Reported speech: overview
Direct and Reported Speech
Sam: I’m having a shower.
If you want to tell someone else what Sam said, you have two options:
a) You can repeat his words:
- Sam said, ‘I’m having a shower.’
This is called direct speech. (We use quotation marks to indicate direct speech.)
b) You can use reported speech:
- Sam said (that) he was having a shower.
(You don’t need to include ‘that’.)
‘Say’ and ‘Tell’
We can also use ‘tell’ in direct and reported speech.
Be careful with the grammar:
We usually use ‘tell’ with a personal object:
- Sam told me, ‘I’m having a shower.’
- Sam told me (that) he was having a shower.
NOT: Sam told, ‘I’m having a shower.’
NOT: Sam told (that) he was having a shower.
We don’t usually use ‘say’ with a personal object:
NOT: He said me, ‘I’m having a shower.’
NOT: He said me (that) he was having a shower.
Changing direct speech to reported speech
Compare the examples:
- Sam said, ‘I’m having a shower.’
- Sam said (that) he was having a shower.
Apart from the punctuation, the two main differences are:
- the change of pronoun (‘I’ → ‘he’)
- the change of tense (‘Present Continuous’ → ‘Past Continuous’)
These types of changes are typical in reported speech.
Present tenses usually change to past tenses:
Present Simple → Past Simple
Present Continuous → Past Continuous
We use ‘if‘ to introduce reported yes-no questions and questions with or.
|
direct question |
indirect question |
|
Do you like dogs? |
I asked if she liked dogs. |
|
Are you leaving now or are you staying for a bit longer? |
He asked if I was leaving now or staying for a bit longer. |
| Note: However, it is not always necessary to change the tense. If the situation is still the same, you can leave verb in the present tense:
Sam: I’m having a shower. If Sam is still in the shower when you tell someone else, you could say:
|
‘Tell’ or ‘Ask’ with Infinitives
We can also use ‘tell’ or ‘ask’ with infinitives for orders or requests:
Sam’s sister: Hurry up!
- She told him to hurry up.
- She asked him to hurry up.
The structures here are:
tell + someone + to do something
ask + someone + to do something
Sam’s sister: Don’t take too long!
- She told him not to take too long.
- She asked him not to take too long.
| In the negative:
tell + someone + not + to do something ask + someone + not + to do something |