Reported Speech“He said what”!!??

Two types of speech

Direct speech (דיבור ישיר)

Indirect speech (דיבור עקיף)

Direct speech• Direct speech is used when we

quote exactly what another person has said. We repeat the speaker’s exact words.

Direct speech

• Direct speech is usually represented by quotation marks (“ “) and a comma (,) or a colon (:).

Examples of direct speech

Quotations and a colonHe said: “ I am studying about

indirect speech”.

Quotations and a comma“I am studying about indirect

speech,” said Alon.

Indirect (Reported) speech

If we report on what another person has said, we usually

do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech),

but reported (indirect) speech.

Reported Speech

• When we see that the reporting verb (said, told, answered, etc.) is in the past tense, the tense of the direct statement moves back one tense in time.

• We eliminate the quotations.

Reported speech examples

She said: “ I like chocolate ice cream.”

(direct speech – present simple)

She said that she liked chocolate ice cream.

(indirect speech – past simple)

What do you need to do?

1) Look for “past reporting verbs” (said, told, answered, etc.) – this lets you know that the tense of the sentence needs to move back.

2) Figure out which tense the sentence is written in – that will help you know which tense it shifts to….

ExampleHe said: “I am staying at home.”

1) Do we have a past reporting verb?

2) Which tense is this direct statement written in?

So which tense does it shift back to?He said that he was

staying at home.

Things to pay attention to…

When we turn a sentence from direct to indirect (reported) speech, it is important to remember to change:

1) The tense itself2) Pronouns3) Place and time expressions

Reported SpeechThere are two kinds of reported speech:

1) Reported speech with tense shift - what has been explained in the previous slides

2) Reported speech without tense shift

Reported speech without tense shift

When do we NOT shift in tense?When the reporting tense is in the present.

Example:“This chocolate is delicious,” John says.

(direct)

John says that this chocolate is delicious.(indirect)

Asking Questions

Reported Speech

Asking Questions in Reported Speech

Normal word order is used in reported questions, that is, the subject comes before the verb, and it is not necessary to use 'do' or did':

"Where does Peter live "?

She asked him where Peter lived .

(the “to do” helping verb is dropped)

Yes/No Questions

This type of question is reported by using asked + if / whether + clause:

Direct speech yes/no question (present simple):

"Do you speak English?“

The question in reported speech: He asked me if I spoke English.

More Yes/No Questions

"Is it raining?" (present continuous)She asked if it was raining.

"Did you come by train?" (past simple)He asked whether I had come by

train.

WH Questions

This type of question is reported by using 'asked' (or another

verb like 'ask') + question word + clause. The clause contains the question, in normal word

order (subject before verb) and with the needed tense change.

WH Questions

Peter said to John, "Why are you so late?"

Peter asked John why he was so late.

"When can we have dinner?" she asked. She asked when they could have

dinner.

WH Questions

"What is your name?" he asked me. He asked me what my name was.

"How old is your mother?", he asked. He asked how old her mother was.

Commands and Requests

Making requests• When we make a request, we are asking

someone to do something….

• The modals “can” and “could” are often used. Also the word “please” appears.

Do you remember what “please” even means?

RequestsWhen we report on a request we use

“asked” + the “to – infinitive” in positive

statements or “not + to – infinitive” in negative statements. Example:

“Please close the window”

He asked me to close the window.

Commands

• When we command someone to do something we are not asking them to do something, WE ARE TELLING THEM TO DO IT!

• We usually see an exclamation mark!!!!!

• No “please” or request modals (can or could)

CommandsWhen we command someone to do something, we use “told” + the “to – infinitive” in positive statements or “not

+ to – infinitive” in negative statements. Example:

“Close the window!”

He told me to close the window.