Theory

1. Reported speech
/
Indirect speech

2. Direct speech Indirect speech
Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
sin hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
pero no
repetimos
exactamente sus
palabras.
Las comillas
desaparecen.

3. Direct speech Indirect speech
 El reporting verb
está en
presente.
 El reporting verb
está en pasado.
 El tiempo verbal
no cambia.
 El tiempo verbal
da un salto al
pasado.

4. Direct speech Indirect speech
George says: “I
want to eat.”
George said: “I
want to eat.”
George says that
he wants to eat.
George said that
he wanted to
eat.

5. Statements in
reported speech

6. Direct speech Indirect speech
Subject + reporting verb + (that)
+ subject + verb…
* The general reporting verbs in statements
are: “say / tell”

7. Direct speech Indirect speech
Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
sin hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
 Detrás del
“sujeto + say
(+ to + C. Ind.)”
ponemos la
conjunción that.
 El verbo da un
salto atrás hacia
el pasado.

8. Direct speech Indirect speech
Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
sin hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
 Detrás del
“sujeto + tell +
C. Indirecto”
ponemos la
conjunción that.
 El verbo da un
salto atrás hacia
el pasado.

9. Direct speech Indirect speech
Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
sin hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
 Los pronombres
personales cambian.
 Los adjetivos
posesivos cambian.
 Los pronombres
posesivos cambian.

10. Direct speech Indirect speech
Contamos lo que
alguien ha dicho
sin hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
 Los demostrativos
cambian.
 Las expresiones de
tiempo cambian.
 Las expresiones de
lugar cambian.

11. Direct speech Indirect speech
 Present simple.
 Present continuous.
 Have.
 Will.
 Can.
 Must.
 May.
 Past simple.
 Past continuous.
 Had.
 Would.
 Could.
 Had to
 Might.

12. Direct speech Indirect speech
 Past simple.
 Present perfect
simple.
 Past perfect simple.
 Past perfect
continuous.
 Past perfect simple.
 Past perfect simple.
 Past perfect simple.
 Past perfect
continuous.

13. Direct speech Indirect speech
 Now.
 Today.
 Tomorrow.
 This.
 These.
 Here.
 I.
 My.
 Then.
 That day.
 The next / following day.
 That / the.
 Those / the.
 There.
 He / She.
 His / Her.

14. Direct speech Indirect speech
 Yesterday.
 The day before yesterday.
 The day after tomorrow.
 In three days
 Next week.
 Last month.
 Ten years ago.
 . The day before.
 Two days before.
 Two days later.
 Three days later
 The following week / the week
after.
 The previous month / the
month before.
 Ten years before

15. Direct speech Indirect speech
“I want to be
famous,” said
Alex to her
friends.
Alex said (to her
friends) that
she wanted to
be famous.
Alex told her
friends that she
wanted to be
famous.

16. Direct speech Indirect speech
“Brad is
studying,”his
mum said.
Brad’s mum said
that he was
studying.

17. Direct speech Indirect speech
“You can see Big
Ben if you go to
London,” the
tour guide said.
The tour guide
said that we
could see Big
Ben if we went
to London.

18. Direct speech Indirect speech
“You must be 18
to drive,” the
police said.
The police said
that I had to
be 18 to drive.

19. Direct speech Indirect speech
“I will bring you
my CD
tomorrow,” Jane
said.
Jane said that
she would bring
me her CD the
next day.

20. Direct speech Indirect speech
“We have been
here before,”
he said.
He said that
they had been
there before.

21. Direct speech Indirect speech
“There was an
earthquake last
night,” the
reporter said.
The reporter
said that there
had been an
earthquake the
night before.

22. Direct speech Indirect speech
“I was really
proud of my
brother when he
won this quiz
show,” said
Clare.
Clare said that
she had been
really proud of
her brother
when he had
won that / the
quiz show.

23. Direct speech Indirect speech
“These people
deserve better,”
stated the MP.
The MP stated
that those
people deserved
better.

24. Direct speech Indirect speech
“I moved to
Oxford six
months ago, “
said Scarlett.
Scarlett said
that she had
moved to
Oxford six
months before.

25. Direct speech Indirect speech
“It may snow
today,” warned
the
weatherman.
The weatherman
warned that it
might snow that
day.

26. Questions in reported
speech

27. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
 Wh-questions.
 Yes / No questions.
 Subject + reporting
verb + wh-word +
subject + verb…
 Subject + reporting
verb + whether / if
+ subject + verb…
*The general reporting verb in questions is: “ask”

28. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
Contamos lo que
alguien ha
preguntado sin
hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
La interrogativa
deja de serlo y
se convierte en
una oración
enunciativa (sin
inversión sujeto
verbo, sin auxiliar,
sin signo de
interrogación).

29. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
Contamos lo que
alguien ha
preguntado sin
hacer ningún
cambio en sus
palabras.
El resto de
cambios que
vimos al
principio se
mantienen (verbos,
pronombres, adjetivos,
expresiones de tiempo,
expresiones de lugar).

30. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
“Are they eating
now?” I asked.
I asked
if/whether they
were eating
then.

31. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
“What is the
name of the new
film?” she
asked.
She asked what
the name of the
new film was.

32. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
“Where does
Ryan live?”
Carol asked.
Carol asked
where Ryan
lived.

33. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
“Can we meet
now?” Don
asked.
Don asked if we
could meet
then.

34. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
“How is English
changing?” she
asked.
She asked how
English was
changing.

35. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
“Have you seen
the news?”
asked Jude.
Jude asked me if
I had seen the
news.

36. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
“How many
people will be
attending the
conference?”
asked the
organizers.
The organizers
asked how many
people would be
attending the
conference.

37. Direct speech Indirect speech
Questions
“Did he meet any
celebrities?”
wondered the
magazine editor.
The magazine
editor wondered
whether/if he
had met any
celebrities.

38. Orders, requests and
suggestions in
reported speech

39. Direct speech Indirect speech
Affirmative orders and requests
Subject + reporting verb +
indirect object + to + infinitive…
*The general reporting verbs in
orders and requests are:
“ask / tell”

40. Direct speech Indirect speech
Affirmative orders and requests
“Can you buy
some chocolate
when you go to
the shop?”
asked Susan.
Susan asked me
to buy some
chocolate when
I went to the
shop.

41. Direct speech Indirect speech
Affirmative orders and requests
“Read the text,”
said the teacher
to the students.
The teacher told
the students to
read the text.

42. Direct speech Indirect speech
Negative orders and requests
Subject + reporting verb +
indirect object + not + to +
infinitive…

43. Direct speech Indirect speech
Negative orders and requests
“Don’t move!” the
policeman
ordered the
criminal.
The policeman
ordered the
criminal not to
move.

44. Direct speech Indirect speech
Suggestions
• Subject + suggest + (not) + verb +
-ing…
• Subject + suggest + (that) clause
• Subject + suggest + (that) + subject +
should + infinitive without to…
• Subject + suggest + sth + to sby

45. Direct speech Indirect speech
Suggestions
“Let’s not go to
France this
year,” suggested
Jack.
Jack suggested
not going to
France that
year.

46. Direct speech Indirect speech
Suggestions
“How about
having sushi
tonight?” said
Chloe.
Chloe suggested
that we had /
should have
sushi that night.

47. Direct speech Indirect speech
Suggestions
“Why don’t we
recycle more?”
said Liam.
Liam suggested
that we should
recycle more.

48. Reporting verbs and
structures

49. Direct speech Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + (not)
+ to + infinitive…
agree / offer / promise / refuse / threaten

50. Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
He refused to leave the house.

51. Direct speech Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb
+indirect object + (not) + to +
infinitive…
advise / ask / encourage / invite / order/
persuade / recommend / remind / tell / warn

52. Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The weatherman warned us to
expect a storm that night.

53. Direct speech Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + (not)
+ verb -ing…
apologize for / deny / recommend / suggest

54. Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The paparazzi apologized for
harassing the actress.

55. Direct speech Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + (that)
+ subject + verb…
add / admit / agree / announce / claim /
complain / declare / deny / explain / insist /
mention / predict / promise / reply / reveal /
say / state / suggest

56. Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The man admitted that he had
stolen the money.

57. Direct speech Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb +
indirect object + (that) +
subject + verb…
persuade / remind / tell / warn

58. Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Max reminded me that he was
going out that night.

59. Direct speech Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
Subject + reporting verb + if /
whether / wh-word + subject +
verb…
ask / enquire / question / wonder / want to
know

60. Indirect speech
Reporting verbs
The actor wondered whether he
would win a prize at the awards
ceremony that night.

61. Marga Renedo Gómez