REPORTED SPEECH

Written By : Ria Khoirunnisa

What is reported speech?

 

Reported speech is the transformation of a direct speech sentence into an indirect speech sentence. Reported speech is how we represent the speech of other people or what we ourselves say. There are two main types of reported speech: direct speech and indirect speech. In general, reported speech involves:

·        Omitting quotation marks.

·        Changes capital letters at the beginning of sentences in direct speech to lowercase letters.

·        Use 'that', 'whether or not' or 'if', especially for 'yes/no' questions.

·        Changes the time reference.

When direct speech is changed to reported speech, the tense of the sentence is typically altered to another form. Here are the rules for the change:

 

·        Present continuous tense → past continuous tense.

·        Simple future tense → past future tense.

·        Simple past tense → simple perfect tense.

·        Past continuous tense → perfect continuous tense.

·        Will → Would or Got to.

·        May → Might.

Change of time reference in reported speech:

·        Here → there

·        Last month → the month before

·        Next month → the month later

·        Now → at that point

·        Today → that day

·        Yesterday → the day before

·        Tomorrow → on a daily basis later

·        Two days went → 2 days before.

 

 

Type of Reported Speech

1. Statement

The sentence in the form of a statement is changed by adding the word 'said/said' or 'tell/told' after that the word 'that' is added as a connector with the formula:

Subject + said/told + that + clause

 

Example:

• Direct Speech: I am living in London | Reported Speech: She said (that) she was living in London.

 

2. Command, Invitation, Request

An imperative sentence can be a command, invitation, or request. This type of indirect speech usually adds the word 'asked' and adds 'to' or 'not to' with a formula:

 

Subject + told/asked + object+ to/not to + verb

 

Example:

• Direct speech: Please facilitate me. | Reported request: She asked Me to help her.

• Direct request: Would you mind coming early tomorrow? | Reported request: She asked Me to come back early the following day.

 

3.  Yes/no questions

Yes/no questions Direct speech in the form of yes/no questions can be turned into reported speech by adding the word if or whether or not after the reporting clause with the formula:

Subject + asked/wanted to know + if/whether + clause

Example:

• Direct Question: “Do you fancy the dinner?” | Reported question: He asked me if I enjoyed the dinner.

• Apart from requests, orders can also be turned into indirect sentences, here are some examples:

• Direct order: attend bed! | Reported order: He told the child to jaunt the bed.

4. Question

A 5W+1H question sentence can be turned into indirect speech with the formula:

Subject + asked/wanted to know + question word (5W+1H) + clause

Not only statements, a question turned into an indirect speech will also turn into a statement.

Example:

• Direct question: where does one live? | Reported question: She asked Me where I lived.

• Direct question: where is Julie? | Reported question: She asked Me where Julie was.

Source:

• Talitha, T. Pengertian, Rumus, Contoh Reported Speech. Gramedia Blog. Pengertian, Rumus, Contoh Reported Speech – Gramedia Literasi

• Peter. Reported Speech. Learn English - British Council. https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/reported-speech

• Dictionary Cambridge. Reported Speech. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/reported-speech_2