Unit 47 · Reported speech

Reported speech 1 (he said that ...)

Study

You saw Paul yesterday and you want to tell somebody what he said. There are two ways of doing this:

You can repeat Paul's words (direct speech):

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Paul said, 'I'm feeling ill.'

Or you can use reported speech:

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Paul said that he was feeling ill.

Compare:

direct	Paul said, 'I	am	feeling ill.'
reported	Paul said that	he	was	feeling ill.

In writing we use these quotation marks to show direct speech.

When we use reported speech, the main verb of the sentence is usually past (Paul said that ... / I told her that ... etc.). The rest of the sentence is usually past too:

›

Paul said that he was feeling ill.

›

I told Lisa that I didn't have any money.

You can leave out that. So you can say:

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Paul said that he was feeling ill.

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or Paul said he was feeling ill.

In general, the present in direct speech changes to the past in reported speech:

am/is → was	do/does → did	will → would
are → were	have/has → had	can → could
want/like/know/go etc. → wanted/liked/knew/went etc.

Exercises (2)

0/2 exercises checked

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47.1

You talked to some friends of yours (Paul, Tom, Anna etc.). Read what they said on the left (direct speech). Later (the same day) you tell another friend what they said (reported speech). Complete the sentences.

1
you: Are you going to work today, Paul? paul: No, I'm feeling ill.
Paul didn't go to work today. He said he feeling ill.example
2
you: Shall we walk to the station? tom: No, it's too far. Let's get a taxi.
I wanted to walk to the station, but Tom said far.
3
you: Have you been invited to the party? anna: Yes, but I don't want to go.
Anna has been invited to the party but she told me to go.
4
you: When are you going away, Dan? dan: I'll let you know next week.
I asked Dan about his travel plans. He said next week.
5
you: Do you ever see Rachel these days? ben: I haven't seen her for a while.
I asked Ben about Rachel, but he told me for a while.
6
you: Where can I borrow a guitar? kate: You can borrow mine.
I needed to borrow a guitar and Kate said .
7
you: How's your job, Sue? sue: I'm not enjoying it very much.
I asked Sue about her job. She said very much.
8
you: Do you still have your car? james: No, I sold it a few months ago.
I asked James about his car. He told me a few months ago.
9
you: What's the name of the cafe we went to? sarah: I don't know.
I asked Sarah the name of the cafe we went to but she said .
10
you: How many students are there in your class, Amy? amy: Twenty.
I asked Amy about her school and she told me class.

47.2

Somebody says something to you which is not what you expected. Use your own ideas to complete your answers.

1
a: It's quite a long way from the hotel to the city centre.
b: Is it? The man on the reception desk said it was only five minutes' walk.example
2
a: Sue is coming to the party tonight.
b: Is she? I saw her a few days ago and she said she .
3
a: Sarah gets on fine with Paul.
b: Does she? Last week you said each other.
4
a: Joe knows lots of people.
b: That's not what he told me. He said anyone.
5
a: Jane will be here next week.
b: Oh, really? When I spoke to her, she said away.
6
a: I'm going out tonight.
b: Are you? I thought you said at home.
7
a: I speak French quite well.
b: Do you? But earlier you said any other languages.
8
a: I haven't seen Ben recently.
b: That's strange. He told me last weekend.

am/is → was	do/does → did	will → would
are → were	have/has → had	can → could
want/like/know/go etc. → wanted/liked/knew/went etc.