Explanation of
Reported Speech
1) [ . ] Statement
[ that ] is an optional
o
Eg
: Azfar said, “ I am handsome.” -
DS
o
Azfar claimed [that] he is handsome. - IS
Change the verb used in DS.
o
Eg
: Sheda said,
“ I am smart.” -DS
o
Sheda claimed that she is smart -IS
o
The
verb of the statement can be changed but it must be in
the same tense!
Change the pronoun used in DS [pronoun of the subject]
o
Eg
: Sarah cried, “you are bad person!” -DS
o
Sarah cried that I was
bad person -IS
[ you is changed into I – it
means that I report to another party that Sarah exclaims me as a bad
person]
Change the adverb used in DS [adverb of time]
o
Eg
: Linda said, “I
am going to marry Londo today.” -DS
o
Linda said that
she was going to marry Londo yesterday –IS
o
Kyuhyun said,
“ Donghae, I will visit Paris next week.” –DS
o Kyuhyuh told Donghae
that he would visit Paris the following week – IS
o Kiki said,
“Lala, please come to my house this evening.” –DS
o Kiki invited
Lala to come to her house that evening. –IS
Change the adverb used in DS [adverb of place]
o Eg : Azman said, “Lolo, how long have you
worked here?”
o Azman asked Lolo how long she had worked
there.
NOTE!! (the above sentence is actually a
question, not a statement, but I am using it
a as an example for place)
o
Changed
of the verb usage in the “ ” mark.
o Eg : Jason said, “ it is cold.” -DS
o Jason said that it was cold. -IS
|
Note:
Rule of changing the verb: ~simple ~present –
simple past (anything in
present will change into past no matter what tense the present is [con,
pre, pre.con]
~simple
past – past perfect
~past
continuous – past prefect continuous
~past
perfect – past perfect [NO CHANGE]
~past
pre.con – past pre.con [NO CHANGE]
|
"I play football"
"I am playing football"
"I have played football"
"I played football"
"I was playing football"
"I had played football"
"I had been playing football"
"I will play football"
"I can play football"
|
Note
Modal verb also will
change. *Will = would
*Can = could *Must = Had to *Shall = should * May = Might
|
He said (that) he played football
He said (that) he was playing football
He said (that) he had played football
He said (that) he had played football
He said (that) he had been playing football
He said (that) he had played football
He said (that) he had been playing football
He said (that) he would play football
He said (that) he could play football
2) [ ! ] Imperative Statement (order/ask)
Basically, all the points have been explained
above. However, the different might be only the change of , “ into
word order,
ask, requested, offer, exclaim, warn and so on.
o
Eg : Riah said to Amin, “ Go to your room now!”
o
Riah ordered
Amin to go to his room then.
o
Kamal says,
“ I will kill you if you tell anyone my secret!”
o
Kamal warns
me that he would kill me if I told anyone about his secret.
3) [ ? ] Question
|
( Change into )
|
When transforming questions, check whether you have to
change:
o
pronouns
o
present tense verbs
(3rd person singular)
o
place and time expressions
NOTE!! – whether / if is
also optional.
o Eg : Aida asked : do you like Super Junior? -DS
o Aida asked me if/ whether I liked Super Junior. -IS
o Seyna said : Idora, why don’t you speak English? -DS
o Seyna asked Idora why she didn’t speak English. -IS
o ( there is no either if / whether )
o Donghae says to Aisy, “ where do you go last weekend?” -DS
o Donghae asks Aisy where did she go the previous weekend. -IS
o ( the question doesn’t require if / whether
)
o Sarah said, “ Semock, are you missing me?” -DS
o Sarah asked Semock whether he was missing her. -IS
o (pay attention
on the tenses used)
|
QUESTION = ASKED
Told + Object
Said + no object
Said to + object
|
EXCEPTION!! PAY
ATTENTION!!
Something
that is still true, considered as PRESENT TENSE!
o
EG: “My nick name is
Princess”, said Heecul.
o
Heecul said that his nick name is Princess
or
o
Heecul said that his nick name was Princess.
o
( 1) Is Princess – his nick name will always
be Princess.
2) Was Princess – his nick name was once
called as Princess [ he was no longer being called as Princess ]
o
EG : Mr. Aizuddin tells the
class, “ Next week’s lesson is about Digestion.”
o
Mr. Aizuddin tells the class that next
week’s lesson is about Digestion.
o
Miss Amrien said, “ LDS class will
start at 2 pm.”
o
Miss Amrien said that LDS will start at
2 pm.
(
future event doesn’t require TENSE changes)
Backshift of Simple
Past and Past Progressive is optional if they cannot be mistakenly taken for
backshift of Present Tense. So backshift is not necessary if there is a time
expression indicating past.
“She left Boston
on Monday.“
He said that
she left / had left Boston on Monday.
Simple Past and Past
Progressive do not normally
change in sentences with when / if.
“When I was having breakfast,
the telephone suddenly rang.“
She said that
when she was having breakfast, the telephone suddenly rang.
“If I had more time, I would
learn French.“
He said that if
he had more time, he would learn French.
Requests
The
basic rule for requests is: introductory clause + ‚to‘ + infinite
verb.
“Say hello to your mum.“
She asked me to say hello
to my mum.
Advise
expressions with must, should and ought are usually reported using advise / urge.
“You must read that book.“
He advised / urged
me to read that book.
The expression let’s is usually reported using suggest.
In this case, there are various possibilities for reported speech: gerund or
statement with should.
“Let’s go
to the cinema.“
He
suggested going to the cinema.
He
suggested that we should go.to the cinema.
