Reported speech

Reported speech

Косвенная речь

• Reported speech is usually used to talk about the past. So we normally change the tense of the words spoken.
• We use verbs like “ say ”, “ tell ”, “ ask ” and we may use the word “that” to introduce the reported words.

She said, “I saw him.”- direct speech

She said that she had seen him- reported speech

“ That ” may be omitted.(опущено)

She told him (that) she was happy.

“ say” and “tell”

Use “say” when there is no indirect object:

He said that he was tired.

Always use “tell” when you say who was being spoken to (with an indirect object):

He told me that he was tired.

direct speech

reported speech

present simple →

past simple

Brenda said :”I walk to school every day. I live near the school.”

Brenda told me she walked to school every day because she lived near the school .

present continuous →

past continuous

“ I’ m going to a party tomorrow.”

She said she was going to a party the following day.

past perfect

past simple /present perfect/

She said they had been to Oxford the day before.

past perfect →

“ We went to Oxford yesterday.”

She told me she hadn’t been to Hyde Park yet.

She said she hadn’t been there a week when she met an old friend.

“ I haven’t been to Hyde Park yet.”

“ I hadn’t been here a week when I met an old friend.”

would

will →

can →

could

must →

had to

shall →

should

may →

might

In the transformation form direct speech to reported speech, the following things change :

personal pronouns

possessive adjectives and pronouns

I → he/she

my → his/her

you → I, we

your → my, our

we → they

our → their

me → him/her

mine → his/hers

you → me, us

yours → mine, ours

ours → theirs

us → them

adverbs and expressions of time Когда мы используем косвенную речь мы заменяем выражения

now → then

today → that day

tonight → that night/that evening

yesterday →the day before, the previous day

tomorrow →the following/next day, the day after

last Sunday → the previous Sunday

next week →the following week

В косвенной речи мы меняем следующие выражения

demonstratives

adverbs of place and position

this → that

here → there

these → those