E 8

YEN LAC OFFICE OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
DONG CUONG SECONDARY SCHOOL
******************



ENGLISH SEMINAR
REPORTED SPEECH
(For advanced students of grade 8)





WRITTEN BY : Phung Thi Luyen
TAUGHT BY : Tran Thi Hong Hoa
Dong Cuong : December, 2010






PART I. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT


Thanks are due to all the leaders of Yen Lac Education and Training office for giving us the precious chance to carry out this seminar, and we are also very grateful to all the teachers of English for offering us useful advice in showing our ideas. Your comments and advice would be highly appreciated.
It is a pleasure to welcome you on our carrying out the seminar.

Thank you.
PART II.THE CONTENTS OF THE SEMINAR
REPORTED SPEECH
A. Definition: Reported Speech is a report of the speaker`s ideas.
B. The ways to change from Direct Speech into Reported Speech.
When we change from Direct Speech into Indirect Speech we turn back the tense of the verbs in the Reported Speech.
When we change from Direct Speech into Reported Speech, the form of the question must be the form of the statement. If it is a YES/ NO- question, the word “IF” or “WHETHER” must be added.
When we change from Direct Speech into Reported Speech the pronouns, the possessives, the adverbs of time, the adverbs of position are changed.
C. These changes are concrete as following:
I. Changes in tenses of the verbs.




II. Changes in Pronouns and Adverbs.
D. Types of Reported Sentence.
I. Reported Statements.
When a statement is changed into Reported Speech, it is often begun with the verbs: “said, told, advised, ...”
S + said / told sb / said to sb (that) + S + V + ....
Examples:
- He said to her, “You are my friend.”
→ He said to her she was his friend.
- “I will visit the museum tomorrow,” he said.
→ He said that he would visit the museum the following day.
- “You should work harder,” the teacher said.
→ The teacher told me I should work harder.
Or The teacher advised me to work harder.
( We need to notice the changes of tenses, persons, pronouns, possessives, adverbs of time and the words of place.)‏
II. Reported Questions.

YES / NO- Questions.
In Reported Speech, these kinds of question are begun with the verbs: “asked, inquired, wanted to know, ...” and the word “IF or WHETHER” is followed.
S + asked / (sb) + if / whether + S + V + ...
Examples:
- “Do you like music?” he asked.
→ He asked me if I liked music.
- “Are you ready for new school year?” she asked her boy.
→ She asked her boy whether he was ready for new school year.
2. WH- Questions.

In Reported Speech, these kinds of question are begun with the verbs : “asked, required, wondered, wanted to know,...”
S + asked (sb) + what / where/... + S + V + ...
Examples :
- “How do you learn English?” my teacher asked me.
→ My teacher asked me how I learned English.
- “Why didn`t you go to school yesterday?” she wanted to know.
→ She wanted to know why I hadn`t gone to school the day before.
* If the Direct sentence includes a statement and a question, the change is also carried out according to its form.
Example:
- “I have left my watch at home. Can you tell me the time?” he said.
→ He said that he had left his watch at home and he asked me if I could tell him the time.


III. Reported Commands.

As a command is changed into Reported Speech, it is usually begun with the verbs: “ asked, requested, ordered, commanded, begged, told, insisted, urged, warned, ....”
S + told / asked / ... (sb) (not) to + V + ...
Examples :
- “Give me a hand,” the old man said.
→ The old man told me to give him a hand.
- “Don`t get up late any more,” my mother asked me.
→ My mother asked me not to get up late any more.
- “Please help us,” they said to us.
→ They begged us to help them.
- “Would you mind not smoking here?” he said.
→ He told me not to smoke there.
- “Can you speak more slowly?” she said.
→ She asked me to speak more slowly.
IV. Reported Exclamations.
When an exclamation is changed into Reported Speech, it is usually begun with the verb “exclaimed”.
Examples :
- “ What a lovely garden they have!” he said.
→ He exclaimed what a lovely garden they had.
- “ How hot it is!” she said.
→ She exclaimed how hot it was.
E. Special Cases
I. The tense of the verb in Reported Speech in these following cases is unchanged.
1. The Direct sentence has a point of time in the past.
Example:
- He said, “I was born in 1990”.
→ He said that he was born in 1990.
2. The Direct sentence is a conditional type 2 or 3.
Example :
- “If I were you, I wouldn`t come here,” he said.
→ He said if he were me, he wouldn`t come there.
3. The Direct sentence is “a wish- clause” or “an as if- clause”.
Example:
- “I wish I were a boy,” Mary said.
→ Mary said that she wishes she were a boy.

4. The Direct sentence has: “could, would, should, might, used to, ought to, would rather, had better, ...”
Examples:
- “You had better not contact her,” Tom said to me.
→ Tom said to me I had better not contact her.
- “My son used to cry so much,” the mother said.
→ The mother said that his son used to cry so much.
5. The Direct sentence expresses the truth or a habit.
Examples :
- My mother said, “The sun rises in the East”.
→ My mother said that the sun rises in the East.
- “Water boils at 100 degree centigrade,” my grandmother said.
→ My grandmother said water boils at 100 degree centigrade.
- “I work late every morning,” he said.
→ He said he works late every morning.
6. The verb in the main clause of the Direct sentence is in the Simple Present (say), Present Perfect (have / has said), or Simple Future (will say).
Examples:
- The farmer says, “I hope it will rain tomorrow.”
→ The farmer says that he hopes it will rain tomorrow.
- He has said , “I`m tired now.”
→ He has said that he is tired now.


II. Other cases:
1. The Past Simple can stay the same in Reported Speech, or you can change it to the Past Perfect.
Example:
- Tom said, “I woke up feeling ill, so I didn`t go to work.”
→ Tom said (that) he woke up feeling ill, so he didn`t go to work.
Or Tom said (that) he had woken up feeling ill, so he hadn`t gone to work.
2. You should pay attention to the difference of meaning of the modal verb “can” in some cases.
We study:
- “Can you open the door?” he said to me.
→ He told me to open the door.
Or He asked me if I could open the door.
- “Can you swim?” he said to me.
→ He asked me if I could swim.
NOT He told me to swim.
3. Reported Speech with gerund.
Examples:
- “It`s nice of you to give me some fruit. Thanks,” Ann said to Mary.
→ Ann thanked Mary for giving her some fruit.
- “I`m sorry, I`m late,” Tom said to the teacher.
→ Tom apologized to the teacher for being late.
- “I`ve always wanted to study abroad,” he said.
→ He`s dreaming of studying abroad.
PART III. CONCLUSION

Reported Speech is an important grammatical aspect in the English 8 or 9 but we can`t teach all problems in a period, so the teachers have to choose what to teach to the students. According to us, Reported Speech in some cases is difficult and necessary, especially for advanced students in grade 8 and students in grade 9.





Dong Cuong December, 2010.
Thank you.