#Tell me more english p30download download

If I tell someone on Wednesday, I say 'Julie said she was leaving on Monday'. If I tell someone on Tuesday, I say 'Julie said she was leaving yesterday'. If I tell someone on Monday, I say 'Julie said she was leaving today'. It depends on when we heard the direct speech and when we say the reported speech. We don't always have to do this, however. Sometimes when we change direct speech into reported speech we have to change time expressions too.

Click here for an exercise to practise reported requests and orders.

Reported speech: She told me to sit down.

In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as a request.

Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.ДЄnd finally, how about if someone doesn't ask so politely? We can call this an 'order' in English, when someone tells you very directly to do something.

She asked me to bring her book that night.

Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.

We simply use 'ask me + to + infinitive':

Or: Would you mind closing the window please?ДЄll of these requests mean the same thing, so we don't need to report every word when we tell another person about it.

Direct speech: Close the window, please.

There's more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example: Click here to practise reported 'yes / no' questions. She asked me if I had ever been to Mexico.Д¬lick here to practise reported 'wh' questions. No problem? Here are a few more examples: Direct Question

Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.

But, what if you need to report a 'yes / no' question? We don't have any question words to help us. She asked me who that fantastic man had been. So, we need to change them back before putting the verb into the past simple. We make the question form of the present simple of be by inverting (changing the position of)the subject and verb. The direct question is the present simple of 'be'.

Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.

Then I need to change the verb to the past simple. We make a present simple question with 'do' or 'does' so I need to take that away.

Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.Дo you see how I made it? The direct question is in the present simple tense.

A bit confusing? Maybe this example will help: So we need to change the grammar to a normal positive sentence. The very important thing though is that, once we tell the question to someone else, it isn't a question any more. The tense changes are the same, and we keep the question word. In fact, it's not so different from reported statements. How can we make the reported speech here? So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative sentences. Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.

Reported speech: She said (that) the sky is/was blue.Д¬lick here for a mixed tense exercise about practise reported statements.

Occasionally, we don't need to change the present tense into the past if the information in direct speech is still true (but this is only for things which are general facts, and even then usually we like to change the tense): She said (that) she must study at the weekend OR She said she had to study at the weekend She said (that) she should call her mother She said (that) she could swim when she was four.

She said (that) she could speak perfect English. She said (that) she had taken English lessons before. She said (that) she had been walking along the street. She said (that) she was living in London. Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)Д«ut, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech: I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. (As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'. We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.We just put 'she says' and then the sentence: ( Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell'.) If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. Later, maybe we want to tell someone else what the first person said. When do we use reported speech? Sometimes someone says a sentence, for example 'I'm going to the cinema tonight'.

#Tell me more english p30download download

Click here to download this explanation in PDF. Click here for a list of reported speech exercises.