047 : Reported speech 1 (he said that …)

   A   

Study this example situation:

 

You want to tell somebody what Paul said.
There are two ways of doing this:

 

You can repeat Paul's words (direct speech):
Paul said 'I'm feeling ill.'

 

Or you can use reported speech:
Paul said that he was feeling ill.

 

Compare:

 

 

   B   

When we use reported speech, the main verb of the sentence is usually past (Paul said that ... / I told her that ... etc.). The rest of the sentence is usually past too:

• Paul said that he was feeling ill.
• I told Lisa that I didn't have any money.

 

You can leave out that. So you can say:

• Paul said that he was feeling ill.   or   Paul said he was feeling ill.

 

 

In general, the present form in direct speech changes to the past form in reported speech:

 

     am/is → was                  do/does → did                  will → would
     are → were                    have/has → had                can → could
     want/like/know/go etc. → wanted/liked/knew/went etc.

 

 

Compare direct speech and reported speech:

 

You met Anna. Here are some of the things she said in direct speech:	Later you tell somebody what Anna said. You use reported speech:
My parents are fine.	Anna said that her parents were fine.
I'm going to learn to drive.	She said that she was going to learn to drive.
I want to buy a car.	She said that she wanted to buy a car.
John has a new job.	She said that John had a new job.
I can't come to the party on Friday.	She said that she couldn't come to the party on Friday.
I don't have much free time.	She said she didn't have much free time.
I'm going away for a few days. I'll phone you when I get back.	She said that she was going away for a few days and would phone me when she got back.

 

 

   C   

The past simple (did/saw/knew etc.) can usually stay the same in reported speech, or you can change it to the past perfect (had done / had seen / had known etc.):

• direct      : Paul said 'I woke up feeling ill, so I didn't go to work.'
  reported : Paul said (that) he woke up feeling ill, so he didn't go to work.   or
                   Paul said (that) he had woken up feeling ill, so he hadn't gone to work.

 

 

 

 

※ quotation :