Reported speech 10 oxford

Reported Speech

Reported speech and direct speech

When we talk about what somebody said or thought, we can use direct speech or reported speech:

Direct speech: He said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you.’

Reported speech: He said he didn’t want to talk to me

Change the tense of the direct speech backwards in time

- present simple => I like ice cream => She said (that) she liked ice cream. (past simple)

- present continuous => I am living in London => She said (that) she was living in London. (past continues)

- past simple => I bought a car => She said (that) she had bought a car (past perfect)

- present perfect => I haven't seen Julie => She said (that) she hadn't seen Julie. (past perfect)

Change the tense of the direct speech backwards in time

- will => I will see you later => She said (that) she would see me later.

- can => I can speak perfect English => She said (that) she could speak perfect English.

- may => You may be right. => He said (that) I might be right.

Modal verb (would, could, should, might) stay the same

- I would like to go. => He said he would like to go

Multiple Choice

Which one is the reported speech?

• "I am reading a book", he explained.

• He explained that he was reading a book

Multiple Select

When we report what someone has said or written, we often change the tense of the direct speech backwards in time, such as in this example

• "I am living in London" => She said that she was living in London.

• "I am living in London" => She said that she is living in London.

Multiple Choice

What is the reported speech of this => "I always drink coffee", she said (remember : present simple => past simple)

• She said that she always drink coffee.

• She said that she always drank coffee.

Multiple Choice

What is the reported speech of => "Bill arrived on Saturday", he said. (remember : past simple => past perfect)

• He said that Bill had arrived on Saturday.

• He said that Bill have arrived on Saturday.

• He said that Bill arrived on Saturday.

Multiple Choice

What is the reported speech of this => She said, "I might bring a friend to the party."

• She said that she might bring a friend to the party.

• She said that she may bring a friend to the party.

We use normal sentence order in reported questions.

When you report a Wh- question, put the subject before the verb and don’t use the auxiliary (do / does / did)

example : "Where are you from?" => She asked me where I was from.

For Yes/No questions, use if/whether. Whether is more formal than if:

example : "Are you going to help?" => We asked them if they were going to help.

Multiple Choice

what is the reported speech of this question => Where do you live? (remember : normal order sentence)

• Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.

• Reported speech: She asked me where do I lived.

Multiple Choice

what is the reported speech of this question => Where is Julie?

• Reported speech: She asked me where was Julie.

• Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.

Multiple Choice

what is the reported speech of this question => Do you love me?

• He asked me if I love him.

• He asked me did I love him.

• He asked me if I loved him.

Multiple Choice

We often don’t change the tense when we report things which are ...

• still true

• no longer true.

Multiple Choice

Which company isn't owned by Elon Musk ?

• SpaceX (including Starlink)

• Tesla (including SolarCity)

• The Booting Company.

• OpenAI