Reported Speech Variations in English part 1
1 like256 views
The document discusses the rules for reporting speech in indirect or reported speech. Some of the key points covered include: 1) For imperatives, the verb form stays the same but the messenger and recipient are mentioned, such as "Conrad told his sister to stop crying and do the dishes." 2) Pronouns need to be adjusted to properly convey who said what to whom. 3) When reporting negative imperatives, "not to" is used instead of "to don't", such as "Ben told Luke not to point the light saber at his face."
Reported Speech Variations in English part 1
- 1. Reported Speech in all of its fascinating variations.
- 2. Turn off the lights.
- 4. Take your shoes off.
- 5. Bring me my beer.
- 6. Imperative Do this..... Don't do that... and bla bla...
- 8. "Just stop crying like a baby and do the stupid dishes." A. For imperatives, we report by using "tell" and "to". B. We mention the messenger and the recipient. C. Tense and verb forms stay exactly the same. Conrad told his sister to stop crying and do the stupid dishes.
- 9. Get that corn out of my face!!!
- 10. "Get that corn out of my face!" D. Pronouns must be adjusted to properly communicate who said what to whom. He told his friend to get that corn out of his face. He told me to get that corn out of his face. I told him to get that corn out of my face.
- 12. "Don't point that at your face, Luke." E. When reporting negative imperatives, "to don't..." doesn't exist, and is an error easily noticed by everyone. The correct way is to say "not to". Ben told Luke not to point the light saber at his face. I told Luke not to point the light saber at his face. He told me not to point the light saber at my face (but I'm dead now, so I guess it really doesn't matter).
- 13. Statements and Information "Yeah... he really said that..."
- 14. I'm working.
- 15. I don't like your glasses.
- 17. "Houston, something is wrong." A. We say "tell" or "say" to report a statement that someone made or information that someone shared. Using "tell" requires a messenger and recipient. Using "say" does not require the mention of recipient. B. We can use "that" to connect the original speaker to the statement made, but the use is (optional). C. The verb must be converted to past tense. The confused astronaut told Houston (that) something was wrong. He said something was wrong.
- 18. Dad wants me to look pretty for my grandma.
- 19. But I don't give a CRAP about what grandma thinks! Dad wants me to look pretty for my grandma.
- 20. "Dad wants me to look pretty for my grandma." D. Pronouns must be adjusted to properly communicate who said what to whom. Eustreberta said (that) her dad wanted her to look pretty for her grandma. She told me her dad wanted her to look pretty for her grandma. I told Bob my dad wanted me to look pretty for my grandma.
- 21. "Dad wants me to look pretty for my grandma. But I don't give a crap about what grandma thinks." E. The use of "that" is not optional when reporting a second statement in the same report. Eustreberta said her dad wanted her to look pretty for her grandma, but that she didn't give a crap about what her grandma thought.
- 22. My new trova disc will be out next week... if you like what you're hearing.
- 23. My new trova disc will be out next week... if you like what you're hearing.
- 24. "My new trova disc will be out next week... if you like what you're hearing." F. When reporting a statement originally made in future tense with "will", you must convert the "will" to "would". You must make any adjustments to properly communicate any time periods mentioned. He said his new trova disc would be out a week later, if anyone liked what they were hearing. I told them my new trova disc would be out the following week, if any of them liked what they were hearing.