UNIT 10. Reporting Speech

Reported speech is the exact meaning of what someone said, but not the exact words. We do not use quotation marks. The word that can either be used or omitted after the introductory verb (say tell, suggest, etc). He said (that) he would come home before 9 o'clock.

Say - Tell

say + no personal object She said she was very angry.

say + to + personal object She said to us she was very angry

tell + personal object She told us she was very angry.

Expressions used with say, tell and ask.

Say	hello, good morning/afternoon, etc, something/ nothing, so, a prayer, a few words, no more, for certain/sure, etc
Tell	the truth, a lie, a story, a secret, a joke, the time, the difference, one from another, somebody one's name, somebody the way, somebody so, someone's fortune, etc
Ask	a question, a favour, the price, after somebody, the time, around, for something/somebody, etc

Reported Statements

• In reported speech, personal/possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives change according to the meaning of the sentence.

Peter said, "I'm having my car serviced." (Direct statement)

Peter said (that) he was having his car serviced. (reported statement)

• We can report someone's words either a long time after they were said (out-of-date reporting) or a short time after they were said (up-to-date reporting).