Reported Speech

In the English language, there are two ways of conveying what someone else has said: direct/quoted speech and indirect/ reported speech.
Direct/quoted speech, involves quoting the exact words uttered by the person, within inverted commas or quotation marks. For example: She said, “I won’t be coming home tonight ” is an example of direct speech. Note that in this type of speech, a comma is most often used before starting the exact quote within the inverter commas.

Indirect/reported speech, on the other hand, does not have to be within quotes or reported word-to-word. In fact, unless one is relaying the exact words spoken, one should never use quotation marks. For example: She told us that she wouldn’t be coming home that night is an example of reported speech. Note that the verb tense necessarily changes in reported speech. This is because when we report speech, we are talking, obviously, about something that was said in the past. Hence, it becomes necessary to use the past tense of the verb.

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
He said, “I’m fine.”	He said that he was fine.
He said, “I’ve been married for three years.”	He said that he had been married for three years.
He said, “I went to the theater yesterday.”	He said that he had gone to the theatre the day before.
He said, “The show was already underway when the chief guest arrived.”	He said that the show was already underway when the chief guest arrived. (no change in tense)

When we are reporting what someone else said, we normally don’t use their exact words with quotation marks (direct speech), but instead we use indirect speech (also called reported speech). Indirect speech is introduced using certain phrases.

Example:

He says/said …

She explains/explained …

She tells/told me …

He asks/asked …

Reporting Verbs

Reporting verbs are used in reported speech

The most common reporting verbs are say and tell. However, there are a number of other reporting verbs that can be used instead of say or tell to make more efficient (i.e. shorter) statements and questions.

Consider this original statement in direct speech:

'I'm sure that everything will be alright'

If we reported the statement with say, we would get :

He said that he was sure that everything would be alright

This is an acceptable statement in English, if rather long. However, the words I'm sure that... in this sentence can have the function of assuring someone. Therefore, we can use the reporting verb assure

He assured me that everything would be alright

This is a) shorter, and b) makes the function of the sentence absolutely clear.

Common reporting verbs - say pattern

The following common reporting verbs follow the same pattern as say 

i.e. verb + (that) + clause :

admit

advise*

agree

announce

claim

complain

confirm

declare

explain

insist

mention

promise*

propose 

say

suggest

warn*

* also used with other patterns - see below

Common reporting verbs - tell pattern

The following common verbs follow the same pattern as tell 

i.e. verb + direct object + (that) + clause :

advise

assure

convince

inform

notify

persuade

promise

reassure

remind

tell

warn

Reporting actions : requests, promises etc

These are usually reported using an infintive structure :

reporting verb + infintive with to

Examples:

They argreed to pay the legal costs.

He promised to come as soons as possible.

Common reporting verbs that follow this pattern are :

agree

ask

claim

demand

offer

promise

propose

refuse

threaten

Some verbs can be followed by an object and infintive :

reporting verb + direct object + infintive with to

Examples:

He reminded me to call Kath.

She warned them not to mention it.

Common reporting verbs that follow this pattern are :

advise

ask

beg

convince

encourage

forbid

instruct

invite

order

persuade

remind

tell

urge

warn (not to)

Reporting verbs followed by a gerund

Some reporting verbs are followed by a gerund, not an infinitive :

Direct speech : 'Why don't we have the party at Peter's place?'

Reported speech : She suggested having the party at Peter's place.

Common reporting verbs that can be followed by a gerund are :

admit

deny

mention

proposed

report

suggest

NB All of these reporting verbs can also use a verb + that + clause structure (see above).

Compare :

He admitted that he had taken the money.

He admitted taking the money.

She proposed setting up a committee.

She proposed that we set up a committee.

He mentioned seeing Martin.

He mentioned that he had seen Martin

The sentences in each pair have the same meaning.

Change of persons/pronouns

If there is a pronoun in Direct Speech, it has possibly to be changed in Reported Speech, depending on the siutation.

• Direct Speech → Susan: “I work in an office.”
• Reported Speech → Susan said (that) she worked in an office.

Here I is changed to she.

Backshift of tenses

If there is backshift of tenses in Reported Speech, the tenses are shifted the following way.

• Direct Speech → Peter: “I work in the garden.”
• Reported Speech → Peter said (that)* he worked in the garden.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Simple forms
Simple Present	Simple Past
Simple Past	Past Perfect
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
will	would
Progressive forms
am/are/is	was/were
was/were	had been
has been
had been

Conversion of expressions of time and place

If there is an expression of time/place in the sentence, it may be changed, depending on the situation.

• Direct Speech → Peter: “I worked in the garden yesterday.”
• Reported Speech → Peter said (that) he had worked in the garden the day before.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
this evening	that evening
today/this day	that day
these days	those days
now	then
a week ago	a week before
last weekend	the weekend before / the previous weekend
next week	the following week
tomorrow	the next/following day
here	there

Declarative Sentences

When turning declarative sentences into indirect speech, we need to pay attention to the following points:

• changing the pronouns

  Example:

  He said, “I saw a famous TV presenter.”
  He said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter.

• changing the information about time and place (see the table at the end of this page)

  Example:

  He said, “I saw a famous TV presenter here yesterday.”
  He said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter there the day before.

• changing the tense (backshift)

  Example:

  He said, “She was eating an ice-cream at the table where you are sitting.”
  He said (that) she had been eating an ice-cream at the table where I was sitting.

Changing the Tense (backshift)

If the introductory clause is in the simple past (e.g. He said), the tense has to be set back by one degree (see the table). The term for this in English is backshift.

Example:

He said, “I work every day.”
He said that he worked every day.

He said, “I saw a TV presenter.”
He said that he had seen a TV presenter.

He said, “She was sitting where you are sitting.”
He said that she had been sitting where I was sitting.

direct speech	indirect speech
simple present	simple past
present progressive	past progressive
simple past	past perfect simple
present perfect simple
past perfect simple
past progressive	past perfect progressive
present perfect progressive
past perfect progressive
future I (going to)	was / were going to
future I (will)	conditional I (would)
conditional I (would)

The verbs could, should, would, might, must, needn’t, ought to, used to normally do not change.

Example:

He said, “I could have asked her for an autograph.” – He said that he could have asked her for an autograph.

No Change of Tenses

If the introductory clause is in the simple present, however (e.g. He says), then the tense remains unchanged, because the introductory clause already indicates that the statement is being immediately repeated (and not at a later point in time).

Example:

He says, “I saw a TV presenter.”
He says that he saw a TV presenter.

In some cases, however, we have to change the verb form.

Example:

He says, “I work every day.”
He says that he works every day.

He says, “She was sitting where you are sitting.”
He says that she was sitting where I am sitting.

Question Sentences

When turning questions into indirect speech, we have to pay attention to the following points:

• As in a declarative sentence, we have to change the pronouns and the time and place information, and set back the tense (backshift).
• Instead of that (as in a declarative sentence), we use a question word. If there is no question word, we use whether/if instead.

  Example:

  She asked him, “How often do you work?”
  → She asked him how often he worked.
  He asked me, “Do you know any famous people?”
  → He asked me if/whether I knew any famous people.

• We put the subject before the verb in question sentences. (The subject goes after the auxiliary verb in normal questions.)

  Example:

  I asked him, “Have you met any famous people before?”
  → I asked him if/whether he had met any famous people before.

• We don’t use the auxiliary verb do for questions in indirect speech. Therefore, we sometimes have to conjugate the main verb (for third person singular or in the simple past).

  Example:

  I asked him, “What do you want to tell me?”
  → I asked him what he wanted to tell me.

• We put the verb directly after who or what in subject questions.

  Example:

  I asked him, “Who is sitting here?”
  → I asked him who was sitting there.

To note

We don’t just use indirect questions to report what another person has asked. We also use them to ask questions in a very polite manner.

Example:

Where is the train station?
→ Could you tell me where the train station is?

Can you help me?
→ I wonder if you can help me.

Demands/Requests

When turning demands and requests into indirect speech, we only need to change the pronouns and the time and place information. We don’t have to pay attention to the tenses – we simply use to + the basic form of the verb.

Example:

He said, “Watch the TV presenter’s show tonight.”
He told me to watch the TV presenter’s show that evening.

If it is a negative demand, then in indirect speech we use not to + the basic form of the verb.

Example:

He said, “Don’t watch the TV presenter’s show tonight.”
He told me not to watch the TV presenter’s show that evening.

Expressions with who/what/how + infinitive

When we talk about what someone should or can do in reported speech, we can leave out the subject and the modal verb. Instead we use a who/what/where/how + infinitive.

Example:

Just tell me when I should stop.
→ Just tell me when to stop.

She doesn’t know what she should do.
→ She doesn’t know what to do.

I asked him how I could get to the post office.
→ I asked him how to get to the post office.

Sources:
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/reported.htm

http://www.englishleap.com/grammar/direct-and-reported-speech
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson-reported-speech.php
https://english.lingolia.com/en/grammar/sentences/indirect-speech