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Reported Speech Exercises Guide

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19 views4 pages

Reported Speech Exercises Guide

Uploaded by

Van Le
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

REPORTED SPEECH

(CÂU TƯỜNG THUẬT)

Exercise 1: Report the statements


0. ‘We’re worried about Peter,’ they said.
 They said (that) they were worried about Peter.
1. ‘I work in an office,’ Jane said.
 ........................................................................................................
2. The weather man said, ‘It’s going to rain.’
 ........................................................................................................
3. The motorists said, ‘We’re driving to a football match.’
 ........................................................................................................
4. ‘I’ve won the lottery!’ the old lady said.
 ........................................................................................................
5. ‘My friends don’t like visiting museums,’ Louise said.
 ........................................................................................................
6. The young boy said, ‘People will have holidays in space in the future.’
 ........................................................................................................
7. James said, ‘I broke my leg playing football.’
 ........................................................................................................
8. ‘We haven’t flown before,’ they said.
 ........................................................................................................

Exercise 2: Report the questions


0. ‘Are the banks open in the afternoon?’
 A couple asked me if / whether the banks were open in the afternoon.
1. ‘Do museums close on Sundays?’
 A young man asked me ................................................................................
2. ‘Are you waiting for a tourist bus?’
 A woman asked me ......................................................................................
3. ‘Did the waiter overcharge us?’
 Two friends asked me ..................................................................................
4. ‘Will a hotel be expensive?’
 A couple asked me .......................................................................................
5. ‘Has the flight from Bristol arrived?’
 A woman asked me ......................................................................................
6. ‘Is there a Bureau de Change nearby?’
 A man asked me ...........................................................................................
7. ‘Did you hear the platform number?’
 A man at the station asked me......................................................................
8. ‘Are we going to get a guided tour?’
 A woman outside the museum asked me .....................................................

1
Exercise 3: Report the Wh-questions
Examples: * “What is the time?” he asked.
He asked me what the time was.
* “Where do you live?” he asked Mary.
He wanted to know where Mary lived.
Do the same:
1. He asked, “How long does it take you to have lunch?”
....................................................................................................
2. He asked me, “What are you doing at the weekend?”
....................................................................................................
3. She asked, “Why are you late, Tom?”
....................................................................................................
4. My mother asked me, “Where is your umbrella?”
....................................................................................................
5. The secretary asked the man, “Who do you want to see, sir?”
....................................................................................................
6. The students asked, “What time does the bell ring?”
....................................................................................................
7. He asked Tom, “What kind of films do you like watching?”
.....................................................................................................
8. The teacher asked the girl, “When do you have to be home?”
....................................................................................................
9. They always asked, “Why don’t you let my cat in?”
....................................................................................................
10. The passengers asked, “When did the last train leave?”
....................................................................................................

Exercise 4: Report the commands and requests


0. ‘Please open the window for me,’ the woman asked the young man.
The woman asked the young man to open the window for her.
1. The manager said to his assistant, ‘Don’t be late for the meeting.’
...........................................................................................................
2. ‘Bring us the bill, please,’ the couple asked the waiter.
...........................................................................................................
3. ‘Open your mouth wide,’ the dentist told me.
...........................................................................................................
4. ‘Please turn the music down,’ they asked their neighbour.
...........................................................................................................
5. ‘Call me from the airport,’ Peter said to Dee.
...........................................................................................................
6. I asked my classmate, ‘Please go the the supermarket for me.”
...........................................................................................................
7. The mother told her children, ‘Don’t talk to
strangers.’ ...........................................................................................................

2
Exercise 5: Change to indirect speech
1. Bob says, “I want to play tennis this afternoon.”
....................................................................................................
2. John says, “I haven’t seen my grandmother for a long time.”
....................................................................................................
3. Cindy says to Alan, “Don’t come in with your dirty shoes.”
....................................................................................................
4. My father says, “Please, help me in the garden.”
....................................................................................................
5. “ Don’t wipe your dirty fingers on my clean table cloth.” says his mother.
....................................................................................................
6. “When does the bell ring?” asks John.
....................................................................................................
7. Sandy asks Danny, “Why didn’t you tell her the truth?”
....................................................................................................
8. “Did you post the letter?” asks Rachel.
....................................................................................................

Exercise 6: Report the statements


Laura wants to quit university and look for a job. Read what she said and how other people
responded.
0. ‘I want to leave university and find a job,’ said Laura.
Laura announced that she wanted to leave university and find a job.
1. ‘You should finish your degree first,’ said her tutor.
Her tutor advised ............................................................................................
2. ‘Please think carefully before you take such a big step,’ said her mother.
Her mother begged .........................................................................................
3. ‘You will never find a good job if you drop out,’ her father said.
Her father warned ...........................................................................................
4. ‘I’ll stop paying your rent if you leave university,’ he said.
He threatened .................................................................................................
5. ‘I’ll let you stay at my flat until you find a place to live,’ said her best friend.
Her best friend offered ....................................................................................
6. ‘I think you should ask your tutor for advice,’ said her sister.
Her sister suggested ........................................................................................
7. ‘I’ll buy you a car when you graduate,’ said her grandmother.
Her grandmother promised ............................................................................

Exercise 7: Some of these sentences are correct, and some have a word which should not be
there. If the sentence is correct, put a tick (/). If it is incorrect, cross the unnecessary word out of
the sentence and write it in the space.
 You promised you wouldn’t be late. /
 Susan thought ‘That I can’t understand what’s happening.” that

3
1. Do you know me what time the coach leaves? …………….
2. Robert wanted to know if did the price included breakfast. …………….
3. Anna insisted on showing us her photos. …………….
4. Someone asked us whether that we had eaten lunch. …………….
5. Nancy told me she had started the job the week before. …………….
6. Nigel said me he wanted to come with us. …………….
7. My friend said she did liked her new flat. …………….
8. Martin asked us for not to wake the baby. …………….

Exercise 8: Decide which word is correct


0. What did that man say to you?
a) at you b) for you c) to you d) you
1. I rang my friend in Australia yesterday, and she said it ................ raining there.
a) is b) should be c) to be d) was
2. The last time I saw Jonathan, he looked very relaxed. He explained that he’d been on holiday
the ................ week.
a) earlier b) following c) next d) previous
3. I wonder ................................ the tickers are on sale yet
a) what b) when c) where d) whether.
4. I told you ............................... switch off the computer, didn’t I?
a) don’t b) not c) not to d) to not
5. Someone ........................ me there’s been an accident on the motorway.
a) asked b) said c) spoke d) told
6. When I rang Tessa some time last week, she said she was busy ................ day.
a) that b) the c) then d) this
7. When he was at Oliver’s flat yesterday, Martin asked if he ................... use the phone.
a) can b) could c) may d) must
8. Judy ........................ going for a walk, but no one else wanted to.
a) admitted b) offered c) promised d) suggested

Common questions

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In reported speech, modal verbs often change to reflect the speaker's intended meaning relative to the past context. Some modals like "can" or "will" shift to their past forms, "could" or "would." For example, "People will have holidays in space" becomes "The young boy said that people would have holidays in space" . This change maintains the original meaning but adjusts the verb to fit the sequence of tenses required in reported speech.

Indirect questions in reported speech often begin with words like "if" or "whether" for yes-no questions, or question words like "how," "what," or "where" for information questions. They are significant as they restructure the original question into a statement format without using question marks and modify the word order. For instance, "Are you waiting for a tourist bus?" becomes "A woman asked me if I was waiting for a tourist bus," with the inverted structure shifted to a regular subject-verb format .

The sequence of tenses dictates the verb shift in indirect speech, ensuring consistency in time depiction relative to the reporting verb. For example, a present simple tense verb in direct speech usually changes to past simple in reported speech. "I broke my leg playing football" becomes "James said he had broken his leg playing football," reflecting this rule . This shift supports accuracy in reporting past actions or truths dependent on the time of reporting, highlighting the temporal relationship between the reporting and the original statement.

Reported speech is used to convey what someone else has said without quoting their exact words, thus often requiring changes in pronouns, tense, and sometimes adverbs depending on the context and time frame of the original statement . For example, direct speech in the present tense "I work in an office," becomes "Jane said (that) she worked in an office" in reported speech, changing the verb form from present to past .

Tense consistency in reported speech is crucial to accurately reflecting the original statement's time frame. Generally, the tense of the verb in direct speech is shifted back in time. For example, "I’ve won the lottery!" changes to "The old lady said that she had won the lottery," changing from present perfect to past perfect . This shift ensures that the statement reflects the passage of time since the original utterance, maintaining coherence and clarity in communication.

Context and the speaker’s original intentions are crucial for accurately converting statements into reported speech, as they determine the choice of words and the tense used. The need to convey the speaker's purpose, emotional state, and emphasis requires an understanding of underlying context. For example, a statement like “Don’t talk to strangers” reflects a protective command, hence in reported speech, becomes “The mother told her children not to talk to strangers,” maintaining the command's directive nature and protective intent . Failure to grasp the original intent can lead to misrepresentation in reported speech.

Pronoun changes are necessary in reported speech to maintain clear reference to the subject of the statement as it transitions from the direct to the indirect form. They help avoid confusion about whom or what is being discussed. For instance, 'We’re driving to a football match' transforms to 'The motorists said they were driving to a football match,' changing 'we' to 'they' to appropriately reflect the change in speaker and context . This ensures the listener or reader clearly understands the subject of the statement.

The reporting of questions in indirect speech changes the interrogative structure by removing the inversion typical of direct questions and integrating the question into a statement format. For instance, "When does the bell ring?" converts to "The students asked what time the bell rang," where the auxiliary verb 'does' is removed, and the word order becomes subject-verb rather than the inverted verb-subject form . This restructuring smooths out the sentence and fits it seamlessly into a narrative, aiding in clarity and flow.

Commands and requests in reported speech change by using the structure "asked/told someone to do something." The imperative mood from the direct speech becomes an infinitive verb form. For example, "Please turn the music down" transforms into "They asked their neighbour to turn the music down" . This structure indicates the polite or directive nature of the original command or request.

Omitting unnecessary words in reported speech eliminates confusion and maintains the focus on the main content of the original message. For example, "Susan thought ‘That I can’t understand what’s happening.’" becomes "Susan thought she couldn’t understand what was happening," where the unnecessary word 'that' is removed for clarity and simplicity . This omission helps in delivering a concise and clear message without altering the intended meaning of the original speech.

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