Level 11: Unit 9 Online Practice Exercises

UNIT 9

1. STATEMENTS IN REPORTED SPEECH

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

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

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Simple Present	Simple Past
Present Progressive	Past Progressive
Simple Past	Past Perfect Simple
Present Perfect Simple	Past Perfect Simple

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Past Perfect Simple	Past Perfect Progressive
Past Progressive
Present Perfect Progressive
Past Perfect Progressive
Future I (going to)	was / were going to
Future I (will)	Conditional I (would)
Conditional I (would)	Conditional I (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.

Place and Time expressions

For place and time expressions you have to check whether place and time are the same in direct and reported speech or not.

Check out the following example:

It is Friday and you meet James at a restaurant. James tells you that he saw Caroline in this restaurant today. (“I saw Caroline here today.”) A few minutes later, Helen joins you and you want to report what James has told you. Place (here) and time (today) are the same and you can say:

→ James said that he had seen Caroline here today.

One day later, you meet Mary at the same restaurant. Again, you want to report to her what James has told you. The place is the same, but not the time (it happened yesterday). So you would say:

→ James said that he had seen Caroline here yesterday.

Still a few days later, Tom rings you at home. Again, you want to report to him what James has told you. However, now you are not at the restaurant (but at home) and a few days have passed since then. So you would say:

→ James said that he had seen Caroline at the restaurant on Friday.

other

→ I met James in a restaurant on Friday and he said that he had seen Caroline there that day.

Therefore you always have to think which place and time expressions are logical in a certain situation.

In the following table, you will find ways of transforming place and time expressions into reported speech.

Direct Speech	Reported 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

Online Exercises

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/reported_speech/statements.htm

http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_reported1.htm

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech/exercises?05

2. REPORTED QUESTIONS

Questions

If you put a question into Reported speech there are some steps which are the same like in statements: (changing of the person, backshift of tenses, changing of expressions of time).

In Reported speech there is no question anymore, the sentence becomes a statement.

That's why the word order is: subject – verb

Question without question words (yes/no questions):

Peter: "Do you play football?" - Peter asked me whether (if) I played football.

Question with question words:

Peter: "When do you play football?" - Peter asked me when I played football.

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

ü pronouns

ü present tense verbs (3rd person singular)

ü place and time expressions

ü tenses (backshift)

Also note that you have to:

ü transform the question into an indirect question

ü use the interrogative or if / whether

Type		Example
with interrogative	direct speech	“Why don’t you speak English?”
with interrogative	reported speech	He asked me why I didn’t speak English.
without interrogative	direct speech	“Do you speak English?”
without interrogative	reported speech	He asked me whether / if I spoke English.

3. QUESTIONS IN REPORTED SPEECH

For pronouns, tenses and place / time expressions see statements in reported speech.

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.

Online Exercises

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/reported_speech/questions.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/reported_speech/questions2.htm

4. REPORTING REQUESTS

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

ü pronouns

ü place and time expressions