Teaching Reported Speech

What is reported speech?

We use it to report what a person said. It doesn't have to be the exact words, but rather the general meaning. There are a few things that change when reporting what a person said - the verb tenses, the personal pronouns and the time expressions.

Examples:

Direct Speech - Carla said, “Don’t put the cooked meat next to the raw meat.”

Reported Speech – She told me not to put the cooked meat next to the raw meat.

Today – That day

• Direct speech – “I feel awful today,” Phil groaned.
• Reported speech – He told me that he felt awful that day.

Tomorrow – The next day

• Direct speech – “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Sandy said.
• Reported speech – She said she would see me the next day

Yesterday – The day before

• Direct speech – “We were here yesterday,” they said.
• Reported speech – They said that they had been here the day before.

Next week – The following week

• Direct speech – Brian said, “I can arrange the meeting next week.”
• Reported speech – He said that he could arrange the meeting the following week.

Last week – The previous week

• Direct speech – “We went shopping last week,” said the couple.
• Reported speech – They said that they had gone shopping the previous week.

This week – That week

• Direct speech – “Are you doing yoga this week?” asked Sarah.
• Reported speech – She asked whether I was doing yoga that week.

Changing the personal pronouns

When reporting what someone said you often change the subject.

Examples:

“I can’t go camping.”

John said (that) he couldn’t go camping.

Mom and Dad said, “We want tea.”

They said they wanted tea.

You can use either to report what someone said, but remember that the verb Tell needs an object.

Examples:

• She told me not to raise my voice.
• She said not to raise my voice.

• He told me to watch out.
• He said to watch out.

You can also use verbs like Answer, Mention, Explain, Reply, Think and Announce to report speech.

‘That’ can be used or omitted when reporting, e.g., She knew (that) he was getting restless.