Can you use REPORTED SPEECH? Grammar Lesson + Examples

Summary

Emma from mmmEnglish presents a comprehensive lesson on reported speech, a crucial tool for storytelling and confirming information in English. She outlines the concept, explaining the difference between direct and indirect speech, and provides a step-by-step guide to mastering reported speech. The lesson covers adding reporting verbs, adjusting pronouns, modifying time and place words, and tense backshifting. Emma also offers a free workbook for practice and includes tips on reporting questions and exceptions to tense backshifting. The video aims to enhance learners' English fluency and accuracy through practical examples and exercises.

Takeaways

• 📚 Reported speech is used to convey what others have said or what we have said in the past, also known as indirect speech.
• 🗣️ Direct speech requires the use of quotation marks to indicate the exact words spoken, whereas reported speech involves changes in verb tense and pronouns.
• 📝 To report speech, four steps are followed: adding a reporting verb, changing pronouns, adjusting time and place words, and backshifting the tense.
• 🔑 Common reporting verbs include 'say' and 'tell', with 'tell' being transitive and requiring an object, unlike 'say'.
• 🕰️ Time and place words must be altered in reported speech to reflect the passage of time, such as changing 'next week' to 'the following week'.
• 🔄 Tense backshifting is a key aspect of reported speech, where the present simple becomes past simple and present continuous becomes past continuous.
• 🚫 Exceptions to tense backshifting occur when the information reported is current, ongoing, or very recent, maintaining the original tense.
• 🤔 Reported speech is not only for statements but also for questions, which are structured differently with a reporting clause and statement word order.
• 📈 Additional structures exist for reporting advice, instructions, requests, and promises, often using infinitives with verbs like 'advise' and 'instruct'.
• 📘 A workbook is provided to assist learners with explanations, tips, and practice questions to master reported speech.
• 💬 The script encourages practice and provides an interactive way to engage with the material, such as reporting a statement made during the lesson.

Q & A

What is the main topic of today's English lesson?

The main topic of today's lesson is reported speech, which is used to convey what someone else has said or what we ourselves have said in the past.

What is the difference between direct speech and reported speech?

Direct speech involves quoting the exact words someone said using quotation marks, while reported speech, also known as indirect speech, requires changes in verb tense and pronouns to indicate that the speech is being recounted after the fact.

What are the four steps to follow when reporting someone else's speech?

The four steps are: 1) Add a reporting verb, 2) Change the pronouns, 3) Change the time and place words, and 4) Backshift the tense.

Can you provide an example of a reporting verb and how it's used in reported speech?

A common reporting verb is 'say'. For example, in reported speech, 'She said that she had woken up late that morning.'

How do pronouns change when shifting from direct speech to reported speech?

Pronouns change to reflect the person who is speaking. For instance, 'my' becomes 'his' or 'her', and 'we' becomes 'they'.

Why do we need to change time and place words in reported speech?

Changing time and place words helps to create a sense of distance or time passed since the original speech occurred. For example, 'next week' becomes 'the following week'.

What does 'backshift the tense' mean in the context of reported speech?

'Backshift the tense' means to shift the verb tense back by one degree, for example, changing the present simple to the past simple.

Are there any exceptions to the rule of backshifting the tense in reported speech?

Yes, we do not backshift the tense when the information being reported is current, ongoing, or has happened very recently.

How can reported speech be used to convey questions?

Reported speech can convey questions by using a reporting clause with a question word and maintaining the statement word order, such as 'He asked where we were going on holiday.'

What additional structures are discussed in the script for reporting advice, instructions, requests, and promises?

The script discusses using verbs like 'advise', 'instruct', 'ask', 'tell', 'offer', and 'promise' with an infinitive structure to report advice, instructions, requests, and promises.

What resource is provided by the instructor to help learners practice reported speech?

The instructor has created a workbook with explanations, tips, and practice questions to help learners practice and understand reported speech.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Reported Speech

Emma introduces the topic of reported speech, emphasizing its importance in storytelling, discussing the past, and confirming information. She encourages learners to download a workbook for additional explanations, tips, and practice questions to master reported speech. The lesson explains the difference between direct and indirect speech, with direct speech being the exact words spoken and indirect speech requiring changes in verb tenses and pronouns to reflect the passage of time. Emma outlines the four steps to report speech: adding a reporting verb, changing pronouns, adjusting time and place words, and backshifting the tense.

05:01

🔍 Pronouns and Time References in Reported Speech

This paragraph delves deeper into the nuances of reported speech, specifically the changes in pronouns and time references. Emma clarifies that pronouns must be adjusted to match the subject of the reported speech to maintain the sentence's meaning. Time and place words are also altered to reflect the time that has passed since the original statement. A list of typical changes for time and place words is included in the workbook to aid learners. The paragraph also explains tense backshifting, simplifying the process by categorizing tenses and providing examples of how to adjust them accordingly.

10:02

🛠 Tense Backshifting and Exceptions

Emma continues to explore tense backshifting in reported speech, illustrating how different tenses are adjusted when restating what someone has said. She explains that while most tenses shift back by one degree, the past perfect and past perfect continuous remain unchanged due to the lack of further past tenses. The paragraph also addresses exceptions to tense backshifting, such as when reporting current information or ongoing states, where the tense does not change to reflect the immediacy or continuity of the action.

15:05

🗣️ Reporting Questions and Additional Speech Functions

The lesson expands to include how to report questions in English, distinguishing between closed (yes/no) and open (WH-) questions, and demonstrating the structure for reporting each type. Emma also introduces the use of reported speech in conveying advice, instructions, requests, promises, and offers, providing examples and alternative structures that can be used for these speech functions. This enriches the learners' understanding of reported speech in various communicative contexts.

20:08

🎓 Conclusion and Encouragement to Practice

In the concluding paragraph, Emma reiterates the importance of practice in mastering reported speech and encourages learners to utilize the workbook for additional practice and to reinforce their learning. She expresses gratitude for the learners' engagement in the lesson and directs them to follow up with related lessons for continued improvement in their English language skills.

Keywords

💡Reported Speech

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is the representation of someone else's speech or thoughts in the form of a statement rather than direct quotation. It is a crucial concept in the video, as it helps to convey information about what others have said or thought in a narrative. For example, the script uses reported speech to illustrate the change from direct speech ('She said "I woke up late this morning."') to indirect speech ('She said that she had woken up late that morning.').

💡Direct Speech

Direct speech refers to the exact words someone has spoken, enclosed within quotation marks. It is contrasted with reported speech in the video, where the speaker explains that direct speech requires the use of quotation marks to indicate the verbatim words used. An example from the script is 'She said "I woke up late this morning."', which is a direct representation of speech.

💡Reporting Verb

A reporting verb is used to introduce reported speech, indicating the action of someone stating or expressing something. Common reporting verbs include 'say' and 'tell'. The video emphasizes the importance of these verbs in the transition from direct to reported speech, as seen in examples like 'He said that his holiday started the following week.'

💡Pronouns

Pronouns are used to replace nouns and can change according to the perspective in reported speech. The video script illustrates the need to change pronouns to match the speaker's point of view, as in the transition from 'My holiday starts next week' to 'He said that his holiday started the following week.'

💡Time and Place Words

Time and place words are specific terms that indicate when or where an event occurs. In reported speech, these words often change to reflect the time that has passed since the original statement. The script provides examples such as changing 'next week' to 'the following week' and 'this year' to 'that year'.

💡Backshifting Tense

Backshifting tense is the process of changing the verb tense to indicate that the action was reported in the past. The video explains that present tenses become past tenses, and past tenses may become past perfect or remain the same, depending on the context. For example, 'I was washing the dishes' becomes 'He said that he had been washing the dishes.'

💡Future Tenses

Future tenses in English, such as 'will' and 'be going to', are simplified in reported speech by shifting 'will' to 'would' and changing 'am/is/are going to' to 'was/were going to'. The script uses these tenses to demonstrate the simplification process, as in 'I'll meet you at the corner in half an hour' becoming 'He said that he would meet me at the corner half an hour later.'

💡Exceptions

Exceptions in reported speech occur when the tense does not backshift, typically when the information is current or ongoing. The video mentions that sentences like 'The company told their staff that they're moving offshore' do not backshift because the information is current.

💡Question Reporting

Question reporting involves the use of reported speech to convey questions. The video distinguishes between closed (yes/no) questions and open (WH) questions, explaining that the word order changes from the typical question format to a statement format in reported speech. For instance, 'Are you going on holiday?' becomes 'He asked if we were going on holiday.'

💡Verb Patterns

Verb patterns in reported speech are structures that involve verbs like 'advise', 'instruct', 'ask', 'offer', and 'promise' followed by an infinitive verb form. The video script illustrates these patterns, such as 'He advised me not to make a promise I couldn't keep', to show different ways of reporting advice or instructions.

Highlights

Emma introduces a new English lesson on reported speech, a topic frequently requested by students.

Reported speech is essential for storytelling, discussing the past, and confirming information in fluent and accurate English.

A free workbook is available for download to accompany the lesson, offering explanations, tips, and practice questions.

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, involves changes in verb tense and pronouns to reflect the passage of time since the original statement.

Direct speech uses quotation marks to indicate exact words spoken, while reported speech does not.

Four steps are outlined for reporting speech: adding a reporting verb, changing pronouns, adjusting time and place words, and backshifting the tense.

Common reporting verbs include 'say' and 'tell', with 'tell' requiring an object and 'say' not needing one.

Pronouns must be adjusted in reported speech to reflect the speaker's perspective, such as changing 'my' to 'his'.

Time and place words are modified to indicate the passage of time, like 'next week' becoming 'the following week'.

Backshifting tense involves adjusting verb forms to reflect the time difference between the original statement and the report.

Future tenses in reported speech are simplified by shifting 'will' to 'would'.

The present tenses backshift to the past, such as present simple becoming past simple.

Past tenses are more complex to backshift, with past simple becoming past perfect and past continuous becoming past perfect continuous.

Exceptions to tense backshifting occur when reporting current, ongoing, or very recent information.

Reported speech can also be used for questions, with closed and open questions requiring specific structures.

Functional statements like giving advice, instructions, requests, and promises are common in reported speech and have specific structures.

Emma encourages practice as the key to mastering reported speech, with the workbook provided to facilitate this.

The lesson concludes with an invitation for students to apply their new knowledge by reporting on a statement made during the lesson.

Transcripts

Well hey there I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!

Today's lesson is one that you have been requesting

for quite a while so I'm thrilled to be here with a brand new

English lesson for you all about

reported speech.

I promise you that once you get your head around reported speech

you are going to love it. It helps us to tell stories,

to talk about the past and even to help you confirm information.

It's incredibly important and it's incredibly useful

and that is why you are here today to understand it,

to learn how to use it in your fluent accurate English.

Make sure you head down to the description, click on the link

to download the free workbook, the epic workbook that I've created

to go along with this lesson.

You're going to find it so helpful. It has all the explanations,

my bonus tips to help you use reported speech accurately,

plus some questions that will help you to practise everything

that you learn during this lesson which is very important.

Are you ready to dive in?

Let's go!

So what exactly is reported speech

and when do we use it?

In English we use reported speech to say what someone else says

or even what we ourselves have said

and it's sometimes referred to as indirect speech.

Reported speech, indirect speech, they're the same thing.

Direct speech is the exact words

that come out of someone's mouth.

She said "I woke up late this morning."

That's direct speech. If we wrote down these words,

we'd have to use quotation marks. That's these things,

quotation marks.

And we'd use quotation marks to show that these are the exact

words that they used when they spoke.

But in indirect speech or reported speech,

we have to change some things like verb tense and pronouns

to show that some time has passed since the words were

originally spoken between

that time and now when we're retelling this story.

She said that she had woken up late that morning.

There are four steps that we need to follow when we're reporting

what someone else said.

The first thing is we need to add a reporting verb.

We need to change the pronouns, we need to change the time and

the place words and finally, we need to backshift the tense.

All right let's take a closer look at this together.

My holiday starts next week!

Lucky you! We're not going on holiday this year.

If I want to retell what these people were talking about  

to someone else at another time,

I would need to use reported speech to do it. This is direct speech.

My holiday starts next week.

But in reported speech, it needs to change to:

He said or the man said

that his holiday started the following week.

Lucky you! We're not going on holiday this year.

So in reported speech this changes to she said or the woman said

that they weren't going on holiday that year.

Throughout this whole video,

the speech bubbles are going to show you direct speech.

Reported speech is going to be written

below the speech bubble okay? There's a visual

link to follow here.

Let's break it down.

For reported speech, first of all, we need to start with a reporting

verb or a reporting clause.

He said or the man said that...

She said the woman said that.

What is the reporting verb in these examples though?

Say.

The most common reporting verbs in English are say and tell.

Tell is a transitive verb so it always needs an object when it's used

whereas say doesn't need to have an object.

I've got a really useful lesson that might

help you to jog your memory about these verbs about say and tell.

It's linked up here but I'm going to put it at the end as well

if you want to review.

Let's look at another example.

I saw Judy last week.

This is direct speech, isn't it?

And we can use indirect speech to report.

She said that she had seen Judy last week.

Or she told me that she had seen Judy last week.

She told me or she said that

but not she told that or she said me.

No, no, no.

Okay let's go back to the examples from before. We need to take

a close look at the pronouns we're using when we change from

direct speech to reported speech and in these examples

my becomes his

and we becomes they.

We need to do this to make sure the meaning of the sentence

stays the same.

I know that it's a little bit confusing but why don't we compare

two sentences together so that I can explain it a little more for you.

My holiday starts next week.

He said that my holiday started the following week.

Hang on, whose holiday?

Mine

or the man's?

The man is talking about his own holiday, not mine,

so to make sure that the meaning stays the same,

we have to change the pronouns in reported speech to reflect that.

He said that his holiday started the following week.

The third step is to change any time and place words.

So here next week becomes the following week.

And this year becomes that year.

The first and most important thing that you need to remember here

is that the time references need to change in reported speech.

So do words like here and there,

this and that, they all need to change and we do this to create

a sense of distance or time passed but it can be a little tricky

to guess exactly how these words change.

That's why I've put together a list of typical changes to time

and to place words and I've put them into the worksheet

that I've created for you.

Plus, there are some practice questions to help test what you know

and to make sure it sticks in your brain.

The last thing you need to do is to backshift the tense.

If you've studied with an English grammar textbook before,

you might have heard this word and thought

backshift? What is that, what's backshift?

Well kind of self-explanatory. It means we need to shift the tense

back by one degree.

So in our examples here, the present simple changes

to the past simple

and in this sentence, the present continuous changes to the

past continuous.

Remembering which tense to use and when is probably

the trickiest thing about reported speech

but don't fear, never fear. I have put all of them into a list for you

again included in your workbook.

I know this might look a little bit intimidating but I'll show you

a couple of hacks that will make it easy for you to learn the rules.

First of all, the future tenses are simple.

All of these future tenses in English are formed with

the auxiliary verb will and in reported speech all we need to do

is shift will to would.

I'll meet you at the corner in half an hour.

He said that he would meet me at the corner half an hour later.

Will is simple

but we can also form future sentences in English with be going to.

So in this case we need to shift am, is or are

back to was or were.

We're going to the movies tonight.

They said that they were going to the movies that night.

Look at that! We've already crossed five tenses off that list.

Now we're left with the present tense and the past tenses

and I promise it's not as complicated as it looks.

We just need to look at the tenses in a slightly different way.

There are three overarching English tenses, aren't there?

The past, the present, the future.

And within each of these tenses there are four modes.

Say them with me.

The simple.

Continuous.

Perfect

and perfect continuous.

We can get rid of the future tenses because we've already learned

about will and be going to.

Looking at this chart, it's easy to see how the tenses will shift.

The present tenses all shift back one degree

to the equivalent tense in the past.

The present simple becomes the past simple.

These two tenses mirror each other.

We live on Elm street.

She said that they lived on Elm street.

For the past tenses it's not quite as simple because

we don't have another column of tenses that can mirror these ones

but we can still shift back one degree.

The past simple becomes the past perfect

and the past continuous becomes the past perfect continuous.

I was washing the dishes at the time.

He said that he had been washing the dishes at that time.

And last but not least, the past perfect and the past

perfect continuous, they just stay the same.

We can't shift them back by one degree because there are no more

tenses back there to go to right? So they stay the same.

There's no change there.

I've been listening to music.

She said she had been listening to music.

Now it can be tricky to remember all of this information but

don't worry, you're going to find all of it plus exercises

and examples to help you practise

in that workbook that I created for you.

I keep talking about how epic this workbook is,

just go and download it. It is so full of great tips and little hacks

to help you remember and also

practise everything that we're learning in this lesson.

Now this wouldn't be an English lesson if there wasn't an exception

right? There are some instances where we

don't backshift the tense in reported speech.

So this happens when the information that you're reporting is

current so for example:

The company told their staff that they're moving offshore.

You'll see this form of reported speech used a lot in the news.

It's current information, it's happening now.

So the reporting is probably happening really close to the time

that the information was said and this is where you might often

see some other reporting verbs used, verbs that

might be a little more formal like announced or reported.

And actually, you'll find a list of some of the other reporting

verbs in the workbook.

Now we don't backshift the tense when the information is ongoing.

I love my family.

She said that she loves her family.

To love something or someone is an ongoing state so we wouldn't

usually change the tense here

and if you do, it makes it sound like

she loved her family in the past but

now she doesn't so you really do need to be careful about this.

If it's an ongoing state or a condition,

we don't move that tense backwards.

And we don't backshift when we're reporting something

that happened very recently, then we don't need to

change the tense either. For example, if I just got off the phone

and I'm telling you what I heard in a conversation.

I'll be about 15 minutes, okay?

Shah said that he's running late. He'll be here in 15 minutes.

We don't only use reported speech for statements.

We can also use them to report questions as well

and this is super useful in a professional context

where you're sharing information with customers or with clients

or with colleagues.

There are two types of questions in English, you probably know

them, I've mentioned them in several videos before.

We have closed questions, yes, no questions,

and open questions or sometimes referred to as WH questions.

Closed questions, these are questions where the answer can only

be yes or no like this one.

Are you going on holiday?

These questions are reported like this.

He asked if or whether

we were going on holiday.

So just like in our statements, we need to start

with a reporting clause but this time

we need a question reporting verb like ask

or inquire or wonder.

And instead of that, we're completing the reporting clause

with whether or if.

Then we need to add the content of the question

but we need to use the word order of a statement

so that's subject, verb, object.

Right?

Now let's think about this for a minute because

in normal speech when we ask a question, we invert

the auxiliary verb and the subject, don't we?

A normal statement would be subject, verb, object

and that becomes verb, subject, object, right?

So we're running late becomes: Are we running late?

But in a reported question, we use if or we use whether and then

the statement word order following.

He asked if we were running late.

Subject, verb, object.

Let's do another one.

Have you been to Rome before?

He inquired whether I had been to Rome previously.

All the other steps remain exactly the same.

We add a reporting clause. we change the pronouns,

we change the time and the place words

and we backshift the tense.

In an open question and remember this is a question that starts

with a question word like who, what, where, why, when,

which or how.

We keep that question word but we switch the verb

and the subject around just as we did with the closed question.

So like this.

Where are you going on holiday?

Becomes: He asked where we were going on holiday.

So we have a reporting clause with a question word

and our question in a statement word order following.

All the same rules about changing the pronouns,

the time and place words and the tense, they all still apply.

You just follow a slightly different structure.

Now you have almost made it to the end of this lesson

but I do want to offer you a couple of bits of bonus advice.

I really want you to take your reported speech skills

up to the next level

so I want to talk about some other really functional statements

in English that frequently occur in reported speech

like giving advice, explaining instructions,

making requests or making promises and offers.

All of these important functions in English, they

often occur in reported speech.

Let's look at some examples.

You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep.

So this is a classic piece of advice.

And of course, we can use the same steps that we learned earlier

to turn this sentence into reported speech.

He told me that I shouldn't make a promise I couldn't keep.

That is perfectly acceptable and it's correct English grammar.

However, there is another way.

He advised me not to make a promise I couldn't keep.

Let's take a closer look at this structure now.

We can see the verb advise and the object then

a to-infinitive and in this case the infinitive is preceded by not

because the sentence is negative.

Not to make a promise.

He advised me not to make a promise.

He advised me to study hard for the exam.

We use the verbs ask, advise, instruct

and tell with this pattern when we're giving advice.

Lock the door when you leave.

That's an instruction.

They instructed me to lock the door when I left.

They told me to lock the door when I left.

Or they asked me to lock the door.

All of these verbs have similar meanings

but they are slightly different.

Let's look at another one.

The teacher said:

Please stack the chairs in the corner.

That's a request or an instruction.

The teacher asked us to stack the chairs in the corner.

The teacher instructed us to stack the chairs.

The teacher told us to stack the chairs.

We can use a very similar structure for offers and for promises

with the verbs offer and promise with the to-infinitive.

The only difference is that there's no object.

Do you need help?

That's an offer, right? So of course, we could say:

She asked whether I needed help but we could also say:

She offered to help me.

Let's look at a promise now.

I'll make it up to you.

He said that he would make it up to me.

Or

he promised to make it up to me.

Now the meaning of these two sentences are

similar but the second one is just a little bit more precise

in the way that it retells the information.

Learning to use both of these structures will help to make your

English more interesting and it's going to help you to express

yourself more clearly,

especially when it comes to storytelling and writing.

So that's it!

I'm wondering if you can use reported speech to report

on something that I said during this lesson.

If you can, share that sentence down in the comments below.

Even though this grammar is a little tricky to get your head around,

it really does just take practice. You will be able to do it.

The more that you practise, the easier it will get

and that is exactly why I created the workbook for you

to help you put everything you learned into practice

and make sure it sticks.

So what are you waiting for? Go and grab it!

Thank you so much for joining me today,

I hope you enjoyed the lesson.

Check out these ones next.

I'll see you in there!