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DISEÑADO EN |
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60 |
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LECCIONES |
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Reported
Speech - Part 2/3 |
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This
is Reported Speech, Second Part.
Let's see what happens to Auxiliary Verbs; learn about special
verbs you can use to improve your reporting; additional changes in
time-clauses, and more... |
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The
Past Perfect tenses, the Conditional tenses and the Past of
Intention cannot be made more past, so these
tenses do not change:
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Past
Perfect Simple
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DIRECT SPEECH: He said, "I had gone to bed
very early".
REPORTED SPEECH: He said he had gone to bed very early.
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Conditional
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DIRECT SPEECH: They said, "We would like to
visit Venice".
REPORTED SPEECH: They said they would like to visit
Venice.
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Past
of Intention
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DIRECT SPEECH: She said, "I was going to
win".
REPORTED SPEECH: She said she was going to win.
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OTHER
AUXILIARY VERBS
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Some auxiliary verbs have a past tense, and in these
cases they go "one tense back" in reported speech.
Remember that they can also be replaced by their similars with able
to (in the case of "can") or have to (in
the case of "must"):
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DIRECT
SPEECH |
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REPORTED
SPEECH |
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can |
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could |
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may |
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might |
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must |
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must
/ had to |
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However, other auxiliary verbs (could, would,
should, might, ought to, used to and
mustn't) have no past form and so they do not change.
Some examples:
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could
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DIRECT SPEECH: He said, "I could fly
because the weather was fine".
REPORTED SPEECH: He said he could fly because the weather
was fine.
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ought
to
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DIRECT SPEECH: They said, "We ought to pay
him a better salary".
REPORTED SPEECH: They said they ought to pay him a better
salary.
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used
to
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DIRECT SPEECH: She said, "I used to live in
London".
REPORTED SPEECH: She told me she used to live in London.
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OMISSION OF "THAT"
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It is possible to omit the relative pronoun that
after the reporting verb (he said that...; he told that...). In
general, USE this relative pronoun when you are writing and
OMIT it when you are speaking.
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SAY
/ SAID vs. TELL / TOLD
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In general:
1.
Use SAY when the person spoken to is not
mentioned in the sentence: e.g. I said I was angry.
2. Use TELL when the person spoken to is given:
e.g. I told him I was angry.
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VERBS USED IN REPORTED STATEMENTS
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SAY and TELL are the most common verbs used in indirect
or reported statements. But other common verbs used in the
reporting clause include: agree, mention, notice,
promise and think. You can also use complain
(criticise), confide (admit confess), deny
(contradict, refuse), grumble (complain, moan), speculate
(conjecture), and warn (alert, caution). PLEASE notice
that we DO NOT NORMALLY OMIT the relative that after
these more formal verbs.
e.g. They agreed that we should visit them on
Monday.
e.g. He promised that he would come next day.
e.g. The murderer denied that he had killed the old man.
A number of verbs in reported speech have to have an indirect
object (like tell). These include: assure, convince,
inform, notify, persuade, reassure
(comfort) and remind (make someone remember something):
e.g. I assured them that I wouldn't arrive late. You
cannot say: "I assured that I wouldn't arrive
late").
e.g. She convinced me that I could travel to Spain.
e.g. They notified us that we were fired.
Certain verbs (admit, deny, mention and report)
CAN BE FOLLOWED by a that-clause or by an -ing clause:
e.g. He denied that he had taken the money =
He denied taking the money
e.g. She mentioned that she had seen Jim =
She mentioned seeing Jim.
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SOME ADDITIONAL CHANGES
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Certain words which are specific to the context in
which direct speech happens, also NEED TO BE CHANGED. The general rule is:
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DIRECT
SPEECH |
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REPORTED
SPEECH |
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this |
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that or
the |
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these |
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those or
the |
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here |
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there |
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now |
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then |
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ago |
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before |
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today |
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that
day |
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this
morning |
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that
morning |
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last
week |
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the
previous week |
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last
month |
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the
previous month |
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last
year |
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the
previous year |
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next
week |
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the
following week |
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next
month |
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the
following month |
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next
year |
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the
following year |
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yesterday |
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the
day before |
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tomorrow |
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the
next day or
the following day |
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the
day before yesterday |
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two
days before |
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the
day after tomorrow |
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in
two days time or
two days later |
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However, in reality it may be necessary to be more
specific:
THIS
THE BOOK HE WAS HOLDING IN HIS HAND
e.g. He asked, "Who does this belong to?".
He asked who the book in his hand belonged to. (We don't
say: "that book"; it is not very specific).
HERE
IN THE SITTING ROOM
e.g. She said, "My father was here".
She said that her father had been in the sitting room.
(We don't say: "there"; it is not very
specific).
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