Reported Speech

REPORTED
SPEECH
(Statements and Questions)
Long
July 2009
‘Reported speech’ is when we say or write what another person said.
Tenses usually change:



PRESENT PAST
WILL WOULD
PRESENT PERFECT
PAST SIMPLE
PAST
PERFECT
Modal verbs:
some change:
can → could
may → might
must → had to
some stay the same:
could,
might,
should
Attention!:
must → had to
mustn’t → mustn’t
MORE EXAMPLES
“ We moved house last year.”
>> They said that they had moved the house the year before.

“Did you see Jack?”
>> She asked whether
I had seen Jack.
“What`s your address?”
>> He asked us what our address was.

“We can’t come”
>> They said they could not come.

“I have finished”
>> He said that he had finished.

“Are you staying here?”
>> She asked me if I was staying there.

COMMANDS: