REPORTED SPEECH: QUESTIONS

WORD ORDER

Normal word order is used in reported questions, that is, the subject comes before the verb, and we don't use use 'do' or 'did':

YES / NO QUESTIONS

This type of question is reported by using 'ask' + 'if / whether' + clause:

He asked me if I spoke English.

QUESTION WORDS

This type of question is reported by using 'ask' (or another verb like 'ask') + question word + clause. 

The clause contains the question, in normal word order and with the necessary tense change.

He asked me what my name was.

REPORTED SPEECH: COMMANDS, REQUESTS AND SUGGESTIONS

When we want to report an order or request, we can use a verb like 'tell' with a to-clause: 

                                                       He told me to go away. 

The pattern is verb + indirect object + to-clause. The indirect object is the person spoken to. 

Other verbs used to report orders and requests in this way are: command, order, warn, ask, advise, invite, beg, teach, and forbid.

1. Reporting Commands

Form

• affirmative commands → to + infinitive
• negative commands → not + to + infinitive

1.1. Affirmative commands

• Direct Speech → Dad (to me): “Do your homework.”
• Reported Speech → Dad told me to do my homework.

1.2. Negative commands

• Direct Speech → Teacher (to me): “Don't talk to your friend.”
• Reported Speech → The teacher told me not to talk to my friend.

2. Suggestions

Direct Speech

• Father: “Let's watch a film.”

Reported Speech

• Father suggested watching a film.
• Father suggested that they should watch a film

Do not use the infinitive after suggest. Father suggested to watch a film.

The dentist recommended using a different toothbrush.

3. Requests

• Could you buy some eggs?
• She asked me to buy some eggs

• Don't buy any eggs please.
• She asked me not to buy any eggs.

REQUESTS FOR OBJECTS

Requests for objects are reported using the pattern "asked for" + object.

She asked for an apple.

REPORTED SPEECH: LET'S PRACTISE!

Ejercicio 1

Ejercicio 2

Ejercicio 3

Ejercicio 4

Ejercicio 5

Ejercicio 6

Ejercicio 7

Ejercicio 8 

REPORTING VERBS B2

Reported Speech and Reporting Verbs

"I want to be a doctor," said Tom.
• Tom told me (that) he wanted to be a doctor.
• Tom said (that) he wanted to be a doctor.

"Will you help me," she asked.
• She asked (me) if I would help her.
• She wondered if I would help her.

Note the difference between "say" and "tell". We say something, but we tell someone something.

Similar to 'say'	Similar to 'tell'
mention, explain, point out, agree, promise, threaten, pretend, claim, recommend, suggest, admit, deny, boast, complain, insist, propose, reply	promise, advise, warn, remind

Here are some common reporting verbs with the patterns which follow them. You should learn and remember these. 

Subject	Verb	to do	This pattern is common with verbs which mean "I'll do it!" Here, the person who is speaking does the action.
I	offered agreed refused promised threatened pretended claimed	to make a cup of tea.

Subject	Verb	Object	to do	This pattern is common with verbs which mean "You do it!". Here, the person who is listening does the action. Note that "warn" is usually used with a negative. ("I warned him not to go.")
I	told ordered asked begged advised reminded persuaded encouraged warned invited	him	to make me a cup of tea.

Subject	Verb	doing	A lot of students make mistakes with "suggest" and "recommend" so make sure you learn these.
I	admitted denied suggested recommended	eating all the cake

Finally, there are a lot of reporting verbs which use prepositions. Again, you have to remember all these patterns.

I blamed him for doing it.	I confessed to doing it.
I accused him of doing it.	I apologised for doing it.
I congratulated him on doing it.	I insisted on doing it.

REPORTING VERBS B1

Reporting verbs are used to report what someone said more accurately than using say & tell.

1. verb + infinitive
   agree, decide, offer, promise, refuse, threaten
   • They agreed to meet on Friday.
   • He refused to take his coat off.
2. verb + object + infinitive
   advise, encourage, invite, remind, warn
   • Tom advised me to go home early.
   • She reminded me to telephone my mother.
3. verb + gerund
   deny, recommend, suggest
   • They recommended taking the bus.
   • She suggested meeting a little earlier.
4. verb + object + preposition
   accuse, blame, congratulate
• He accused me of taking the money.
• They congratulated me on passing all my exams.
5. verb + preposition + gerund
   apologise, insist
   • They apologised for not coming.
   • He insisted on having dinner.
6. verb + subject + verb
   admit, agree, decide, deny, explain, insist, promise, recommend, suggest
   • Sarah decided (that) the house needed cleaning.
   • They recommended (that) we take the bus.

The following list gives you reporting verbs in various categories based on sentence structure. Note that a number of verbs can take more than one form.

verb object infinitive	verb infinitive	verb (that)	verb gerund	verb object preposition gerund	verb preposition gerund
advise encourage invite remind warn	agree decide offer promise refuse threaten	admit agree decide deny explain insist promise recommend suggest	deny recommend suggest	accuse blame congratulate	apologize insist

Examples: Jack encouraged me to look for a new job. They invited all their friends to attend the presentation. Bob warned his friend not to open the can of worms.

Examples: She offered to give him a lift to work. My brother refused to take no for an answer. Mary decided to attend university.

Examples: Tom admitted (that) he had tried to leave early. She agreed (that) we needed to reconsider our plans. The teacher insisted that he didn't give enough homework.

Examples: He denied having anything to do with her. Ken suggested studying early in the morning. Alice recommends playing golf in Bend, Oregon.

Examples: They accused the boys of cheating on the exam. She blamed her husband for missing the train. The mother congratulated her daughter on graduating from college.

Examples: He apologized for being late. She insisted on doing the washing up. Peter apologized for interrupting the meeting.

Modal verbs could, might, would, should, ought, had better, ... do not usually change in reported speech.

• Direct speech: “I should go to the dentist.”
• Reported speech: He said that he should go to the dentist.
• Direct speech: “I should have gone to the dentist.”
• Reported speech: He said that he should have gone to the dentist.

REPORTED SPEECH: QUESTIONS

¿Cómo se pasa una oración interrogativa a Reported Speech/ Estilo Indirecto?

Para introducir el estilo indirecto emplearemos el verbo ask (preguntar). Vemos ahora algunos ejemplos:


"Where does Peter study?", my sister asked me.
(Estilo Directo)
¿Dónde estudia Peter?, mi hermana me preguntó. 

My sister asked me where Peter studied.
(Estilo Indirecto)
Mi hermana me preguntó donde estudiaba Peter.


"When did you travel to Europe?", my neighbour asked me.(Estilo Directo)
¿Cuándo viajaste a Europa?, mi vecina me preguntó.


My neighbour asked me when I had travelled to Europe.(Estilo Indirecto)
Mi vecina me preguntó cuando yo había viajado a Europa.

REPORTED SPEECH/ESTILO INDIRECTO

Se emplea cuando queremos contar algo que otra persona ha dicho antes.

Este recurso recibe el nombre de Reported Speech (Estilo Indirecto) y veremos a continuación un ejemplo:

"I go to school everyday", Alice said. (Estilo Directo)
"Yo voy a la escuela todos los días", dijo Alicia.

Alice said that she went to school everyday. (Estilo Indirecto)
Alicia dijo que ella iba a la escuela todos los días.

Para poder convertir una oración de Estilo Directo a Indirecto podemos introducir la frase utilizando diferentes verbos como por ejemplo: answer (responder), suggest (sugerir), explain (explicar), say (decir), tell (contar), promise (prometer).

También debemos tener en cuenta que si la oración en Estilo Directo se encuentra en Present Simple, al pasarla a Estilo Indirecto no es necesario cambiar el tiempo verbal. En otros casos, al convertir una oración a Reported Speech el verbo principal retrocede un tiempo verbal como muestra el siguiente cuadro:

Estilo Directo	Estilo Indirecto
Present Simple I go to school every day	Presente Simple / Pasado Simple He said that he goes to school every day He said that he went to school every day
Present Continuous I am going to school	Past Continuous He said that he was going to school
Past Simple I went to school	Past Perfect He said that he had gone to school
Present Perfect I have gone to school	Past Perfect He said that he had gone to school
Present Perfect Continuous I have been going to school	Past Perfect Continuous He said that he had been going to school
Simple Future I will go to school	Condicional Simple He said that he would go to school
Future Perfect I will have gone to school	Condicional Perfecto He said that he would have gone to  school

En el caso de utilizar verbos modales los cambios a realizar son los siguientes:

Directo	Indirecto
CAN I can study the lesson	COULD He said that he could study the lesson
MAY I may study the lesson	MIGHT He said that he might study the lesson
WILL I will study the lesson	WOULD He said that he would study the lesson
MUST I must study the lesson	HAD TO He said that he had to study the lesson

Algo que debemos tener en cuenta es que cuando utilizamos algunas palabras indicadoras de lugar y de tiempo es necesario que se cambien, adecuándolas al sentido y al tiempo de la oración:

Directo	Indirecto
now	at that moment / then
today	that day
last night	the night before
tonight	that night
this afternoon	that afternoon
this month	that month
next week	the following week
here	there
tomorrow	the following day