Reported Speech
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If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but reported (indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech.
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Direct speech:
“I speak English”.
Reported speech:
He said he spoke English.
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With reported speech, there are often changes:
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THE PRONOUNS I
she/he
THE TENSE like don’t want saw
liked didn’t want had seen
EXPRESSIONS OF TIME today that day this morning that morning
EXPRESSIONS OF PLACE here there
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Direct speech:
“I like walking, but I don’t want to go for a walk today”, she said.
Reported speech She said (that) she liked walking but she didn’t want to go for a walk that day.
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