reported

LBCC E-ESL Online Learning

Reported Speech

Introduction Formal Tense Shift Rules

Quizzes Links

Introduction

Many times in English we want to tell someone what someone has said. Saying exactly what someone has said is called quoted speech. For example, (The teacher said, "There will be a test tomorrow.") is an example of quoted speech. English speakers prefer to use reported speech, such as in the following sentence. The teacher told us that there would be a test tomorrow.

This lesson will show you how to change quoted speech to reported speech.

Formal Tense Shift Rules

When changing from quoted speech to reported speech, several changes occur. In all sentences, the quotation marks and the comma immediately before the first quotation mark are removed. Next, the word "that" is usually inserted after the reporting verb (say, ask, told, etc.) Then, the subject pronoun is changed so that the meaning of the quote is not changed. Lastly, the tense of the verb is changed, or shifted. A list of how the verbs are changed, or the formal tense shift rules, and examples are given below.

Simple Present....................................................>Simple Past

Rosa said, "I am happy."

Rosa said that she was happy.

*** The I became she because Rosa was talking about herself.

Present Continuous ..........................................> Past Continuous

Sheila said, "Thao is studying."

Sheila said that Thao was studying.

Present Perfect .....................................................> Past Perfect

Vin said, "Harold has left already."

Vin said that Harold had left already.

Simple Future (Will) ............................................> Past Future (Would)

Keila said, "I will be here tomorrow."

Keila said that she would be here tomorrow.

Future Continuous (Will).....................> Past Future Continuous (Would)
Emily said, "I will be visiting my family in Cambodia."
Emily said that she would be visiting her family in Cambodia.

Future Perfect ....................................................> Past Future Perfect
Sunshine said, "I will have lived in Long Beach for ten years by the year 2010."
Sunshine said that she would have lived in Long Beach for ten years by the year 2010.

Future Perfect Continuous.......................> Past Future Perfect Continuous
Patricia said, "I will have been living in Long Beach for five years by the year 2005."
Patricia said that she would have been living in Long Beach for five years by the year 2005.

Simple Future Substitute (Be Going To) .................> Past Future Substitute
Pam said, "I am going to go to the store later."
Pam said that she was going to go to the store later.

Simple Past ....................................................> Past Perfect

Cindy said, "The students had problems with the computers."

Cindy said that the students had had problems with the computers.

***The verb, to have, causes problems for many students. Simple past tense verbs become past perfect tense verbs when shifting from quoted to reported speech. "Had" is the past tense of to have. The past perfect of "had" is had had. This is probably more easily seen in another sentence.

Cindy said, "The students saw a movie."
Cindy said that the students had seen a movie.
In the above example, the past tense verb, saw, becomes the past perfect tense verb, had seen.

Past Continuous .......................................>Past Perfect Continuous
Borath said, "I was watching television."
Borath said that she had been watching television.

Past Perfect ............................................>Past Perfect (No Change)
Narin said, "I had already eaten."
Narin said that she had already eaten.

Past Perfect Continous...............>Past Perfect Continuous (No Change)
Sophanara said, "I have been cooking."
Sophanara said that she had been cooking.

Present/Future ability or possiblity (Can) ..> Past ability or possibility (Could)

Rose said, "I can work on Saturday."

Rose said that she could work on Saturday.

Present/Future Possibility (May) ......................> Past Possibility (Might)

Sina said, "I may buy a new car."

Sina said that she might buy a new car.

Present/Future Possibility (Might) .......> Past Possibility (Might, no change)

Dennis said, "I might teach ESL 844 next semester."

Dennis said that he might teach ESL 844 next semester.

Present/Future Necessity (Must, Have to, Have got to) ..>Past Necessity (Had to)

Teresa said, "You must do your homework."

Teresa told us that we had to do our homework.

David said, "You have to be ready for class."
David told us that we had to be ready for class.

Jan said, "You have got to study to pass the final."
Jan told us that we had to study to pass the final.

Present/Future Advisablity (Should, Ought to) ..........>Past Advisability (Should, Ought to)

Cindy said, "You should go see this movie."

Cindy said that we should go see this movie.

Imperative/Command ........................................> Infinitive

His father said, "Go to your room."

His father told him to go to his room.

Yes/No Questions ....................................> If Noun Clauses

Harold asked, "Would you like to take a break."

Harold asked if we would like to take a break.

Information Questions (Where, When, Why, Who, What, How, etc.) .......................> Noun Clauses headed by these interrogative words.
Loretta asked Tooran, "How long have you lived in the United States?"
Loretta asked Tooran how long she had lived in the United States.

Dora asked Anh, "Where do you live?"
Dora asked Anh where she lived.

Syva asked Sophanara, "When does the next semester start?"
Syva asked Sophanara when the next semester started.

Malinda asked Shaoxia, "Why did you come to the United States?"
Malinda asked Shaoxia why she had come to the United States.

Narin asked Emily, "What time is it?"
Narin asked Emily what time it was.

Patricia asked Sunshine, "Who is going to teach ESL 146?"
Patricia asked Sunshine who was going to teach ESL 146.