Reported Speech

REPORTED SPEECH (Indirect Speech)

By Fuji Nursyamsiah

“I finished my assessment”

She said she had finished her assessment

“….”

Function of Reported Speech Reported speech is used when we are saying what other people say, think or believe.

Parts of Reporting Speech Quotation Mark

She said, “I finished my assessment.” Reporting Verb

Report

Pronoun

Rule of Reported Speech

• When we report something that someone has said to you, tense usually change. We generally make the tense 'more in the past'.

But, when the reporting verb is present, present perfect, or future, there is no change of tense in the reported statement: She says, 'I haven't done my homework.' ( direct speech) She says she hasn't done her homework. (Indirect speech)

Also, when we are reporting something that was said in the past but is still true, it is not obligatory to make the tense 'more in the past'. The choice is up to the speaker. For example: "The train doesn't stop here." He said the train doesn't stop here. He said the train didn't stop here. "I like Sarah." She said she likes Sarah. She said she liked Sarah.

•We have to change the pronoun if we are reporting what someone else said. Compare these two sentences. In each case the person actually said "I don't want to go." Bill said, “I said I didn't want to go.” Bill said he didn't want to go.

•If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the time of reporting.

Reporting questions Two kinds of questions 1. Yes / No questions ‘Are you leaving?’ he said. aux s v He wanted to know if / whether I was leaving. s

aux v

2. Wh-questions ‘Where is the President staying?’ the reporter said. Wh-word aux

s

v

The reporter asked where the President was staying. Wh-word

s

aux v

REPORTED COMMAND If you put a command into Reported speech there are some steps which are the same like in statement.