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Direct Speech and Reported Speech (statements)

Урок 61. Английский язык 8 класс ФГОС

В этом уроке Джон рассказывает о разнице между прямой и косвенной речью, а также правилами преобразования утвердительных предложений из прямой речи в косвенную. В практической части учащиеся должны переделать иллюстрированные диалоги в косвенную речь.

Плеер: YouTube Вконтакте

Конспект урока "Direct Speech and Reported Speech (statements)"

Granny, what are you doing there?

I’m checking my post-box. The annoying computer keeps saying that I have got an e-mail.

Oh, granny…It didn’t mean this mail.

In today’s lesson you’ll learn the following:

the difference between Direct and Indirect Speech;

the rules of changing Direct Speech to Reported Speech when you report statements;

and finally, you will practice the grammar structure in the meaningful way.

Direct Speech (sometimes called quoted speech) is the exact words someone said.

Here what a person says appears within quotation marks (“...”) and should be word for word.

Computer keeps saying: “You have got an e-mail.”

Reported Speech is the exact meaning of what someone said but not the exact words.

We don’t use quotation marks in Reported Speech and it doesn't have to be word for word.

Computer keeps saying that I have got an e-mail.

To report statements, we use a reporting verb followed by a that-clause.

In spoken English you can use that or leave it out, as you prefer.

Said and told are the most common reporting verbs used in reported speech.

- We use told with an object.

E.g. Tracey told me she felt tired. (Here me is the object.)

- We usually use said without an object.

E.g. Lynne said she had lost all the money.

- If the word “said” is used with an object we must add to;

E.g. Jane said to me that she'd never been to China.

But normally we use told.

E.g. Jane told me (that) she'd never been to China.

There are many other verbs we can use apart from said and told.

These include:

accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed, apologised, boasted, complained, denied, explained, invited, offered, ordered, promised, replied, suggested etc.

Using them properly makes your speech much more interesting and informative.

For example:

He told me to keep to a diet:

He begged me to keep to a diet.

He ordered me to keep to a diet.

He advised me to keep to a diet.

When you report a statement (tell it in your own words), there are obviously some necessary changes.

Pronoun Change

Personal and possessive pronouns change according to their meaning.

Examples for WHEN and HOW to change pronouns:

She says, “I like chocolate”.	She says she likes chocolate.
They say, “You are right”.	They say I am right.
He says, “My name is George”.	He says his name is George.

Time Change

In many cases, when you report someone's speech you are almost always in a different place. So we need to change the place and time expressions accordingly.

Changes to common time words.

now	then/at the time
today	that day/yesterday
yesterday	the day before/the previous day
a week ago/last week	a week before/the previous week
last month	the month before/the previous month
next year	the following year
in three years	three years from then
tomorrow	the next/the following day
tonight	that night

Changes to demonstrative pronouns.

this	that
these	those
here	there

For example:

She said, “I work here.”	She said she worked there.
They said, “We are eating now.”	They said they were eating then.
You said, “She sings today.”	You said she sang that day.
He said, “I will come tomorrow.”	He said he would come the following day.

If you are reporting something that someone said ten minutes ago, and your location and the time are still the same, then don't change these place and time expressions.

For example:

Ten minutes ago you said,

“We have a lot of work today.”

Ten minutes ago you said

we had a lot of work today.

Tense Change

When reporting what somebody said in the past, the tenses of the verbs in the reported statement go one step backwards.

E.g.

I’m sorry. He said he was sorry.

Here is how the tense backshift works:

Direct Speech

Reported Speech

Present Simple (do/does)

He said, “I want to watch a film”

Past Simple (did)

He said (that) he wanted to watch a film.

Present Continuous (am/is/are doing)

He said, “Tom is sleeping”

Past Continuous (was/were doing)

He said (that) Tom was sleeping

Present Perfect (have/has done)

She said, “I have bought a new car”

Past Perfect (had done)

She said (that) she had bought a new car”

Past Simple (did)

Alex said, “I finished my homework”

Past Perfect (had done)

Alex said (that) he had finished his homework”

Future Simple (will do)

She said, “I will help you later”

Future in the past (would do)

She said (that) she would help me later

Certain modal verbs also take changes:

can changes to could

will changes to would

may changes to might

must changes to had to.

Could, would, should, might do not change in the Reported Speech.

E.g.

She said, “I must have a computer to learn English online.”

She said she had to have a computer to learn English online.

He said: “I can speak perfect English”.

He said he could speak perfect English.

No tense backshift

If you are reporting facts or something that is still true, you can keep the verbs in the present.

For example:

She said, “People sleep at night.”	She said (that) people sleep/slept at night.
She said, “The sky is blue”	She said (that) the sky is/was blue.

Also, if the reporting verb is in the simple present, present perfect, or future, then there is no tense backshift:

Direct speech	Reported speech
You say, “I jog daily.”	You say you jog daily.
You have said, “I jog daily.”	You have said you jog daily.
You will say, “I jog daily.”	You will say you jog daily.