• What is Direct Speech (D.S.)?

Unit 12 – Presentation 1

“the exact words sb said in quotation marks”

• And what is Reported or Indirect Speech (R.S.)?

Somebody’s words quoted at a later time (usu. by someone else)

To transform a D.S. sentence into an R.S. one, we make a number of changes, explained as 5 different cases for ease of reference.

1. Person/ Time & Place Reference Changes

3. (Changes in) Reported Questions

4. (Changes in) Reported Commands & Requests

2. (Changes to) Reported Statements

5. (Use of) Reporting Verbs

• When transforming a D.S. sentence into an R.S. one, the person references change perceptively (i.e., by observing the sentence and paying particular attention to the speaker outside the quotation marks).

1.a) Person Changes

When transforming a D.S. sentence into an R.S. one, the time and place references change from proximate to distant, as follows:

1.b) Time & Place Changes

1.b) Time & Place ChangesDirect Speech Reported Speechtoday, tonight, this morning/ evening/ etc

that day, that night, that morning/ etc

now then, at the time, immediatelyyesterday, last week the previous day/ week, the day/ week

beforelast month a month beforetomorrow the following day, the next day, a day

laternext week the following week, the week afterthe day after tomorrow in two days’ timeexpressions with ‘ago’ expressions with ‘before’here therecome go

RULE: ‘Backshift’ (i.e. verb tenses moving one step backwards, except for futures, which simply change ‘will’ to ‘ would’).

This rule concerns all the verbs in the sentence (sequence of tenses) but is only necessary when the introductory verb of the reported sentence is in the past tense.

2) Reported Statements

RULE: Reported questions are AFFIRMATIVE in form (i.e. S. + V.)

Backshift applies here, too, and a)for yes/ no D.S. questions, introduce the R.S. question by if/ whether, b)for wh- D.S. questions, keep the wh- word. c)Introductory Verb: asked or an expression along the same lines (e.g. he wanted to know, he enquired, etc).

3) Reported Questions

RULE: D.S. Imperative sentences change their bare infinitive to a full one while the Negative Imperative form changes ‘don’t’ to ‘not to’ in R.S.

Introductory Verbs: told, ordered.

The same rule applies to reported requests (D.S. Imperative with ‘please’) but with different introductory verbs: asked, begged.

4) Reported Commands & Requests

•Verbs that are placed at the beginning of a reported sentence to convey the ambience (function) of the direct sentence without transcribing it word for word.

•Apart from the classic cases of say (in D.S. whether followed by a person or not, and in R.S. only when not followed by a person) & tell (in R.S. only when followed by a person) there are many more of them:

5.a) Reporting Verbs

List of Commonest Reporting Verbsoffer deny ask greetinvite exclaim reply boast/ bragadvise explain urge complainsuggest inform claim remarkrecommend order demand point outaccuse promise threaten assureadmit refuse allow announceagree remind forbid insistbeg warn apologise plead

5.b) Reporting Verbs

The Subjunctive in Reported Speech

The note concerns the Past tenses, which, if used for non-fact, do not undergo backshift.

e.g. “I wish I lived closer to work,” she said.She said (that) she wished she lived closer to work.

Notes on Reported Speech 1

The Modal Verbs in Reported Speech

Those of the Modal Verbs that possess a past tense or a related phrase and are used in their primary Function (i.e. literally), do have backshift.

Those that are used in figurative Functions or do not possess a Past tense or related phrase stay the same in R.S.

Notes on Reported Speech 2

Punctuation in Reported Speech

When quoting sb’s words, use inverted commas OR quotation marks (“ ”) and place the comma, question mark or exclamation mark that concerns the direct quotation within the inverted commas when the person is at the end.

When the person is at the beginning, use a colon or a comma before the quotation and a full stop at the end, outside the inverted commas.

Notes on Reported Speech 3

Saying ‘Yes’ & ‘No’ in Reported Speech

If the D.S. sentence contains affirmative and negative answers, report them by using an appropriate auxiliary or introductory verb.

Notes on Reported Speech 4

Building Sentences Using Reported SpeechWe link sentences together rather than make new ones all the time by using reporting verbs, links, participles, relative clauses & explanations, i.e.

e.g. “How do you propose to go about it?” I asked. “I’ll play it by ear and see where it gets me,” he said.

I asked him how he proposed to go about it, to which he replied that he would play it by ear and then he would see where it got him.

Notes on Reported Speech 5