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Languages · 06 / 06

Reported speech and reference points

High school · intermediate · Worked example and 4 exercises with solutions, at your pace.

Need a foundation?English tenses: meaning before triggersReading comprehension: overview to evidence
UnderstandSee an exampleGuided exercise3 progressive challenges

The principle, simply

Reported speech adapts another speaker’s words to pronouns and context. Past reporting verbs often trigger backshift, but continuing truth and speaker intent matter. Reported questions use declarative word order. Today and here need not change if context is unchanged.

THE PICTURE TO REMEMBERReported speech and reference points
  1. 01Speaker
  2. 02Pronouns and context
  3. 03Appropriate tense
  4. 04Declarative order

WORKED EXAMPLE

From principle to reasoning

“I am tired,” she said often becomes She said that she was tired. “Where do you live?” becomes He asked where I lived, without question inversion.

Solve a problem in this subject

  1. Understand the task

    Identify audience, purpose and register. Read for overall meaning before finding evidence for each comprehension answer.

  2. Prepare simple ideas

    Use keywords and an outline. A clear sentence you control is better than a complex construction you do not understand.

  3. Produce and check

    Check tense, agreement, pronouns and connectors. Infer unfamiliar words from context, then verify in a reliable dictionary.

  4. Recall and reuse

    Close notes and paraphrase aloud. Turn corrections into question-answer cards and use expressions in new sentences.

YOUR TURN

01 · Try before checking

Report “I can swim,” he said in a past context.

One hint

Adapt subject and modal.

Reveal and understand the solution

He said that he could swim is usual here. Can may remain appropriate when asserting current ability.

Compare method, conditions and answer; identify the exact part to revisit.

IMPROVE THROUGH PRACTICE

Three additional challenges with solutions

Start with the first challenge. Write your method before opening a hint; use the solution to find the first step that needs work.

Reflect after practising
02 · Recognise and understandLink to this exercise

Report “I am tired” after he said.

A hint to get started

Adjust pronouns and tense for past reporting.

Step-by-step solution
  1. He said that he was tired.
  2. I becomes he; am becomes was under usual backshift.
  3. If still true, some contexts allow is, though school exercises often expect was.

Which step did you miss? Retry without help, then explain why the method works.

03 · Apply the methodLink to this exercise

Report “Where do you live?” after She asked me…

A hint to get started

Indirect questions use statement word order.

Step-by-step solution
  1. She asked me where I lived.
  2. Do disappears and the subject precedes the verb.
  3. Where did I live would retain direct-question order.

Which step did you miss? Retry without help, then explain why the method works.

04 · Go furtherLink to this exercise

Report Anna’s “I will call you tomorrow” on the following day.

A hint to get started

Tomorrow is relative to the original speaking time.

Step-by-step solution
  1. Anna said that she would call me the next day.
  2. Will becomes would; tomorrow becomes the next day here.
  3. Pronouns depend on who reports and whom Anna addressed.

Which step did you miss? Retry without help, then explain why the method works.

The trap to avoid

Mechanical transformations ignore speaker, time and place.

Without notes, can you…

  • Explain the principle in your own words?
  • Rebuild the diagram and its connections?
  • Solve the exercise and justify the method?

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