Quoted and Reported Speech

Quoted and Reported Speech

Quoted Speech

You use Quotation Marks in writting to show that you are quoting someone else's exact words:

Somebody, let's say, Bob says: "Learning English is fun". Now how do you write Bob's exact words? Well, start with He said with comma (He said,), then add Quotation Marks ("), then his exact words, and finally add a period at the end of the sentence followed by Quotation Marks ("):

He said, "Learning English is fun."

Reported Speech

He said... She said... Somebody told me... We report what other people say all the time. That's where Reported Speech come in.

Let's say, Bob says: "I am thirsty". Now what did he say? Let's use Reported Speech:

He said that he was thirsty.

Notice three things:

1- You don't use Quotation Marks in Reported Speech.
2- You don't use the speaker's exact words. Often you change pronouns. We used he instead of I when we reported Bob's words.
3- You often change the verb to a different tense. We changed is to was.

So, this is Quoted Speech:

Bob said, "I am thirsty."

And this is Reported Speech:

Bob said (that) he was thirsty.

That can be omitted in Reported Speech.

Verb Forms in Reported Speech

We want to show you how verb forms are used in Reported Speech:

Bob: I need a new watch.
Bob said he needed a new watch.

Bob: I lost my old one.
He said he had lost his old one.

Bob: I'm going to buy a new one.
He said he was going to buy a new one.

Bob: I'll get one tomorrow.
He said he would get one tomorrow.

Bob: I can't go shopping today because I don't have time.
He said he couldn't go shopping today because he didn't have time.

We put Bob's verb into a past form when was reported his words. Do you have to do that? No. It's okay to say:

Bob said he needs a new watch
He said he will get one tomorrow.

And so forth. You don't need to change the verbs when you report them soon after they were said.

But if they were said quite a while ago, then you usually change the verbs to a past form, especially in formal writing, but often in informal speaking, too.

Reported Speech uses reporting verbs. The most common ones are said, told, and asked:

Said is followed immediately by a that-clause.

Bob said that he was thirsty.

Told is followed immediately by a noun or pronoun, then a that-clause.

Bob told us that he was thirsty.

Asked is used to report questions:

Bob asked if you were a student.

And there are some other common reporting verbs, like want to know, wonder, and inquire. The verbs answer and reply are often used to report replies.