Reported Speech

Dear all,

A recap of the important points for reported speech.

Reported speech involves the reporting of a direct to indirect statement or vice versa.

A direct speech is one in which someone says something to you. It is always within the open and close inverted commas (Either through a statement or question). An indirect speech is one in which you report what someone says.

The key skills for Direct to Indirect speech are:

1. Identify the tense of the verb OUTSIDE the speech first.

2. If the tense is in the present form, DO NOT change of the tenses in your answers.

3. If the tense is in the past tense form, make sure you change the tenses in your answers (Present -> Past, Past -> Past Perfect, Past Perfect to remain as it is)

4. Apply the PPTT skill (Place, Pronoun, Time, Tense). This will help you identify the words to be changed. You do not need to change every single word. Only the words which apply for PPTT.

5. If the direct speech is in a question form, identify if the question is Yes/No? If it is, you have to start your answer with 'if'.

Example

Q. "Did you do your work yesterday?" Tom asked me. [Yes/No type of question]

Pronouns - you, your (2)
Place - (0)
Time - yesterday (1)
Tense - did do (2)

The number of PPTT you have identified should match up against what you have identified in the given direct speech.

Answer:
Tom asked me if I had done my work the previous day.

Indirect to Direct speech

You are simply required to work in the opposite way from a direct to indirect speech. In this case, you have to apply the PPTT skill too.

Example.

Q. Tom asked me if I had eaten my food just then. (the word 'if' tells you it is a yes/no question)

Pronouns - I, my (2)
Place - (0)
Time - just then (2)
Tense - had eaten (2)

Answer:
"Did you eat your food just now?" Tom asked me.

or

"Have you eaten your food just now?" Tom asked me.

Homework:
Grammar Exercise 1.10 [Questions 1-5]
S & T Extra Practice [Questions 1-3]

Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong