Reported Speech

Reported Speech: Indirect Speech

For example:
1. Jim said "I like beer".
2. Jim said he liked beer.

Sentence 1 is direct speech, the words in quotes (".....") are the exact words the person said. Sentence 2 is reported speech, this is how you tell somebody about a conversation after it happened.

When reporting speech the tenses of the direct speech usually change:

Said, told and asked are common reporting verbs. We use asked to report questions; I asked him what time the train left. Told is used with an object; Fred told Jill he felt tired (Jill is the object). Said is usually used without an object; Sheila said she was going to work. If we use said with an object we must include to; Ian said to Mary that he'd been to London (we usually use told).

Sometimes we include that in reported statements (NOT questions); he told me that he lived in Greenwich: that is optional; he told me he lived in Greenwich has exactly the same meaning.

We use if when reporting questions that have no question word: "Where do you live?" -> she asked me where I lived; "Have you got a car" -> he asked me if I'd got a car.

Sometimes we need to change words like here and yesterday if they have different meanings at the time and place of reporting: "How long have you worked here?" -> He asked me how long I'd worked there (if reported in a different place); "I arrived yesterday" -> He said he'd arrived the day before (if reported on a different day).

Exercise 1