REPORTED SPEECH. Direct Speech and Indirect Speech in English

Hello, my name is Kate and this is English Lessons with Kate channel. Today we’re going  

to talk about indirect speech or reported speech.  It’s a difficult grammar topic, but don’t worry.  

I’m going to explain everything step by step. Let's get started. Take a look at direct speech. 

The speech is, I am hungry. Next,  there are a few simple rules to follow. 

Firstly, we need to include a reporting verb. Secondly, we have to backshift our tenses by one. 

Backshift in tenses means changing  the verb tense in reported speech to  

match the time when it's spoken, so that  the statement is shifted back in time. 

And number three, we have to change the pronouns. This sounds very complicated. Now we’re going  

to practice together and I’m  going to explain how to do that. 

If we want to change this sentence into  reported speech, she said that she was hungry. 

We've added the reporting verb, she said,  we've back shifted our tense, am, was, 

and we've changed the pronouns, I became ‘she’. Another example, “I go to the gym every week",  

in reported speech, it might become "She  said she went to the gym every week". 

We added the reporting verb, she said,  we’ve changed our tense, go – went,  

and we’ve changes the pronouns, I became she. I'm planning to visit Paris next summer. 

She said that she was planning to visit Paris  next summer. We added a reporting verb ‘said’,  

we’ve changed our tense, Present Continuous  became Past Continuous am planning – was  

planning, and I was replaced by she. I was walking along the street. She  

said she had been walking along the  street. I hope everything is clear.  

We changed Past Continuous –‘was walking’  to Past Perfect Continuous – ‘Had been  

walking’. We back shifted our tense. Please  continue watching this video, and I will  

explain how to backshift tenses in detail. Now let’s talk about the reporting verbs.  

The most common reporting verbs are "say"  and "tell," which become "said" and "told." 

Please don’t forget to use your reporting  verbs when using reported speech. 

I’ll give you some examples. He  said that he enjoyed the concert. 

You can choose to include "that" or leave it out. He said that he enjoyed the concert. He said  

he enjoyed the concert. You can use both options. 

She said she finished the book. She said that she  finished the book. Both sentences are correct. 

We can also use the structure ‘say to someone’, My brother said to me that  

he was going to study abroad. Or She said to me that she had lost her keys. 

When we use tell, we must always remember  to mention the person we're reporting to. 

We use the structure tell  plus who we're reporting to. 

She told me that she enjoyed the movie. They  told us that they had arrived at the airport. 

Now I’m going to explain  what backshift in tenses is.

When we use reported speech, we're telling  someone else what someone said. English has  

12 main tenses, that can be divided into  three groups: past, present, and future. 

I know it might sound difficult, but I  created a table for you. I'll show you  

now. Here you can see how we change tenses  when we use reported speech. You can take a  

screenshot and save it to your smartphone. Take a look on the past perfect and the  

past perfect continuous tense. There are no changes. We can’t  

change these tenses. We can't really  go any further back in the past. 

I had been playing video games. Kate said  that she had been playing video games. 

We don’t need to change the tense here. The future tenses are also really easy. They  

all use will, and will just changes to would. I will come to the party tomorrow. She said  

she would come to the party the next day. We changed the tense and we changed the  

word tomorrow. We replaced tomorrow with the next  day. Now we're going to talk about important words  

and phrases that we need to change when using  reported speech. Take a look at these examples. 

this → that these → those 

now → then, at that moment here → there 

today → that day ago → before 

a year ago → a year before last night → the previous night 

yesterday → the day before, the previous day the day before yesterday → two days before 

tomorrow → the next day, the following day the day after tomorrow → two days later 

You need to remember these phrases so  that you can use indirect speech properly.

And what if we have a question in reported speech? “Will you help me?” I said. 

I asked them if they would help me. We used the verb ask, and we changed  

will to would. Also, we removed a question  mark and used "if" because this is a question. 

Another example. 'Do you work from home?' he said. He asked me if I worked from home. 

We can also use "wanted to know": He  wanted to know if I worked from home. 

Once again guys. We added a Reporting  Verb: "asked" or "wanted to know." 

We changed the Tense: The present simple tense  "work" changed to the past simple tense "worked." 

We changed the pronoun: "You" changed to "I" And we Removed the question mark and add "if".

Now let’s practice. I'm going to give you  

some examples in direct speech and I want  you to change them into reported speech. 

I'm going to give you a few seconds, but you can  pause the video if you need more time to think. 

When we have the present simple  in the direct speech, we change  

it to past simple in the reported speech. For all of these sentences, I'm going to say I,  

and you have to change it to Kate said that she. So the first one, I want to live in a big house. 

You need to start it with Kate said  that she. I'll give you a few seconds. 

Kate said that she wanted to live in a big house. 

We shifted back in time.  Present simple to past simple.

When we have the present continuous  tense, we change it to past continuous. 

I am writing a script for the video.  I'll give you a couple of seconds. 

Kate said that she was writing  a script for the video. 

When we have present perfect,  we change it to past perfect. 

I have finished my breakfast. Kate said  that she had finished her breakfast. 

When we have past simple in the direct speech, we  change it to past perfect in the reported speech. 

I cleaned the bathroom. Kate said  that she had cleaned the bathroom. 

I had finished my homework before dinner. Kate said that she had finished  

her homework before dinner. Remember that we can’t change the Past Perfect  

tenses. There are no changes in this sentence. Now let’s practice with will and would. 

I'll bring a cake to the party. Kate  said she would bring a cake to the party.

But there are some exceptions. With reported speech, we usually don't change the  

tense if the information is ongoing, like a habit. I love my job. Kate said that she loves her job. 

I still love my job. This action is ongoing.  So we might keep it in the present tense. 

All right, that’s it for your  introduction to reported speech. 

I hope this lesson was useful for you and now  you know how to use direct and indirect speech.

If you want to make me a little bit  happier you can send me a superthanks.  

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