Unit 8: Reported speech and reporting verbs

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Today

Focus on reported speech

You can define and 

apply the passive form

You can make direct sentences into indirect sentences and apply reporting verbs.

Indirect speech

Rule no 1: Backshift

Take a step back in time

Present simple > Past simple

Jessie: "I am happy with my mark for English."

Maria: "Jessie said that she was happy with her mark for English"

Present continuous > Past continuous

Jessie: "I am going to visit my aunt."

Maria: "Jessie said that she was going to visit her aunt." 

Past simple   >   Past perfect

Jessie: "Last week I worked at McDonalds."

Maria: "Jessie said that she had worked at McDonalds the week before."

Rule no 2: make some changes

Change pronouns and references to  place and time

Jessie: "My parents and I will visit our aunt."

Maria: "Jessie said that her parents and she would visit their aunt."

Jessie: Yesterday I was at school, but today I am at home."

Maria: "Jessie said that the day before she had been at school, but  that day she was at home."

We do not change the following:

• Modal verbs: could, would, should, might, ought to and used to.
• must when it's negative.
• must when used as a logical deduction.

When must is used in order to express an opbligation is becomes: had to

Questions in reported speech

• We use a full stop not a question mark
• We use if or whether with Yes/No questions. 
• We often use the following reporting verbs to introduce the reported questions:

ask, wonder, 

want to know, 

enquired

Be aware of negative imperatives!

Mother: Tom, don't touch this iron!

Mother warned Tom not to touch the/that iron.

Homework revision

The key of OW can be found under Important documents (magister studyplanner). Check the exercises you made for weektask 38. Improve answers in a different colour. In this way I can monitor your progress easily.  Done? Continue with weektask 39