WHAT IS REPORTED SPEECH?

• Reported Speech is
a way to report what
someone has said by
changing some of
the words said, but
retaining the same
meaning.
 Could you
help me?

Direct Speech
What did Alan ask us?
Alan asked us to help him.

Reported Speech / Indirected Speech

 REPORTED REQUESTS,
OFFERS….
WHEN WE REPORT OFFERS,
PROMISES, THREATS ETC ,
WE CAN USE THE
STRU C TU RE:
REPORTING VERB +
TO-INFINITIVE
 Can I
help you?

What did the

woman say to us?

She offered to help us.

reporting to-infinitive
verb
 ***NOTICE***

T H E R E P O RT I N G V E R B S
T H AT W E C A N U S E I N T H I S
S T RU C T U R E I N C L U D E :
O F F E R , P RO M I S E , AG R E E ,
REFUSE ETC.
I’ll work
harder What did Jacky say?

He promised to
work harder.
 REPORTED YES/NO
QUESTIONS
WHEN WE REPORT YES/NO
QUESTIONS, WE CAN USE
THE STRU C TU RE:

IF/WHETHER + SUBJECT +
VERB + COMPLEMENT
 Does Tom
work near
here?
What did the man ask?

He asked if / whether
Tom worked near there.
REPORTED WH QUESTIONS
W H E N W E R E P O RT W H
QUESTIONS, WE CAN USE
T H E S T RU C T U R E :

W H E N / W H AT / W H E R E …
+ SUBJECT + VERB +
COMPLEMENT
 What is
your
profession?
What did the woman ask?

She asked him what his

profession was.
 REPORTED ORDERS,
REQUESTS….
WHEN WE REPORT ORDERS,
REQUESTS, WARNINGS,
ADVICE, INVITATIONS ETC ,
WE CAN USE THE
STRUCTURE:
REPORTING VERB + OBJECT
+ TO INFINITIVE
 Can you tell
me how to
read the word,
John?

What did the girl say?

The girl asked John to tell her how to read the
word. Notice :
The change of
pronouns
reporting verb + object + to-infinitive
 ***NOTICE***
THE REPORTING VERB S
THAT WE CAN USE IN THIS
STRUCTURE INCLUDE:

TELL, ASK, ORDER, WARN,

REMIND, ADVISE, INVITE
ETC .
 Amy, I think you
should do your
homework.

What did mother say to

Amy?

Mother advised Amy to

do her homework.
R E P O R T I N G N E G AT I V E
ORDERS, PROMISES,
ADVICES…..
I N N E G AT I V E O R D E R S ,
P RO M I S E S , R E Q U E S T S , E T C ,
W E U S E T H E S T RU C T U R E :

NOT + TO-INFINITIVE
 Don’t eat too
much sweet.

What did the

dentist ask Joe?

The dentist asked Joe not to eat too much

sweet.
not + to-infinitive
 CHANGES OF PRONOUNS
• In reported speech, we usually need to change the
pronouns (e.g. I, you, me, this, these, etc) and
possessive adjectives (e.g. my, your, etc).
• We usually change the pronouns from :
1st person (I, me) 3rd person
2nd person (you, your) (we, us)
• However we do not need to change the
1st person pronoun I when the speaker is
reporting
his/her own words.
 Please be
careful when
What did the woman you pass me
say to the man? the box.

She asked him to

be careful when
he passes her the
box.
 RELEVANT WEBSITE

HTTP://WWW.EDUNET.C
OM/ENGLISH/GRAMMAR/
REP5.CFM