Getting started
Reported speech is not only a grammar exercise. You need it whenever you pass on information: in a summary of a text, in a newspaper article, in a mediation task where you tell a friend what someone said in English, or in a message to a teacher. In this lesson you practise all forms together and apply them to a real text type: a short report.
Auf Deutsch: Diese Lektion wiederholt Aussagen, Fragen und Aufforderungen in der indirekten Rede und zeigt, wie du sie in Zusammenfassungen und Berichten einsetzt.
Explanation
Checklist for reported speech
- Type: Is it a statement, a question or a command?
- Reporting verb: said / told (statements), asked / wanted to know (questions), told / asked … to (commands), or a verb that shows the function (offered, warned, suggested).
- Pronouns: Who is speaking now? Who is meant?
- Tenses: After a past reporting verb, one step back. No change for commands (to + infinitive).
- Time and place: tomorrow → the next day, here → there, if the situation has changed.
- Word order in questions: subject + verb, no do / does / did, full stop.
Typical mistakes
| mistake | correct |
|---|---|
| He said me that … | He told me that … / He said that … |
| She asked where did I go. | She asked where I had gone. |
| He asked if was I OK? | He asked if I was OK. |
| She told me to not run. | She told me not to run. |
| He said he will come tomorrow. (said last week) | He said he would come the next day. |
| She suggested me to go. | She suggested going. |
Reported speech in summaries and articles
In a summary or news article you rarely report every sentence. You choose the important information and vary the reporting verbs: explained, claimed, added, pointed out, admitted, warned, promised. A short direct quotation can make an article more lively, but most of the text should be in reported speech.
Examples
Example 1: From interview to article
Interview with Ms Patel, head of a youth centre in Leicester:
"We opened the centre five years ago. More than 200 young people come here every week. We have just started a new music project. Can the city give us more money? Without it, we will have to close in the summer. Please support us."
Article:
Ms Patel, head of the youth centre, explained that the centre had opened five years before and that more than 200 young people came there every week. She pointed out that they had just started a new music project. She asked whether the city could give them more money and warned that without it they would have to close in the summer. Finally, she asked readers to support the centre.
Example 2: Mediation
Your grandfather doesn't speak English. A British tourist asks you in the street:
"Excuse me, is there a bank near here? I need to change some money. And do you know when the museum closes?"
You tell your grandfather in German: „Er fragt, ob es hier in der Nähe eine Bank gibt. Er muss Geld wechseln. Und er möchte wissen, wann das Museum schließt.“
In mediation you pass on the content in the other language. You don't translate word for word.
Rule
Check type, reporting verb, pronouns, tense, time words and word order. In summaries and articles, choose the important information and vary the reporting verbs.
Exercises
Grundlagen
- Report the sentences. The words were spoken last week. a) Sam: "I'm moving to Glasgow next month." b) Lily: "Do you want to come to my concert?" c) Coach: "Don't forget your water bottles." d) Grandma: "I have never used a smartphone."
Weiter
- Find and correct the eight mistakes in this report. Remember that it was written a day later. Yesterday our teacher said us that the test will be next Monday. Tom asked her what will be in the test? She told us to not worry and suggested us to revise the vocabulary. She said she can give us some extra exercises tomorrow.
- Report this short dialogue with suitable reporting verbs (offer, refuse, suggest, promise). Max: "I'll carry your bag." Emma: "No, I can do it myself." Max: "Let's take a taxi then." Emma: "OK. I'll pay next time."
Knobeln
- Interview someone in your family about a hobby (four questions). Write a short article (80 to 100 words) for your school website. Use reported statements and questions, at least three different reporting verbs and one short direct quotation.
Lösungen
- a) Sam said (that) he was moving to Glasgow the following month. b) Lily asked if I wanted to come to her concert. c) The coach told us not to forget our water bottles. d) Grandma said she had never used a smartphone.
- Yesterday our teacher told us that the test would be the following Monday. Tom asked her what would be in the test. She told us not to worry and suggested revising the vocabulary. She said she could give us some extra exercises the next day. (Eight changes: said us, will, next Monday, what will be … ?, to not, suggested us to revise, can, tomorrow. The time expressions change because the report is made a day later.)
- For example: Max offered to carry Emma's bag, but she refused and said she could do it herself. Max then suggested taking a taxi. Emma agreed and promised to pay the next time.
- Expected: a headline, an introduction (who, which hobby), reported statements with backshift, at least one reported question (I asked her how long she had …), at least three reporting verbs besides said, one short quotation in quotation marks, correct word order in questions.