Reported speech. Sequence of tenses

– Hello, boys and girls!

– Welcome to our grammar lesson!

– We are glad to see you.

– Yesterday morning our friend Mike was texting his best friend Kate. Let’s look through their conversation.

– Hi, Kate. How are you? I haven’t seen you since June!

– Hi, Mike. I have just come back from my holiday in Italy.

– Cool! Did you enjoy it?

– Oh, yes, I did. Italy is a beautiful country! And the Italian people were so friendly.

– Did you visit the Colosseum?

– Yes, I did. It was my first trip. I can show you some pictures. Are you doing anything tomorrow evening?

– No, I am free.

– Oh, great! In this case, see you tomorrow.

– See you!

Now compare the sentences in bold with the following sentences:

Mike said that he hadn’t seen Kate since June.

Kate explained that she had just come back from her holiday in Italy.

She also said that the Italian people had been so friendly.

Mike wondered if she had visited the Colosseum.

She said that it had been her first trip and she could show him some pictures.

Then she asked Mike if he was doing anything the next evening.

He said that he was free.

What’s the difference between the sentences on the left and the sentences on the right?

The answer is simple!

These sentences belong to direct speech. And these sentences belong to reported speech.

What’s the difference between direct and reported speech?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, we will explain everything to you in a few minutes.

So, today in the lesson we will:

● talk about direct and reported speech;

● discuss the sequence of tenses;

And

● put the knowledge into practice.

Direct speech means the words actually spoken. We use it when we want to repeat the exact words.

For example:

Kate says, “I will have a birthday party tomorrow.”

Reported (or indirect speech) is used to give the meaning of what was said. There is no need to repeat the exact words.

For instance:

Kate said she would have a birthday party the next day.

In direct speech we usually put a comma between the reporting clause and the reported clause. The words of the original speaker are enclosed in inverted commas.

For example:

Bill says, “I want to go to the zoo.”

(The quotation can stand at the end of the sentence as in our example, or we can put it at the beginning of the sentence.)

For instance:

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” she said.

In reported speech we don’t need to use inverted commas, but we can use such words as “that”, “to”, “if”, “when”, “where”, etc. In this speech it is more common for the reporting clause to come first.

When the reporting clause is first, we don’t put a comma between the reporting clause and the reported clause. When the reporting clause comes after the reported clause, we use a comma to separate the two parts.

For example:

She told me that they had left her without any money.

Nobody had gone in or out during the previous hour, he informed us.

In reported speech we can use different reporting verbs, but the most common are the verbs “say” and “tell”. Their past forms are “said” and “told”.

We usually use “said” when we don’t need to mention the person being spoken to.

For instance:

He said he was moving to New Zealand.

But if we want to mention the person, we should use “said” with the preposition “to” and the indirect object.

For example:

He said to John that he was repairing the car.

We usually use “told” when we mention the person being spoken to. That’s why we always use “told” with the indirect object.

For instance:

Sam told me he wasn’t feeling well.

There are many other reporting verbs, which we can use apart from “said” and “told”.

For example, if we want to report a question, we can use the verbs “wondered”, “asked”, “wanted to know”, etc.

For example:

He wondered when we could get it done by.

If we want to report an order, command or request, we can use the verbs “ordered”, “commanded”, “shouted”, “begged”, etc.

For instance:

Mr. Richards ordered me to close the door.

If we want to report an offer or suggestion, we can use the verbs “offered”, “suggested”, “proposed”, “recommended”, etc.

For example:

Emily offered me to carry her baby.

We can also use such reporting verbs as: agreed, refused, threatened, promised, reminded, warned, admitted, complained, explained, confessed, etc.

Now look at the following sentences:

He said, “I will telephone Julia tomorrow.”

He said that he would telephone Julia the next day.

As you can see, to transform the direct speech into the reported speech, we need to make some changes. We should change the pronouns, the time or place expressions and the tenses of the verbs.

Let’s start with the change of pronouns.

In reported speech we need to be careful with personal and possessive pronouns. They should be changed according to the situation. We need to know the context.

Look at the examples:

Bob said, “I enjoy working in my garden.”

Bob said that he enjoyed working in his garden.

Ryan said, “We played tennis for our school.”

Ryan said that they had played tennis for their school.

Pay attention! If you are the person who spoke, then the pronouns don’t change.

For instance:

We said, “We want our jobs back!”

We said that we wanted our jobs back.

Now let’s talk about the change of time and place expressions.

In reported speech time and place expressions change if the location or the period of time of the reported statement is different from that of the direct speech.

Adverbs and adverbial phrases of time and place change as follows:

For example:

Fred promised, “I will tell you tomorrow.”

Fred promised that he would tell me the next day.

Bill said, “I was upset yesterday.”

Bill said that he had been upset the day before.

Now let’s talk about the sequence of tenses.

In reported speech we need to remember about the sequence of tenses.

We don’t need to change the tense of the verb if the introductory clause is in a present tense. However, note that you might have to change the form of the present tense verb.

For example:

She says, “My dad likes roast chicken.”

She says that her dad likes roast chicken.

He says, “I write poems.”

He says that he writes poems.

We must change the tense of the verb if the introductory clause is in a past tense. In this case, the tense of the verb in the reported statement goes one step backwards.

Now look at the table, please!

Present Simple changes to Past Simple.

For instance:

He said, “She always wears a coat.”

He said that she always wore a coat.

Present Continuous changes to Past Continuous.

For example:

She said, “I am looking for my keys.”

She said that she was looking for her keys.

Present Perfect changes to Past Perfect.

For instance:

Kate said, “I have lived here for a long time.”

Kate said that she had lived there for a long time.

Past Simple changes to Past Perfect.

For example:

Mum said, “Cody ate my dinner.”

Mum said that Cody had eaten her dinner.

Past Continuous changes to Past Perfect Continuous.

For instance:

He explained, “I was working.”

He explained that he had been working.

Future Simple changes to Future Simple in the Past.

For example:

Jake said, “I will close the window.”

Jake said that he would close the window.

And so on.

We should also change the modal verbs in reported speech.

For example:

Can changes to Could.

Will changes to Would.

May changes to Might.

Must changes to Had to.

Pay attention! The modal verbs “could”, “would”, “should” and “might” do not change in reported speech.

For example:

Harry said, “She must apply for the job.”

Harry said that she had to apply for the job.

Ian said, “I should go to the park.”

Ian said that he should go to the park.

We’ve talked about direct and reported speech. Now…

Rewrite the sentences in reported speech!

1. Tom said, “Kate will arrive tonight.”

2. The girl said, “I can’t find my jacket anywhere.”

3. Jacob promised, “I will call you tomorrow.”

4. He said, “I have been playing football for two hours.”

5. Finley says, “I live in New York.”

6. The girl screamed, “I want this toy now!”

7. He told us, “Megan must leave.”

8. She said, “I am planning to do it today.”

Let’s check the right answers!

1. Tom said that Kate would arrive that night.

2. The girl said that she couldn’t find her jacket anywhere.

3. Jacob promised that he would call me the next day.

4. He said that he had been playing football for two hours.

5. Finley says that he lives in New York.

6. The girl screamed that she wanted that toy then.

7. He told us that Megan had to leave.

8. She said that she was planning to do it that day.

– Well done, guys!

– Now you know more about direct and reported speech and the sequence of tenses.

– That’s all for today. See you soon.