REPORTED SPEECH PRACTICE

When we report someone’s words we can do it in two ways. We can use direct speech with quotation marks (“I work in a bank”), or we can use reported speech (He said he worked in a bank.)

In reported speech the tenses, word-order and pronouns may be different from those in the original sentence.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Present Simple	Past Simple
Play "He's American," she said.	Play She said he was American.
Play "I'm happy to see you," Mary said.	Play Mary said that she was happy to see me.
Play He asked, "Are you busy tonight?"	Play He asked me if I was busy that night.
Present Continuous	Past Continuous
Play Dan is living in San Francisco," she said.	Play She said Dan was living in San Francisco.
Play He said, "I'm making dinner."	Play He told me that he was making dinner.
Play "Why are you working so hard?" they asked.	Play They asked me why I was working so hard.
Past Simple	Past Perfect Simple
Play "We went to the movies last night," he said.	Play He told me they had gone to the movies the night before.
Play "Greg said, "I didn't go to work yesterday."	Play Greg said that he hadn't gone to work the day before.
Play "Did you buy a new car?" she asked.	Play She asked me if I had bought a new car.
Past Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
Play "I was working late last night," Vicki said.	Play Vicki told me she'd been working late the night before.
Play They said, "we weren't waiting long."	Play They said that they hadn't been waitinglong.
Play " He asked, "were you sleeping when I called?"	Play He asked if I'd been sleeping when he called.
Present Perfect Simple	Past Perfect Simple
Play "Heather said, "I've already eaten."	Play Heather told me that she'd already eaten.
Play "We haven't been to China," they said.	Play They said they hadn't been to China.
Play "Have you worked here before?" I asked.	Play I asked her whether she'd worked therebefore.
Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
Play  "I've been studying English for two years,"he said.	Play He said he'd been studying English for two years.
Play " Steve said, "we've been dating for over a year now."	Play Steve told me that they'd been dating for over a year.
Play "Have you been waiting long?" they asked.	Play They asked whether I'd been waiting long.
Past Perfect Simple	Past Perfect Simple (*NO CHANGE)
Play "I'd been to Chicago before for work," he said.	Play He said that he'd been to Chicago before for work.
Past Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous (*NO CHANGE)
Play She said, "I'd been dancing for years before the accident."	Play She said she'd been dancing for years before the accident.

Nota: Cuando hablamos de algo que no ha cambiado (que sigue siendo cierto) o de algo en el futuro, no es necesario cambiar el tiempo verbal.

• Ejemplos:
• Play
  "I'm 30 years old," she said. → She said she is 30 years old.
• Play
  Dave said, "Kelly is sick." → Dave said Kelly is sick.
• Play
  "We are going to Tokyo next week," they said. → They said they are going to Tokyo next week.
• Play
  "I'll cut my hair tomorrow," Nina said. → Nina said she is cutting her hair tomorrow.

Modal Verbs (Los verbos modales)

El tiempo verbal cambia en el estilo indirecto también con algunos de los verbos modales.

Nota: Con "would", "could", "should", "might" y "ought to", el tiempo no cambia.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Will	Would
Play  "I'll go to the movies tomorrow," John said.	Play John said he would go to the moviesthe next day.
Play  "Will you help me move?" she asked.	Play She asked me if I would help her move.
Can	Could
Play  Debra said, "Allen can work tomorrow."	Play Debra said Allen could work the next day.
Play  "Can you open the window, please?", he asked.	Play He asked me if I could open the window.
Must	Had to
Play  "You must wear your seatbelt," mom said.	Play My mom said I had to wear my seatbelt.
Play  She said, "You must work tomorrow."	Play She said I had to work the next day.
Shall	Should
Play  "Shall we go to the beach today?" Tom asked.	Play Tom asked if we should go to the beach that day.
Play  "What shall we do tonight?" she asked.	Play She asked me what we should dothat night.
May	Might/Could
Play  Jane said, "I may not be in class tomorrow."	Play Jane said she might not be in classthe next day.
Play  the boy asked. "May I use the bathroom, please?" the boy asked.	Play The boy asked if he could use the bathroom.

Nota: A continuación tienes una tabla donde puedes observar los cambios que sufren las expresiones de tiempo cuando usamos el estilo indirecto.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
today	that day
tonight	that night
this week/month/year	that week/month/year
tomorrow	the next day
next week/month/year	the following week/month/year
yesterday	the day before/the previous day
last week/month/year	the day/month/year before o the previous day/month/year
now	then/at that moment
Otros cambios
here	there

Requests and commands are formed using the "to-infinitive" in statements and "not + to-infinitive" in negative statements. If we report somebody's commands, we use the verb told. If it's a request, the word used in the main clause is usually asked.

• He asked me to close the window.

Commands

• Go to bed!
• He told me to go to bed.

• Don't go to bed!
• He told me not to go to bed.

Requests

• Could you buy some eggs?
• She asked me to buy some eggs

• Don't buy any eggs please.
• She asked me not to buy any eggs.

FOLLOW THE LINKS TO PRACTISE:

Statements

Questions

More questions

Commands

Mixed

READING COMPREHENSION PRACTICE

Click HERE to practise different types of reading comprehension tests.

REVISION: CONDITIONALS

Click HERE to revise conditional sentences.

UNLESS, IN CASE, PROVIDED THAT, AS LONG AS, SO THAT

If, unless, in case, provided that, as long as, so that

1. If and unless
Unless means the same as if ... not. It always refer to the conditional part of the sentence and not the result part of the sentence:

If he doesn't get here soon, we will have to start the meeting without him.Unless he gets here soon, we will have to start the meeting without him.

We often use not + unless, which means only ... if, when we want to emphasize a condition:

They will only sign the contract if we give them an additional discount.They won't sign the contract unless we give them an additional discount.

2. If and in case
We use in case to talk about precautions we will take before a problem happens. We use if to talk about what we will do after a problem happens:

We are going to insure the shipment in case the goods get damaged in transit.
(We will take our insurance first; the problem may or may not happen afterward.)If the goods get damaged in transit, we'll make a claim.
(The damage may happen, and we will make a claim afterward.)

Note that that in sentence with in case, we often use going to rather than will because we are often talking about something that we have already decided to do.

3. Provided that vs as long as, etc.
We can use provided that/providing, as long as, and so long as when we want to emphasize condition. Provided that and as long as mean if and only if (providing and so long as are a little less formal):

I will agree to these conditions provided that they increase my salary.
(I will only agree if they give me more money.)
The strike will be successful as long as we all stay together.
(It will only succeed if we all stay together.)

4. So that
We use so that to say what the result or purpose of an action will be:

I'll take a credit card so that we don't run out of money.
(The credit card will stop us from running out of money)

REVISION: CAUSATIVE FORM

Revise the causative form. Click HERE

CONDITIONAL REPHRASING

REPHRASE USING DIFFERENT CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

1. I didn't go to Helen's party because she didn't invite me.

2. I don’t know if I’ll go to the beach. It depends on the rain.

3. Ann can’t buy a new car because she hasn’t got enough money.

4. You can get access to the Intranet only by having a password.

5. She feels lonely since she hasn't got any friends.

6. Carlos Sainz didn't win the Monte Carlo Rally because his car broke down.

7. Should you require more information, ask at the desk.

8. Jim missed the plane because he arrived late at the airport.

9. I don't have a modem, so I can't e-mail you.

10. I didn't send them a postcard because I didn't know their new address.

11. She isn't passing her exams because she isn't studying hard enough.

12. I'd like to buy a bigger flat, but I haven't got enough money.

13. I didn't get to the meeting on time because my car broke down.

14. You can attend the meeting as long as you are a club member.

15. The restaurant was full so we couldn't get a table.

16. Mixing these ingredients you can prepare a great recipe.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

Conditional Sentence Type 1

→ It is possible and also very likely that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form: if + Simple Present, will-Future

Example: If I find her address, I’ll send her an invitation.

more on Conditional Sentences Type I ►

Conditional Sentence Type 2

→ It is possible but very unlikely, that the condition will be fulfilled.
Form: if + Simple Past, Conditional I (= would + Infinitive)

Example: If I found her address, I would send her an invitation.

more on Conditional Sentences Type II ►

Conditional Sentence Type 3

→ It is impossible that the condition will be fulfilled because it refers to the past.
Form: if + Past Perfect, Conditional II (= would + have + Past Participle)

Example: If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation.

more on Conditional Sentences Type III ►