HOW TO REPORT

1) You can report what someone says directly:

"Women are much safer because they're much more cautious",
said the inspector.

2) You can report what someone says indirectly:

The inspector felt that the sex of the driver was irrelevant.
He believes that the load you carry in your car makes a difference.

These two sentences are examples of reported statements. The reporting verb (felt, believes) is followed by the relative pronoun that and a clause.

It is important to mention here that the relative pronoun that is sometimes omitted, especially in more informal language. In general, USE this relative pronoun when you are writing and OMIT it when you are speaking.

When you change direct statements to reported statements, various changes have to be made to what is reported:

PUNCTUATION CHANGES

Inverted commas (" ") are used to mark the beginning and end of direct statements only:

DIRECT STATEMENT   ► inverted commas

"They are slower", she added.

REPORTED STATEMENT   ► no inverted commas

This report shows that a risk of death at the wheel is high.

PRONOUN CHANGES

First and second personal pronouns change to third person:

DIRECT STATEMENT   ► personal pronoun "I"

"I drive a van and they are terrible", said Ian Lewis.

REPORTED STATEMENT   ► personal pronoun "he"

lan Lewis said that he drove a van and that they were terrible.

"POINTER WORD" CHANGES

Pointer words are words referring to specific times and places, e.g. this, now, here, tomorrow, etc. The meaning of pointer words depends on when and where the speaker is speaking.

It is important to remember these 5 points:

1) If the speaker's words are reported at more or less the same time and place, and can be understood correctly, then the pointer words don't need to be changed. But when reporting pointer words at a later time, or in a different place, the changes listed will probably have to be made to make the meaning clear.

2) Idiomatic spoken expressions (Wow!, Never!, etc.) have to be expressed through the verb (e.g. He exclaimed, She denied, etc.).

3) If what is reported is still true at the time of reporting, any pointer words and verb tenses can remain unchanged, but it is probably best for students preparing for the FCE exam to ignore this feature of the language.

4) After tell you must say who is being told. An example:
She told him she would be late.

5) After explain, say and suggest, it is not necessary to mention who is being spoken to, but if you want to mention it you must use the preposition to. Some examples:
She explained to the tourists that they needed a visa.
I said to her that I was surprised at the result.
He suggested to Jim that the driver should be paid.

Notice these pointer words changes when you report a statement:

VERB TENSE CHANGES

When the reporting verb is in the past (e.g. said, added, explained), changes usually have to be made to the verb or verbs in the that clause:

lan Lewis said that he drove a van and that they were terrible.

REPORTING VERBS

Some of the common reporting verbs followed by a that clause are:

TWO POINTS TO REMEMBER

1) Past perfect verbs in direct speech remain unchanged when they are turned into reported speech.

"I had driven a van before this", said Ian Lewis.
lan Lewis said that he had driven a van before that.

2) Other modal verbs -could, might, ought to, should, would- do not normally change. Must can also remain unchanged.

"I might drive a van if I wanted to do it", said Ian Lewis.
lan Lewis said that he might drive a van if he wanted to do it.

"Young people ought to drive more carefully", said the policeman.
The policeman said that young people ought to drive more carefully.