-Direct
speech (exact words)
Rose said, “I want
to dance”
-Indirect
speech (exact meaning with different words)
Rose said that
she wanted to dance
DIRECT SPEECH
1. Tom
said, `I´m feeling ill.´
2. Tom
said, `my parents are well ´
3. Tom
said, `Ann has bought a car´
4. Tom
said, `I´m going to give up my job´
5. Tom
said, `I can´t come to the party on
Friday´
6. Tom
said,`I want to go on holiday but I
don´t know where to go.´
7. Tom
said, `I´m going away for a few days.
I´ll phone you when I get back.´
Tom said: reporting clause
Said: reporting verb
INDIRECT
SPEECH/ REPORTED SPEECH
1. Tom
said that he was feeling ill.
2. Tom
said that his parents were
well.
3. Tom
said that Ann had bought a car.
4. Tom
said that he was going to give up his
job.
5. Tom
said that he couldn´t go to the party on Friday
6. Tom
said that he wanted to go on holidays but he didn´t know where to go.
7. Tom
said that he was going away for a few days and that he would phone you when he got back.
Tendency
to avoid change if there is no change of meaning.
The garderner told me that this plant doesn´t need
much watering. (universal or timeless statements)
Rabindranah Tagore said that love does not claim
possession but gives freedom. (a source of information
is quoted)
Einstain said that there are two things which are
infinite: the universe and the human stupidity and he wasn´t sure of first one.
BACKSHIFT
(verbal changes in the subordinate clause)
Simple present past simple
Past simple past perfect (also past simple)
Present
perfect past perfect
Past perfect past
perfect
Present progressive past progressive
Past
progressive past perfect progressive (also past progr.)
Present
perfect progressive past perfect progressive
Past perfect
progressive past
perfect progressive
BACKSHIFT IN MODAL VERBS
Will> would
Can>could
May>might
Must/have to>had to
Should/ought to>don´t change
Other
changes
Pronouns and possessives:
Paul said, “I will call my brother”
Paul said that
he would call
his brother.
Demonstratives
Paul said, “I
will come this week”
Paul said that
he would come that week
Adverbs of place
Paul said, “I
found it here”
Paul said that
he found it there.
This
place> that place
Adverbs of time
Today/ tonight
> that day/ that night
This morning
> that morning
Tomorrow >
the next day
Yesterday>
the day before
Last
week> the week before, the previous
week
Next week>
the following week
The day before
yesterday>two days´ before
The day after
tomorrow> in two days´ time
STATEMENTS
-changes in
verbal tense, demonstratives, pronouns, possessives, time and place adverbials
-`that´can be
dropped after say/tell
He said he´d
rather come earlier.
QUESTIONS
He asked, “do
you know Rose?”
He
asked if I knew Rose
Changes: comma dropped,
inverted/quotation marks deleted, question mark omitted, reporting verb
`say´replaced by a verb of enquiry (ask, wonder, want to know), internal
structure (no s-v inversion, like a statement), backshift
Yes/no questions: He asked whether I wanted tea or coffee (whether: to
emphasize the choice).
“Do you remember me?,” Paul said to me.
Paul asked me
if I remembered him
Wh-questions: He asked, “where is the bookshop?”
He asked where
the bookshop was.
COMMANDS, REQUESTS, ADVICE (+ to inf
clause)
“Get out of
the car”, said the policeman
The policeman ordered him to get out
of the car.
“Could you be
quiet?”,the teacher said to me/told me
The teacher asked me to be quiet.
“You should
lose some weight”, Eve said to me
Eve advised me to lose some
weight.
“Turn on the
light,” my mother said to me.
My mother told
me to turn on the light.
SUGGESTIONS
Suggest + -ing form or
that
+ should + inf
Let´s go
home He suggested going home.
He suggested that he should
go home.
