Reported speech; reporting verbs

Reported speech; reporting verbs

When do we use it?

When do we use it?

We use it when we want to report what other person said or told us.

Anna: I won't go out tomorrow

Anna told me she would not go out tomorrow

Changes

We usually change the tenses, pronouns, possessives, and references to time and place.

Anna: I won't go out tomorrow

Anna told me she would not go out tomorrow

Open Ended

Can you provide your own example?

How do we report the verbs?

We usually change the tenses the following:

Present tenses - Past tenses

Past tenses - Past perfect tenses

Will, Can, and May - Would, Could, and Might

Past Perfect, Could, Would, and Might don't normally change.

Open Ended

Can you report this?:

Anna: I want a divorce

Open Ended

Can you report this?:

Anna: I had a bad headache yesterday night.

Open Ended

Can you report this?:

Anna: I may finish the entire cake if you don't have some

Open Ended

Can you report this?:

Anna: I have never been some ashamed in my life

Present Tense

When the reporting verb is in present tense we don't usually change the tenses:

I've never seen them in live concert

She says she's never seen them in live concert

Open Ended

Can you report this?:

Anna: I have never heard she had a baby

Reporting Questions

When we report questions the order is the same as in the sentence. We use 'Whether' or 'if' to report yes/no questions.

Where do you live? - They asked me where I lived

Are you famous? - They weren't sure whether/if I was famous

Open Ended

Imagine they asked you this question:

• Are you rich?

Can you report the question they asked you?

Open Ended

Imagined if they asked you this question:

Where do you study?

Can you report the question that they asked you?

Reporting verbs

There are some verbs that have different patters when reported

Verb + (that) + clause

The stated that he would finish his homework

(agree, believe, complain, discover, find out, insist, promise, realize, say, state...)

Open Ended

Can you provide an example of reported speech with the following pattern?:

Verb + (that) + clause

(agree, believe, complain, discover, find out, insist, promise, realize, say, state...)

Verb + sb + (that) + clause

We informed them that the cake was ready

(inform, tell, warn, assume, ...)

Open Ended

Can you provide an example of reported speech with the the following pattern?

Verb + sb + (that) + clause

(inform, tell, warn, assume, ...)

Verb + to + infinitive

He refused to speak without a lawyer present

(agree, promise, refuse, ...)

Open Ended

Can you provide an example of reported speech with the following pattern?

Verb + to + infinitive

(agree, promise, refuse, ...)

Verb + sb + to + infinitive

She ordered me to leave the house

(ask, order, tell, remind, ...)

Open Ended

Can you provide an example of reported speech with the following pattern?

Verb + sb + to + infinitive

(ask, order, tell, remind, ...)

Verb + gerund

He admitted taking the money

(admit, apologize for, deny, regret, suggest, ...)

Open Ended

Can you provide an example of reported speech with the following pattern?

Verb + gerund

(admit, apologize for, deny, regret, suggest, ...)

Verb + (sb) + reported question

I wonder where they were

(ask, discover, know, realize, wonder, ...)

Open Ended

Can you provide an example of reported speech with the following pattern?

Verb + (sb) + reported question

(ask, discover, know, realize, wonder, ...)

Last Tip

With negatives use:

not to + infinitive or

bot + gerund

We agreed not to go.

He apologized for not stopping at the red light.

Open Ended

Can you provide an example for negative use?

Use the structures 'not to + infinitive' or 'not + gerund'

The End