Page 106 - English Grammar in Use

Unit
47 Reported speech 1 (he said that …)

A Study this example situation:
You saw Paul yesterday and you want to tell somebody
what he said.
There are two ways of doing this:

I’m feeling ill. You can repeat Paul’s words (direct speech):
Paul said, ‘I’m feeling ill.’
Or you can use reported speech:
Paul said that he was feeling ill.

PAUL
Compare:

direct Paul said, ‘ I am feeling ill.’ In writing we use these quotation
marks to show direct speech.
reported Paul said that he was feeling ill.

B When we use reported speech, the main verb of the sentence is usually past (Paul said that … /
I told her that … etc.). The rest of the sentence is usually past too:
Paul said that he was feeling ill.
I told Lisa that I didn’t have any money.
You can leave out that. So you can say:
Paul said that he was feeling ill. or Paul said he was feeling ill.
In general, the present in direct speech changes to the past in reported speech:
am/is → was do/does → did will → would
are → were have/has → had can → could
want/like/know/go etc. → wanted/liked/knew/went etc.
See also Unit 48A.
Compare direct and reported speech:

You met Anna. Here are some of Later you tell somebody what Anna said.
the things she said in direct speech: You use reported speech:
I’ve lost my phone. Anna said that she had lost her phone.
I want to buy a car. She said that she wanted to buy a car.
She said that she couldn’t come to
I can’t come to the party on
Friday. the party on Friday.
She said that she didn’t have much
I don’t have much free time.
free time.
My parents are fine. She said that her parents were fine.
I’m going away for a few days. She said that she was going away for a
I’ll phone you when I get back. few days and would phone me when
ANNA
she got back.

C The past simple (did/saw/knew etc.) can stay the same in reported speech, or you can change it to the
past perfect (had done / had seen / had known etc.):
direct Paul said: ‘I woke up feeling ill, so I didn’t go to work.’
reported Paul said (that) he woke up feeling ill, so he didn’t go to work. or
Paul said (that) he had woken up feeling ill, so he hadn’t gone to work.

94 Reported speech 2 ➜ Unit 48 Reported questions ➜ Unit 50B