LANGUAGE REFERENCE
146
11
GRAMMAR
G1
REPORTED SPEECH
Use reported speech to report someone’s words.
‘I’m hungry.’ She said she was hungry.
We use statement word order in reported questions.
We don’t put a question mark at the end.
‘How much is it?’
She asked
how much it was
.
P
She asked how much was it?
O
To report a
yes
/
no
question, we use
ask
+
if
or
whether
.
‘Is it expensive?’
She asked
if it was expensive
.
When we use reported speech, we often make changes
to the tense of the verb, to pronouns and to time
adverbs. The table shows the most common changes:
direct speech
reported speech
tenses:
present simple
present continuous
present perfect
past simple
will
can
past simple
past continuous
past perfect
past perfect
would
could
pronouns:
I
we
my
our
he/she
they
his/her
their
time adverbs:
today
yesterday
tomorrow
last week
then / that day
the day before
the next day / the day
after
the week before
!
The past perfect simple and continuous, and the modal
verbs
could
,
would
,
might
and
should
do not change.
In some situations we can choose
NOT
to change the
tense in reported speech. This can be because:
• the action or situation in the statement is still
happening/true.
‘I’m expecting a baby.’
She said she’
s
expecting
a baby. (She’s still expecting
a baby.)
• the verb expresses a fact or situation that cannot
change or is unlikely to change.
‘The city is beautiful.’
He said the city
is
beautiful. (It’s still true.)
• the verb comes after a time conjunction, e.g.
when, after
.
‘I started my job after I finished university.’
He said he had started his job
after
he
finished
university.
!
We do not change the tense or time adverbs if the
reporting verb is in the present tense.
He
says
he
is working
very hard
this year
.
She
tells
us she
isn’t earning
very much money
at
the moment
.
G2
REPORTING VERBS
We often use particular verbs to report speech. The
verbs show the attitude of the person speaking so
they give a lot more information than
say
.
‘I think you really should apply for the job.’
He
encouraged
me to apply for the job.
Different reporting verbs are followed by different
structures.
infinitive with
to
offer
,
refuse
,
agree
,
promise
object +
infinitive with
to
advise
,
invite
,
warn
,
tell
,
encourage
,
persuade
-ing
form
admit
,
regret
,
consider
,
deny
,
all verbs followed by a preposition
,
e.g. insist on
,
apologise for
KEY LANGUAGE
KL
CREATING IMPACT IN A PRESENTATION
TRIPLING (SAYING THINGS IN THREES)
… an important
industrial
,
commercial
and
cultural
centre.
… they help to create the
lively,
friendly
,
cosmopolitan
atmosphere the city is famous for.
REPETITION
Toronto’s getting
better
and
better
these days, as
more
and
more
people come from all over the world.
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
So,
what
are the main sights of the city?
OK,
why
is the CN Tower worth seeing?
VOCABULARY
V1
ASPECTS OF CULTURE
anniversaries, architecture, attitudes, civil wars, climate,
commemorations, cuisine, customs, dialects, faith/
belief systems, geography, heritage, historical events,
institutions, invasions, language, manners, monarchy,
political system, revolutions, religion, rituals, rules of
behaviour, rules of etiquette, the arts, sects, staple diet,
specialities, superstitions, terrain, traditions, values
V2
ADJECTIVES
disappointed, excited, frustrated, hostile, inadequate,
interesting, insufficient, intriguing, isolated, lonely,
stimulated, unfriendly
V3
PREFIXES
anti-, counter-, inter-, mis-, multi-, post-, pre-, sub-
V4
SUFFIXES
-able, -ible, -ism, -less, -logy, -ment, -tion
V5
WORD FORMATION
antisocial, communication, counterculture,
development, international, misunderstanding,
multicultural, postwar, predate, responsible, sexism,
sociology, subculture, timeless, valuable
