Page 2 - REPORTED SPEECH

REPORTED SPEECH

Reported Speech

There are two ways of telling somebody what someone

else has said:

You can repeat his words- (direct speech)
or

1

You can use reported speech

Observe the examples: (Tom is feeling ill)

D.S: Tom said “I’m feeling ill”;

R.S: Tom said that he was feeling ill.

When we use reported speech, the main verb of the

sentence is usually past
(Tom said that/ I told her that… ).

The rest of the sentence is usually past too:

Tom said (that) he was feeling ill. I told her (that) I

didn’t have any money

There is a backshift of tenses when using reported

speech, even though it is not always necessary. If you

report something and it is still true, you do not need to
change the verb:

D.S. Tom said “New York is livelier than London”

R.S Tom said (that) New York is livelier than London.
(New York is still livelier. The situation hasn’t changed).