Reported Speech

• Foreign language
• Special Education

Reported Speech

Intermediate 2, Unit 6 - True Stories, p.58

"You're obsessed with work."

"My girlfriend said that I was obsessed with work".

Josh

Josh's girlfriend

Who said it first?

Josh

Josh's girlfriend

"You're obsessed with work."

"My girlfriend said that I was obsessed with work".

Josh

Josh's girlfriend

Who was 'reporting' it?

Josh

Josh's girlfriend

Reported Speech

Reported speech is when you say what someone else has said.

"My girlfriend said that I was obsessed with work".

"I don't want to see you anymore."

"She said she didn't want to see me anymore".

Josh

Josh's girlfriend

Who is using reported speech?

Josh

Josh's girlfriend

In the next part we'll read some paragraphs from Exercise 2.

Read and find the reported speech sentence in the paragraph and copy it into the box.

Write the reported sentence.

"I don't want to see you anymore."

Write the reported sentence.

"I came in with a comet and I expect to go out with it."

Write the reported sentence.

"I'm hiring another worker to help you."

Write the reported sentence.

"I've just had a dream about you."

Verb tenses in reported speech

Verb tenses are very important when making sentences with the reported speech.

Review how you report speech with different verb tenses.

Present simple

Direct: I don't want to see you anymore.

Reported: She said that she didn't want to see me anymore.

What two things are different in the reported sentence?

She said that

Present tense verb

Past tense verb

V3 (past participle)

Direct: I like chocolate.

Reported: She said she _______ chocolate.

1. likes
2. liked

Present continuous

Direct: I'm hiring another worker to help you.

Reported: The manager told me he was hiring another worker to help us.

What two things are different in the reported sentence?

The manager told me

is / are / am + verb-ing

Past tense verb

was / were verb-ing

Direct: He's leaving at 6pm.

Reported: She said he ________ at 6pm.

1. was leaving
2. is leaving

Present perfect

Direct: I've just had a dream about you.

Reported: He told me he'd just had a dream about me.

What two things are different in the reported sentence?

He told me

had + V3

have / has + V3

past simple verb

Direct: I've studied Japanese for 2 years.

Reported: She said she _______ Japanese for 2 years.

1. was studying
2. had studied

Past simple

Direct: I came in with a comet.

Reported: Twain said that he had come in with a comet.

What two things are different in the reported sentence?

Twain said that

past tense verb

have / has + V3

had + V3

Direct: I went to the cinema last week.

Reported: He said that he _______ to the cinema last week.

1. had gone
2. went

Summary of reported tenses

Now let's practice.

Read the incorrect sentences and write them correctly.

Write the sentence correctly.

"He told that he was coming to the party."

Write the sentence correctly.

"He said me that he was going to be late."

Choose the correct verb for the reported sentences.

Tom: I practiced eight hours every day.

Tom said he _______ eight hours every day.

1. have practiced
2. had practiced

Sandra: The world is flat.

Sandra said that the world _______ flat.

1. has been
2. was

My dad: You can be anything you want to be!

My dad told me I _______ anything I _______ to be.

1. could be / wanted
2. can be / wanted

Silvia: Stephen's doing very well at Maths.

Silvia said that Stephen _______ really well at Maths.

1. is doing
2. was doing

My mum: It'll rain overnight

My mum said that it _______ overnight.

1. would rain
2. will rain

Well done!

Now go back to Google Classroom and click 'Mark as done'.