Language

Language Check
REPORTED SPEECH
We can report what people say with direct speech (in inverted commas) or reported speech. Look at these at the examples and note the changes in tenses,pronouns, punctuation and word order.
1 “It has become completely overwhelming”, say Sheryl Battles.
2 He said that there had been a significant increase over the last few years in hisoffice.

Now look at the following examples and complete the table.

example | direct speech | reported speech |
1 "Why are you late?" | present simple | past simple |
He askedme why I was late. |   |   |
2 "We are trying to manage." |   |   |
He said they were trying to manage. |   |   |
3 "I booked it last week." |   |   |
He said he had booked itlast week. |   |   |
4 "Have you been to Spain?" |   |   |
She asked if I'd been to Spain. |   |   |
5 "I won't be able to come." |   |   |
She said he wouldn't be able to come. |  |   |
6 "We can come tomorrow." |   |   |
They said they could come tomorrow. |   |   |

Language Check
REPORTED SPEECH

example | direct speech | reported speech |
1 "I workin the garden." | Present simple | Past simple |
He said that he worked in the garden. |   |   |
2 Mr. Phillips is leaving the office now". | Present Continuous | Present Continuous|
She said Mr. Phillips was leaving the office at that moment. |   |   |
3 “I bought a car” |  Past simple |  Past Perfect |
She said she had bought a car. |   |   |
4 “Have youever been to Mexico?” |  Present perfect |  Present perfect |
She asked me if I had ever been to Mexico. |   |   |
5 "My dad won't let me go to the party". | Will (Won’t) | Would(Wouldn’t) |
She said that her father wouldn't let her go to the party. |   |   |
6 "I can stay here until Saturday" | Can | Could |
He said he could stay there until Saturday. |   |   |