Grammar Unit 4

Unit 4:

We use reported speech to report what another person has said, without quoting their exact words.

Reported statements: tense changes

When we convert direct speech into reported speech, we change the tense of the main verb by putting it one step further into the past.

Direct Speech:

-Present simple (I go)

-Present continuous (I’m going)

-Present perfect simple (I have gone)

-Past simple (I went)

-Will (I will go)

-Can (I can go)

-Must (I must go)

 

Reported speech:

-Past simple (I went)

-Past continuous (I was going)

-Past perfect simple (I had gone)

-Past perfect simple (I had gone)

-Would (I would go)

-Could (I could go)

-Had to (I had to go) 

 

Reported statements: other changes

- Most modal verbs do not change.

- Pronouns usually change.

- Expressions of time and place usually change:

DIRECT SPEECH -Here -This -These -Now -Next week -Today -Tonight -Tomorrow -Yesterday -Last week

REPORTED SPEECH -There -That -Those -Then -The following week -That day -That night -The following day -The day before -The week before