{"id":626,"date":"2012-01-13T11:26:22","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T11:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/?p=626"},"modified":"2021-07-20T19:52:36","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T00:52:36","slug":"reported-speech-part-1-statements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/reported-speech-part-1-statements\/","title":{"rendered":"Reported Speech (Part 1) – Statements"},"content":{"rendered":"

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What is reported speech?<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Reported speech” is when we talk about what somebody else said – for example:<\/p>\n

Direct Speech:<\/strong> “I’ve been to London three times.”<\/p>\n

Reported Speech:<\/strong> She said she’d been to London three times.<\/p>\n

We often use “reported speech” when talking about a conversation that happened in the past. There are some changes to the verbs with reported speech; read the table to find out how each verb tense changes:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
DIRECT SPEECH<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nREPORTED SPEECH<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nEXAMPLE<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Simple present<\/strong><\/td>\nSimple past<\/strong><\/td>\n\u201cI want<\/strong> to go home.\u201d
\nShe said she wanted<\/strong> to go home.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Present continuous<\/strong><\/td>\nPast continuous<\/strong><\/td>\n\u201cI\u2019m reading<\/strong> a good book.\u201d
\nShe said she was reading<\/strong> a good book.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Simple past<\/strong><\/td>\nPast perfect<\/strong><\/td>\n\u201cI ate<\/strong> pasta for dinner last night.\u201d
\nShe said she\u2019d eaten <\/strong>pasta for dinner last night.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Present perfect<\/strong><\/td>\nPast perfect<\/strong><\/td>\n\u201cI\u2019ve<\/strong> just finished<\/strong> cleaning my room.\u201d
\nShe said she\u2019d<\/strong> just finished\u00a0<\/strong>cleaning her room.\u201cMy mother has<\/strong> never been<\/strong> to Japan.\u201d
\nShe said her mother had<\/strong> never been<\/strong> to Japan.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Can \/ can\u2019t<\/strong><\/td>\nCould \/ couldn\u2019t<\/strong><\/td>\n\u201cI can <\/strong>meet with you next Monday.\u201d
\nShe said she could\u00a0<\/strong>meet with me next Monday.\u201cSorry, I can\u2019t<\/strong> talk now. I\u2019m at work.\u201d
\nShe said she couldn\u2019t<\/strong> talk at the moment because she was at work.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Will \/ won\u2019t<\/strong><\/td>\nWould \/ wouldn\u2019t<\/strong><\/td>\n\u201cI\u2019ll <\/strong>pick him up at the airport.\u201d
\nShe said she\u2019d <\/strong>pick him up at the airport.\u201cI won\u2019t<\/strong> tell anybody your secret.\u201d
\nShe said she wouldn\u2019t<\/strong> tell anybody my secret.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Be careful: “said” and “told” have a small difference.<\/p>\n

After “told,” we need to include a person:<\/p>\n