Reported Speech: statements

Reported Speech: statements

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  REPORTED SPEECH: STATEMENTS TEACHERJOSEPH Linguistic Competence Services
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  DIRECT AND INDIRECT(OR REPORTED) SPEECH There are two ways of relating what a person has said: direct and indirect. In direct speech we repeat the original speaker’s exact words: He said, “I have lost my umbrella.” Remarks thus repeated are placed between inverted commas, and a comma is placed immediately before the remark. Direct speech is found in conversations in books, in plays and in quotations. In indirect speech we give the exact meaning of a remark or a speech, without necessarily using the speaker’s exact words: He said (that) he had lost his umbrella. REPORTED SPEECH
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  CONT. There is nocomma after say in indirect speech. that can usually be omitted after say and tell + object. But it should be kept after other verbs: complain, explain, object, point out, protest etc. Indirect speech is normally used when conversation is reported verbally, though direct speech is sometimes here to give a more dramatic effect. When we turn direct speech into indirect, some changes are usually necessary.
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  PRONOUNS AND ADJECTIVES:CHANGES NECESSARY A. First and second person pronouns and possessive adjectives normally change to the third person except when the speaker is reporting his own words. (I = he, she; me = him, her; my = his, her; mine = his, hers; we = they...) She said, “he’s my son” She said that he was her son. “I’m ill”, she said. She said that she was ill.
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  CONT. B. THIS /THESE This used in time expressions usually becomes that. She said,“She’s coming this week”. She said that she was coming that week. This and that used as adjectives usually change to the. He said, “I bought this pearl/these pearls for my mother”. He said that he had bought the pearl/the pearls for his mother. This, these used as pronouns can become it, they/them. He came back with two knives and said, “I found these beside the king’s bed”. He said he had found them beside the king’s bed. He said, “We will discuss this tomorrow”. He said that they would discuss it (the matter) the next day.
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  EXPRESSIONS OF TIMEAND PLACE IN INDIRECT SPEECH
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  EXAMPLES:  I sawher the day before yesterday”, he said. He said he’d seen her two days before.  “I’ll do it tomorrow”, he promised. He promised that he would do it the next day.  She said, “My father died a year ago”. She said that her father had died a year before/the previous year.
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   B. Butif the speech is made and reported on the same day these time changes are not necessary: At breakfast this morning he said, “I’ll be very busy today”. At breakfast this morning he said that he would be very busy today.  C. here can become there but only when it is clear what place is meant: At the station he said, “I’ll be here again tomorrow”. He said that he’d be there again the next day. • Usually here has to be replaced by some phrase: She said, “You can sit here, Tom”. She told Tom that he could sit beside her.
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  STATEMENTS IN INDIRECTSPEECH: TENSE CHANGES NECESSARY A. Indirect speech can be introduced by a verb in a present tense: He says that ... This is usual when we are: • reporting a conversation that is still going on • reading a letter and reporting what it says • reading instructions and reporting them • reporting a statement that someone makes very often, e.g. Tom says that he’ll never get married.
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  CONT. When the introductoryverb is in a present, present perfect or future tense we can report the direct speech without any change of tense: Eg: PAUL (phoning from the station): I’m trying to get a taxi. ANN (to Mary, who is standing beside her): Paul says he is trying to get a taxi.
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  B. But indirectspeech is usually introduced by a verb in the past tense. verbs in the direct speech have then to be changed into a corresponding past tense. the changes are shown in the following table.
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  CONT. All those changesrepresent the distancing effect of the reported speech. Common sense, together with the time aspect from the speaker’s point of view, are more important than the rules when making the usual changes.
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  EXERCISES People made thesestatements. Report them, using said. a. “Mary works in a bank”, Jane said. b. “I’m staying with some friends”, Jim said. c. “I’ve never been to Russia”, Mike said. d. “Tom can’t use a computer”, Ella said. e. “Everybody must try to do their best”, Jill said. f. “Jane may move to a new flat”, Rachel said. g. “I’ll stay at home on Sunday”, Bill said.
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  If you talkto a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to hi in his language, that goes to his heart. Nelson Mandela