then / in that moment
Tomorrow morning /afternoon / The following morning /
evening /… afternoon…
Yesterday morning/ afternoon…. The previous morning /
afternoon…
here There

e.g.: “I don‟t really like the food here. We will have lunch in the office tomorrow”, Ann
told John.
Ann told John that she didn‟t really like the food there and they would have lunch in
the office the following day.
  Questions
Yes/no questions (the ones starting with an auxiliary verb): when reporting this type, we
introduce them with IF and the subject-verb inversion and the question mark disappear.
e.g.: 1. He asked: “Is anyone here?”
He asked if anyone was there.
2. “Did you see the accident?” asked the policeman asked.
The policeman asked if he had seen the accident.

WH- questions: when we report this kind of questions, the interrogative word remains and
the subject-verb inversion and the question mark disappear.
e.g.: 1. “Where does he live?” said Mary.
Mary asked where he lived.
2. She asked me: “What do you want?”
She asked me what I wanted.

 Orders

A direct command usually has an imperative verb. When we report the command, this
imperative changes into infinitive with “to”.
e.g.: 1. He said: “Get your coat, Tom.”
He said to Tom to get his coat.

Negative imperatives (don‟t + infinitive) change to negative infinitives.

e.g.: 1. “Don‟t swim out too far, boys”, said the monitor.
The monitor told the boys not to swim out too far.

 Exclamations

Exclamations usually become statements in indirect speech. The exclamation mark also
disappears. Exclamations beginning with “What a…” or “How…”can be reported by:
“Exclaimed / said (that)…”
e.g.: 1. He said: “What a dreadful idea!” / “How dreadful!”
He exclaimed it was a dreadful idea /he exclaimed it was dreadful.

Exclamations which are only a word or the transcription of a sound can be reported by
“…gave an exclamation of delight / disgust / surprise…”
e.g.: 1. “Ugh!!”, he exclaimed.
He gave an exclamation of disgust.
2. “Good!” she said.
She gave an exclamation of satisfaction.
  Special changes

a) “shall I /we?” as requests for instructions or advice, is reported as “ASK / INQUIRE +

SHOULD”
e.g.: 1. “Shall we post it, sir?” he asked.
He asked him if they should post it

b) “Shall I / we?” as an offering is reported with “OFFER + TO INFINITIVE”

e.g.: 1. “Shall I bring you some tea?” she said.
She offered to bring me some tea.

c) “Shall we?” as a suggestion, is reported with “SUGGEST + VB-ING”. The same happens
with all the expressions to make suggestions (let‟s / how about / what about / why don.t we?)
e.g.: 1. “Shall we meet at the theatre?”
He suggested meeting at the theatre

d) Expressions to give advice are reported with “ADVICE TO INFINITIVE” or also

“SUGGEST +VB-ING”
e.g.: 1. “You should take care of your things, Tom” she said.
She advised Tom to take care of his things

e) Expressions to ask for something are reported with “ASK FOR”

e.g.: 1. “Could I have your newspaper, sir?” asked the boy.
The boy asked the man for his newspaper.

REPORTED SPEECH EXERCISE

Rewrite the following sentences into reported speech

1. “Nothing grows in my garden. It never gets any sun” she said.
2. “I‟m going away tomorrow, mother” he said.
3. “I‟ve been in London for a month but so far I haven‟t had time to visit the Tower” said
Rupert.
4. “The new underpass is being officially opened the day after tomorrow” said the BBC
announcer.
5. “I‟ll come with you as soon as I‟m ready” she replied.
6. “I have a German lesson this afternoon and I haven‟t done my homework yet” said the
small boy.
7. “Who is going to live in the big house?” asked the boy.
8. “Which team won the previous match?” said Bill
9. “I don‟t think your father likes me”, said the young wife.
10.“Don‟t say that!” exclaimed her husband, “It is nonsense.”
11.“I like walking,” said Ann, “but at the moment my only comfortable walking shoes are
being mended. What about going for a drive instead?”
12.“Jack‟s parents have asked me to supper tomorrow night,” said Ann. “What shall I
wear?”
“I should wear something warm, dear” said her mother. “It‟s a terribly cold house”.
13.“Avoid Marble Arch”, said the policeman, “there‟s going to be a big demonstration
there”.
14.“I‟m sorry I played the music so loudly” he said.
“Ok. But be sure I‟ll call the police next time if you continue with the loud music over
12.00 am” said the neighbour.
15.“Could I have that shirt, please?” she said.
“Here you are, madam. It‟s a wonderful shirt, but be careful when washing it. You
should wash it in cold water in case the colours fade” said the shop assistant.
16.“Don‟t worry, mum, I‟ll bring all the shopping into the house”, said Mary.
“Thank you, dear. How willing to help you are! What about going to the cinema later?
And I‟ll invite you to have dinner out” said her mother.