Ingls IV (B-2008)

Prof. Argenis A. Zapata

Universidad de Los Andes

Facultad de Humanidades y Educacin
Escuela de Idiomas Modernos

CHANGES FROM DIRECT SPEECH TO REPORTED SPEECH

(When the reporting verb is in a past tense1)

DIRECT SPEECH ------------------- REPORTED SPEECH

Tenses:
Present Simple ------------------------- Past Simple
Present Continuous ------------------------ Past Continuous
Past Simple ------------------------- Past Perfect
Present Perfect ------------------------- Past Perfect
Past Continuous ------------------------- Past Continuous
WILL/SHALL ------------------------- WOULD [wUd]
CAN ------------------------- COULD [kUd]
MAY [meI] ------------------------- COULD/MIGHT [maIt]
MUST [mst] ------------------------- HAD TO
COULD ------------------------- COULD
MIGHT ------------------------- MIGHT
OUGHT TO ------------------------- OUGHT TO
SHOULD ------------------------- SHOULD
WOULD ------------------------- WOULD
NEEDNT ------------------------- DIDNT NEED TO
HAD BETTER ------------------------- HAD BETTER
USED TO ------------------------- USED TO
IS/AM ------------------------- WAS
ARE ------------------------- WERE
HAVE/ HAS ------------------------- HAD

Adverbs and demonstratives:

THIS ------------------------- THAT

THESE [Diz] ------------------------- THOSE [Duz]
NOW ------------------------- THEN or AT THAT MOMENT
TODAY ------------------------- THAT DAY

1
Sometimes in spoken English, if the reporting is done immediately or soon after something was said, no
change of tense is made. Likewise, when the reporting verb is in a present or future tense, no changes of
tense take place.

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 Ingls IV (B-2008)
Prof. Argenis A. Zapata

YESTERDAY ------------------------- THE DAY BEFORE or

THE PREVIOUS DAY
TOMORROW ------------------------- THE NEXT DAY or
THE FOLLOWING DAY
LAST NIGHT ------------------------- THE NIGHT BEFORE or
THE PREVIOUS NIGHT
HERE ------------------------- THERE

DIRECT SPEECH ----------------------- REPORTED SPEECH

Pronouns:

If the report is on what a man/boy said (JOHN/HE SAID THAT...),2 the changes are as
follows:

I ------------------------- HE
ME ------------------------- HIM
MY ------------------------- HIS
MINE ------------------------- HIS
MYSELF ------------------------- HIMSELF

If the report is on what a woman/girl said (MARY/SHE SAID THAT...), the changes are
as follows:

I ------------------------- SHE
ME ------------------------- HER
MY ------------------------- HER
MINE ------------------------- HERS
MYSELF ------------------------- HERSELF

If the report is on what you said (YOU SAID THAT...), the changes are as follows:

a) In the singular:

I ------------------------- YOU
ME ------------------------- YOU
MY ------------------------- YOUR
MINE ------------------------- YOURS
MYSELF ------------------------- YOURSELF

2
The person who reports is talking to somebody else.

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 Ingls IV (B-2008)
Prof. Argenis A. Zapata

b) In the plural:

WE ------------------------- YOU
US ------------------------- YOU
OUR ------------------------- YOUR
OURS ------------------------- YOURS
OURSELVES ------------------------- YOURSELVES

If the report is on what the students/the teachers said (THE STUDENTS SAID/THEY
SAID THAT...), the changes are as follows:

WE ------------------------- THEY
US ------------------------- THEM
OUR ------------------------- THEIR
OURS ------------------------- THEIRS
OURSELVES ------------------------- THEMSELVES

When somebody talks to a man/boy and the report is on him (THE TEACHER SAID
TO/TOLD JOHN/HIM THAT..),3 the changes are as follows:

YOU (subj.) ------------------------- HE

YOU (obj.) ------------------------- HIM
YOUR ------------------------- HIS
YOURS ------------------------- HIS
YOURSELF ------------------------- HIMSELF

When somebody talks to a woman/ girl and the report is on her (THE TEACHER SAID
TO/TOLD MARY/HER THAT...), the changes are as follows:

YOU (subj.) ------------------------- SHE

YOU (obj.) ------------------------- HER
YOUR ------------------------- HER
YOURS ------------------------- HERS
YOURSELF ------------------------- HERSELF

When somebody talks to me and the report is on me (THE TEACHER SAID TO/TOLD
ME THAT ...), the changes are as follows:

YOU (Subject) ------------------------- I

YOU (Object) ------------------------- ME
YOUR ------------------------- MY

3
That is to say, the indirect object is mentioned in the main clause.

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 Ingls IV (B-2008)
Prof. Argenis A. Zapata

YOURS ------------------------- MINE

YOURSELF ------------------------- MYSELF

When somebody talks to us and the report is on us (THE TEACHER SAID TO US/TOLD
US THAT...), the changes are as follows:

YOU (subj.) ------------------------- WE

YOU (obj.) ------------------------- US
YOUR ------------------------- OUR
YOURS ------------------------- OURS
YOURSELVES ----------------------- OURSELVES

When somebody talks to the men/students and the report is on them (THE TEACHER
SAID TO/TOLD THE STUDENTS/THEM THAT...), the changes are as follows:

YOU (sub.) ------------------------- THEY

YOU (obj.) ------------------------- THEM
YOUR ------------------------- THEIR
YOURS ------------------------- THEIRS
YOURSELVES ---------------------- THEMSELVES

Common Reporting Verbs for:

Statements Questions Imperatives

advise shout ask ask
apologize state inquire (of sb) order
demand stress want to know tell
encourage suggest wonder warn
explain thank
indicate inform
invite tell
note
order
point out
propose
recommend
remark
reply
respond
say (to sb)