Reported Speech

Reported Speech dalam bahasa Indonesia dikenal sebagai Kalimat Langsung (direct Speech) dan Kalimat tak Langsung (indirect Speech).

Reported Speech (Indirect Speech)

If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but reported (indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech. The structure is a little different depending on whether you want to transform a statement, question or request.

Statements

• When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:

·         pronouns

·         present tense verbs (3rd person singular)

·         place and time expressions

·         tenses (backshift)

Pronouns

• In reported speech, you often have to change the pronoun depending on who says what.

Example

She says, “My mum doesn’t have time today.” – She says that her mum doesn’t have time today.

Tenses

No backshift

• Do not change the tense if the introductory clause is in Simple Present (e. g. He says). Note, however, that you might have to change the form of the present tense verb (3rd person singular).

Example

He says, “I speak English.” – He says that he speaks English.

Backshift

• You must change the tense if the introductory clause is in Simple Past (e. g. He said). This is called backshift.

Example:

Example

He said, “I am happy.” – He said that he was happy.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Simple Present	Simple Past
Present Continuos	Past Continuous
Simple Past	Past Perfect
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
Past Progresive	Past Perfect Progressive
Past Perfect Progressive
Future (going to)	Was/were going to
Future (will)	Conditional 1 (would)
Conditional 1 (would)

• The verbs could, should, would, might, must, needn’t, ought to, used to do not normally change.

Example:

He said, “She might be right.” – He said that she might be right.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
today	that day
now	then
yesterday	the day before
… days ago	… days before
last week	the week before
next year	the following year
tomorrow	the next day / the following day
here	there
this	that
these	those
today	that day

Questions

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

• pronouns

• present tense verbs (3rd person singular)

• place and time expressions

• tenses (backshift)

Also note that you have to:

transform the question into an indirect question

Besides, note that instead of ‚that‘ you use the interrogative. If there is no interrogative, use ‚whether‘ / ‚if‘.

	Direct Speech	Reported Speech
statement	He said: “She lives in London.“	He said that she lived in London
question with interrogative	He asked:“Where does she live?“	He asked where she lived.
question without interrogative	He asked: “Does she live in London?“	He asked whether she lived in London. He asked if she lived in London.

It is also important that you use an indirect question in reported speech, i.e. after the interrogative or ‚whether‘ / ‚if‘ you continue the sentence as if it were a statement (subject-verb etc.). The auxiliary verb ‚do‘ is not used in indirect questions.

Example:

He asked: “Where does she live?“ – He asked where she lived.

Requests

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

pronouns

place and time expressions

For pronouns and place / time expressions see statements in reported speech. Tenses are not relevant for requests – simply use ‚to‘ + infinite verb.

Example:

She said, “Say hello to your mum.“ – She asked me to say hello to my mum.

For negative requests, use ‚not to‘ + infinite verb.

Example:

He said, “Don’t give up, Bob.“ – He advised Bob not to give up.

Type	Example
direct speech	“Carol, speak English.“
reported speech	He told Carol to speak English.

Additional Information and Exeptions

Apart from the above mentioned basic rules, there are further aspects that you should keep in mind, for example:

main clauses connected with and / but

tense of the introductory clause

reported speech for difficult tenses

exeptions for backshift

requests with must, should, ought to and let’s

Main Clauses connected with and / but

·         If two complete main clauses are connected with ‚and‘ or ‚but‘, put ‚that‘ after the conjunction.

Example:

He said,“I saw her but she didn’t see me.“ – He said that he had seen her but that she hadn’t seen him.“

·         If the subject is left out in the second main clause (the conjunction is followed by a verb), do not use ‚that‘.

Example:

She said,“I am a nurse and work in a hospital.“ – He said that she was a nurse and worked in a hospital.“

Tense of the Introductory Clause

·         The introductory clause usually is in Past Tense.

Example:

He said that …

·         Present Tense is often used to report a conversation that is still going on, e. g. during a phone call or while reading a letter.

Example:

“I am fine.“ – Tom says / writes that he is fine.

·         The introductory clause can also be in another tense. In the following table you can see, for which tense of the introductory clause you have to use backshift in reported speech.

No Backshift if introductory clause is in …	Backshift if introductory clause is in …
Simple Present (He says …) Present Perfect (He has said …) Future I will (He will say …) Future I going to (He is going to say …)	Simple Past (He said …) Past Perfect (He had said …) Future II ( He will have said …) Conditional I (He would say …) Conditional II (He would have said …)

Exceptions

·         Backshift of Simple Present is optional if the situation is still unchanged or if you agree with the original speaker.

Beispiel:

“Canberra is the capital of Australia.“

She said that Canberra is / was the capital of Australia.

·         Backshift of Simple Past and Past Progressive is optional if they cannot be mistakenly taken for backshift of Present Tense. So backshift is not necessary if there is a time expression indicating past.

Example:

“She left Boston on Monday.“

He said that she left / had left Boston on Monday.

·         Simple Past and Past Progressive do not normally change in sentences with when / if.

Example:

“When I was having breakfast, the telephone suddenly rang.“

She said that when she was having breakfast, the telephone suddenly rang.

Example:

“If I had more time, I would learn French.“

He said that if he had more time, he would learn French.

Requests

·         The basic rule for requests is: introductory clause + ‚to‘ + infinite verb.

Example:

“Say hello to your mum.“

She asked me to say hello to my mum.

·         Advise expressions with must, should and ought are usually reported using advise / urge.

Example:

“You must read that book.“

He advised / urged me to read that book.

·         The expression let’s is usually reported using suggest. In this case, there are various possibilities for reported speech: gerund or statement with should.

Example:

“Let’s go to the cinema.“

He suggested going to the cinema.

He suggested that we should go.to the cinema.

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