Hi students, I'm Shayna from EspressoEnglish.net and this lesson is all about reported speech.
What is reported speech?
Reported speech is when we talk about what somebody else said.
For example, direct speech is, I've been to London three times.
And reported speech is, she said she'd been to London three times.
Hi and welcome to the EspressoEnglish podcast, where you can improve your English in just a few minutes a day.
My name is Shayna and I'm the teacher at EspressoEnglish.
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Let's get started with today's lesson.
There are a lot of tricky little details to remember with reported speech, but don't worry, I'll explain them in this video and we'll see lots of examples.
The lesson will have three parts. We'll start by looking at statements in reported speech and then we'll learn about some exceptions to the rules.
And finally, we'll cover reported questions, requests and commands.
So much of English grammar, like this topic reported speech, can be confusing, hard to understand and even harder to use correctly.
But I can help you learn grammar easily and use it confidently inside my advanced English grammar course.
In this course, I will make even the most difficult parts of English grammar clear to you.
And there are lots of opportunities for you to practice.
Click on the link under this video for more information and to sign up for the advanced English grammar course.
Okay, let's get started with reported speech.
Like I said earlier, we use it for talking about something a person said in the past.
And when we do this, we often change the verb tense backwards in time.
This can be called back shift. Let me show you some examples.
Simple present in direct speech becomes simple past in reported speech.
For example, I want to go home. That's direct.
Becomes she said she wanted to go home. That's reported speech.
Present continuous becomes past continuous. For example, I'm reading a good book. That's direct.
Becomes she said she was reading a good book.
Simple past becomes past perfect. For example, I ate pasta for dinner last night.
That's direct. Becomes she said she'd eaten pasta for dinner the night before.
That's reported speech. Present perfect also becomes past perfect.
For example, I've just finished cleaning my room.
That's direct. Becomes she said she'd just finished cleaning her room.
That's reported. Another present perfect example.
My mother has never been to Japan. That's direct.
Becomes she said her mother had never been to Japan. That's reported.
Direct speech with can and can't becomes could and couldn't in reported speech.
For example, I can meet with you next Monday. That's direct.
Becomes she said she could meet with me next Monday. That's reported.
Sorry, I can't talk now. I'm at work. That's direct.
Becomes she said she couldn't talk at the moment because she was at work.
That's reported. Will and won't in direct speech become
would and wouldn't in reported speech. For example, I'll pick him up at the airport.
That's direct. Becomes she said she'd she would
pick him up at the airport in reported speech. I won't tell anybody your secret.
Direct. Becomes she said she wouldn't tell anybody my secret.
Reported. Sentences with should don't change.
You should apologize. That's direct speech. Becomes she said I should apologize.
That's reported speech. I've got a quiz for you so you can practice changing
sentences into reported speech. Click on the link under this video to try it
and see how well you've learned so far. But now that you know some of the
reported speech rules about backshift, let's learn some exceptions.
There are two situations in which we do not need to change the verb.
No backshift is needed when the situation is still true. For example, if someone says
I have three children direct speech then we would say
he said he has three children in reported speech because the situation
continues to be true. We don't backshift have to
had we just keep it has present tense. He said he has three children.
If I tell you I live in the United States that's direct speech then you could tell
someone else she said she lives in the United
States that's reported speech. Simple present continues to be simple present
because it is still true. So when the situation is still true then we don't need
to backshift the verb. But when the situation is not still true
then we do need to backshift the verb. So imagine your friend says
I have a headache. Now if you immediately go and talk to another friend
you could say she said she has a headache because
it's still true. But if you're talking about that conversation a month after
it happened then you would say she said she had a headache
because it's no longer true. I'm sure her headache hasn't lasted an entire
month. So when the situation is still true
then we don't need to change the verb when we report the speech
but when the situation is not still true today then we must backshift the verb.
We also don't need to backshift the verb when somebody said something about the
future and the event is still in the future. Here's an example let's imagine
that today is Wednesday okay and I'm talking about a conversation that I had
on Monday so two days ago. In this conversation my friend said
I'll call you on Friday so her call which she promised is
still in the future. She said on Monday today is Wednesday and she promised to call me
on Friday so when reporting this speech I would say
she said she'll call me on Friday because Friday is still in the future from now.
It is also possible to say she said she'd call me she would call me
on Friday both of them are correct so the back shift in this case is optional.
She will call me or she said she would call me on Friday but let's look at a
different situation. Today is Wednesday I talked to my friend on Monday but she
said I'll call you on Tuesday. Now both the conversation and the
intended call are in the past nothing is in the future so now I would report
the speech by saying she said she'd call me on Tuesday she would call me on
Tuesday. Now I must back shift because the event is not
still in the future both the conversation the original statement and the
event she was talking about calling me are in the past.
Okay so quick review normally in reported speech we back shift the verb we
put it in a verb tense that's a little bit further in the past but there are
two situations in which we don't need to do this.
One is when the situation is still true and the other one is when the situation
is still in the future. In both of these cases we don't need to back shift
the verb we can simply use the same verb tense that the person originally
used in the conversation. So those were the rules for reported
statements just regular sentences what about reported speech for
questions requests and orders for requests we use
asked someone to do something. For example please make a copy of this report
that's direct speech becomes she asked me to make a copy of the report
in reported speech and for orders we use told someone to do something.
Go to the bank that's an order in direct speech
becomes he told me to go to the bank in reported speech.
So reported requests asked someone to do something
and reported orders or commands told someone to do something
and the main verb stays in the infinitive with two. She asked me to make a
copy he told me to go to the bank. For yes or no questions we use
asked if and wanted to know if in reported speech. So are you coming to the
party direct speech becomes he asked if I was coming to the party in reported
speech. Did you turn off the TV in direct speech
becomes she wanted to know if I had turned off the TV
in reported speech. The main verb changes and backshifts
according to the rules and exceptions we learned earlier.
Notice that we don't use do does or did in the reported
question. So we don't say she wanted to know did I turn off the TV.
We don't use those helping verbs in reported speech. The correct sentence is
she wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.
For other questions that are not yes or no questions we use
asked or wanted to know without the word if. So when was the company
founded direct becomes she asked when the company was
founded reported speech. What kind of car do you drive direct
becomes he wanted to know what kind of car I drive reported.
Again notice that we don't use do does or did in reported questions.
Where does he work becomes she wanted to know where he works.
Not she wanted to know where does he work. Also in questions with the verb
to be the word order changes in the reported question.
So the direct question where were you born.
We have the reported question he asked where I was born.
In the direct question the verb to be where comes before the subject where were
you born. And in the reported question the verb to be comes
after the subject. He asked where I was born.
Not he asked where was I born. I've got another quiz to help you practice
reported requests commands and questions. I'll put a link to that under this
video as well. We covered a lot of reported speech rules and exceptions today.
So I highly recommend that you do the quizzes to test yourself and make sure you
understood. If you want to take your English grammar
to the next level then my advanced English grammar course is for you.
It will help you master the details of the English language with clear
explanations of essential grammar topics and lots of practice.
I hope to see you inside. I've got one last little exercise for you
and that is to post a comment using reported speech.
Think about a conversation you've had in the past and tell me about it.
Let's see you put this into practice right away.
Thanks for watching and I'll talk to you in the next video.
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