We use reported speech when we are saying what other people say, think or believe.

He says he wants it. We think you are right. I believe he loves her. Yesterday you said you didn't like it but now you do! She told me he had asked her to marry him. I told you she was ill. We thought he was in Australia.

When we are reporting things in the present, future or present perfect we don't change the tense.

He thinks he loves her. I'll tell her you are coming. He has said he'll do it.

When we tell people what someone has said in the past, we generally make the tense 'more in the past'.

You look very nice. = I told him he looked very nice. He's working in Siberia now. = She told me he was working in Siberia now. Polly has bought a new car. = She said Polly had bought a new car. Jo can't come for the weekend. = She said Jo couldn't come for the weekend. Paul called and left a message. = He told me Paul had called and had left me a message. I'll give you a hand. = He said he would give me a hand.

However, when we are reporting something that was said in the past but is still true, it is not obligatory to make the tense 'more in the past'. The choice is up to the speaker. For example: "The train doesn't stop here."

He said the train doesn't stop here. He said the train didn't stop here.

"I like Sarah."

She said she likes Sarah. She said she liked Sarah.

When we are reporting what was said, we sometimes have to change other words in the sentence.

We have to change the pronoun if we are reporting what someone else said. Compare these two sentences. In each case the person actually said "I don't want to go."

I said I didn't want to go. Bill said he didn't want to go.

We have to change words referring to 'here and now' if we are reporting what was said in a different place or time. Compare these two sentences. In each case the person actually said "I'll be there at ten tomorrow."

(If it is later the same day) He said he would be there at ten tomorrow. (If it is the next day) He said he would be there at ten today.

Now compare these two sentences.

(If we are in a different place) He said he would be there tomorrow at ten. (If we are in the place he is coming to) He said he would be here at ten tomorrow.

What is Reported speech? Reported speech is speech relayed by the narrator. That is, it is indirect speech, words attributed to but not actually (directly) spoken by a character. It is a grammatical construction in which reports are made of something that was said, written, or thought (eg, She said she was going home) El estilo indirecto (REPORTED SPEECH) lo utilizamos para contar lo que una persona ha dicho pero sin citar exactamente sus palabras. Why is Reported Speech important? It is important because it is a great tool to transmit information from a third person or people. We use this all the time. Let us use an example: Suppose Juan (your friend) says this to you : ' I am going to quit my job' Now, you want to inform Alice (another friend) what Juan told you. What do we use? YES! We use reported speech. We would say: Juan told me he was going to quit his job. Why don't we just use the same tense? This is a great question. In our example used above, we could just say: Juan is going to quit his job vs Juan told me he was going to quit his job. The difference is that when you say: Juan is going to quit his job, you are responsible for that statement. In the reported speech we only say what others told us and we are not responsible for that statement. In our jobs and workplace this is very important to transmit information from the

sender to the receiver the best way possible. Is reported speech the same as indirect speech? Yes, it is. To understand indirect speech we have to know what is direct speech. Definition: Direct speech is quoted speech that is presented without modification, as it might have been uttered by the original speaker. For example: Carlos said,'I love you'. >>>> We say EXACTLY what Carlos said without changing the tenses of the verbs. We have to use quotes or quotation marks ("") in direct speech. This lesson we will focus on reported speech. Reported Speech (RULES) Statements: To use correctly the reported speech we have to learn to change the tenses correctly. You report what people said by using said (that) + clause (a sentence) or told (object pronoun)(that) + clause. You often change the of the verb in the direct statement "one tense back" in the reported statement. Time references also change. Pondremos quien dijo la frase seguido de los verbos SAY o TELL en pasado. La diferencia entre ellos es que despus de tell tenemos que decir la persona a quien se lo dijo. D.S.: Peter said, Ann, Im very ill. R.S.: Peter told Ann that he was very ill. The tense changes as follows: Present simple >>>>>>>> Past Simple Present continous >>>>>>>Past Contiuous Present Perfect>>>>>>>Past Perfect (had + past participle) Present Perfect>>>>>>Past Perfect Continous(had+been + past participle) Past Simple >>>>>>>>>>>Past Perfect Past Continuous>>>>>>>>>>>Past Perfect Future "will" >>>>>>>> Modal Verb "would" May >>>>>>>>>> Might Can >>>>>>>>>> Could Must>>>>>>>>> Had to Some Remain the same Should >>>>>>>>>Should Might>>>>>>>>>Might Cuando pasamos una oracin de estilo directo a indirecto tenemos que tener en cuenta una serie de cambios que tendremos que realizar: 1. Tiempos verbales 2. Expresiones temporales y de lugar 3. Pronombres, (utilizando la lgica)

Examples PRESENT We eat healthy food ---------She said (that) they ate healthy food PRESENT CONTINUOUS We are eating healthy--------She told him (that) they were eating healthy food food PRESENT PERFECT We have eaten healthy -------She said that they had eaten healthy food PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS We have been eating --------She told me (that) they had been eating healthy food healthy food PAST SIMPLE We ate healthy food food-----She said (that) they had eaten healthy PAST CONTINUOUS We were eating healthy -----She told me (that) they had been eating healthy food FUTURE SIMPLE We will eat healthy food food-----She said that they would eat healthy Reported Questions You report questions by using asked + clause (sentence). You usually change the tense of the verb in the reported clause into the past (THE SAME RULES OF THE REPORTED STATEMENTS) Seguimos manteniendo los cambios que mencionabamos al principio: Tiempo verbal Expresiones temporales y de lugar y Pronombres persosnles Rules

With questions words (who, what, how, why, etc) we do the following.

Example : Present Simple to Past Simple "When do you play football?" Peter asked me when I played football. Example Present Perfect to past "How many countries have you visited?" He asked me how many countries I have visited

Without question words (Yes/No questions)

We add "if" or "whether" Example: Future "will" to Modal Verb "would" "Will Maria get married?" She asked if Maria would get married. Example Present Continuous to Past Continuous "Are you watching TV?" He asked me if I was watching TV. REMEMBER: The reported question is NOT a direct question. The auxiliaries do/did is not used. "Where do you work?" She asked me where did I work (INCORRECT) She asked me where I worked (CORRECT)