reported speech exercises dialogue

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B1-B2 grammar

Reported speech

Daisy has just had an interview for a summer job.

Instructions

As you watch the video, look at the examples of reported speech. They are in red in the subtitles. Then read the conversation below to learn more. Finally, do the grammar exercises to check you understand, and can use, reported speech correctly.

Sophie: Mmm, it’s so nice to be chilling out at home after all that running around.

Ollie: Oh, yeah, travelling to glamorous places for a living must be such a drag!

Ollie: Mum, you can be so childish sometimes. Hey, I wonder how Daisy’s getting on in her job interview.

Sophie: Oh, yes, she said she was having it at four o’clock, so it’ll have finished by now. That’ll be her ... yes. Hi, love. How did it go?

Daisy: Well, good I think, but I don’t really know. They said they’d phone later and let me know.

Sophie: What kind of thing did they ask you?

Daisy: They asked if I had any experience with people, so I told them about helping at the school fair and visiting old people at the home, that sort of stuff. But I think they meant work experience.

Sophie: I’m sure what you said was impressive. They can’t expect you to have had much work experience at your age.

Daisy: And then they asked me what acting I had done, so I told them that I’d had a main part in the school play, and I showed them a bit of the video, so that was cool.

Sophie: Great!

Daisy: Oh, and they also asked if I spoke any foreign languages.

Sophie: Languages?

Daisy: Yeah, because I might have to talk to tourists, you know.

Sophie: Oh, right, of course.

Daisy: So that was it really. They showed me the costume I’ll be wearing if I get the job. Sending it over ...

Ollie: Hey, sis, I heard that Brad Pitt started out as a giant chicken too! This could be your big break!

Daisy: Ha, ha, very funny.

Sophie: Take no notice, darling. I’m sure you’ll be a marvellous chicken.

We use reported speech when we want to tell someone what someone said. We usually use a reporting verb (e.g. say, tell, ask, etc.) and then change the tense of what was actually said in direct speech.

So, direct speech is what someone actually says? Like 'I want to know about reported speech'?

Yes, and you report it with a reporting verb.

He said he wanted to know about reported speech.

I said, I want and you changed it to he wanted .

Exactly. Verbs in the present simple change to the past simple; the present continuous changes to the past continuous; the present perfect changes to the past perfect; can changes to could ; will changes to would ; etc.

She said she was having the interview at four o’clock. (Direct speech: ' I’m having the interview at four o’clock.') They said they’d phone later and let me know. (Direct speech: ' We’ll phone later and let you know.')

OK, in that last example, you changed you to me too.

Yes, apart from changing the tense of the verb, you also have to think about changing other things, like pronouns and adverbs of time and place.

'We went yesterday.' > She said they had been the day before. 'I’ll come tomorrow.' > He said he’d come the next day.

I see, but what if you’re reporting something on the same day, like 'We went yesterday'?

Well, then you would leave the time reference as 'yesterday'. You have to use your common sense. For example, if someone is saying something which is true now or always, you wouldn’t change the tense.

'Dogs can’t eat chocolate.' > She said that dogs can’t eat chocolate. 'My hair grows really slowly.' > He told me that his hair grows really slowly.

What about reporting questions?

We often use ask + if/whether , then change the tenses as with statements. In reported questions we don’t use question forms after the reporting verb.

'Do you have any experience working with people?' They asked if I had any experience working with people. 'What acting have you done?' They asked me what acting I had done .

Is there anything else I need to know about reported speech?

One thing that sometimes causes problems is imperative sentences.

You mean like 'Sit down, please' or 'Don’t go!'?

Exactly. Sentences that start with a verb in direct speech need a to + infinitive in reported speech.

She told him to be good. (Direct speech: 'Be good!') He told them not to forget. (Direct speech: 'Please don’t forget.')

OK. Can I also say 'He asked me to sit down'?

Yes. You could say 'He told me to …' or 'He asked me to …' depending on how it was said.

OK, I see. Are there any more reporting verbs?

Yes, there are lots of other reporting verbs like promise , remind , warn , advise , recommend , encourage which you can choose, depending on the situation. But say , tell and ask are the most common.

Great. I understand! My teacher said reported speech was difficult.

And I told you not to worry!

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Prepositions
Compound Words
Infinitives
Participles
Interchanges
Conjunctions
Interjections
Subject & Predicate
Phrasal Verbs
Sentence Patterns
Idioms and Phrases
Spot the Errors
Punctuations
American & British
Questions Tags
Reported Speech
Abbreviations & Acronyms
Rephrasing of Sentences
Syllabification
Types of Sentences
Direct & Indirect
Degrees of Comparison
Prefix & Suffixes
Figures of Speech
Relative Clause
REPORTED SPEECH
General Rules in Speech
Reported Speech Examples
Reported Speech Exercises
My Vote For Reported Speech
Good Average

Dialogue Reporting Exercises

Change into Indirect Speech

I. Statements:

1. He says, “Switzerland is the heaven on earth.” : He said that Switzerland is the heaven on earth.
2. The Shopkeeper says, “Prices are shooting up alarmingly.” : The shopkeeper says that prices are shooting up alarmingly.
3. She said, “Nobody can solve the problem.” : she said that nobody could solve the problem.
4. Antony said, “Martin has gone home.” : Antony said that Martin had gone home.
5. She said, “I shall be taking a test.” : She said that she would be taking a test.

II. Questions (Auxiliary & WH-Questions):

1. The man said, “Is your father at home?” : The man asked me whether my father was at home.
2. The clerk asked his manager, “Shall I email this letter again, Sir?” : The clerk asked his manager politely if he should email that letter again.
3. She said, “Will you tell me what it means, David?” : She asked David if he would tell her what it meant.
4. She said to me, “How have you done this sum?rdquo; : She asked me how I had done that sum.
5. The policeman said to the stranger, “Who are you? Where do you come from?” : The policeman enquired the stranger who he was and where he came from.

III. Imperatives & Exclamatory Sentences:

1. The wolf said to the lamb, “Don’t make the water muddy.” : The wolf commanded the lumb not to make the water dirty.
2. The old man said, “Thief! Thief! Catch him!” : The old man shouted to the crowd to catch the thief.
3. “Ooh! what a dirty child!” said the nurse. : The nurse exclaimed disgustedly that the child was very dirty.
4. The accused said to the judge, “Let me meet my family before I die, sir.rdquo; : The accused begged the judge to allow him to meet his children before he died.
5. The on-lookers said, “Bravo! Good hit, Jems!” : The on-lookers applauded Jems for his good hit.

Report the Following Dialogue:

Customer	Can I have a cigarette, please?
Saleswoman	Of course, but you cannot smoke here.
Customer	What?
Saleswoman	Yes sir, smoking is prohibited here.
Customer	That’s funny. You sell cigarettes in here, but you prohibit smoking?
Saleswoman	( ) We also sell bath towels here, sir.

: A man who has just bought a cigarette in a departmental store was warned by the saleswoman not to smoke there. The agitated customer retorted by saying that it was odd that the store that sold cigarettes prohibited smoking. The saleswoman smilingly said that they also sold bath towels there.