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Six Minute Grammar from the BBC.
Hello, welcome to Six Minute Grammar with me, Catherine.
And me, Neil. Neil, have a sandwich, it's from Finn.
He said you were hungry.
Really? Yeah. He said, in fact, Finn said he's hungry, give him a sandwich.
Well, that's very kind of Finn.
It's delicious. And in today's programme we're talking about reported speech.
We'll be discussing why and when we use it and we'll see how to form it.
We use reported speech when we want to report something that another person said.
In our example, Finn originally said...
He's hungry. That's direct speech.
Catherine reported the direct speech like this...
Finn said you were hungry.
OK, now let's look at that more closely.
We need to make some grammatical changes when we report what someone else says.
First, when the speaker or listener changes, we need to change the pronouns.
That's right. Finn used he in direct speech to talk about Neil.
He is hungry. Then Catherine told me what Finn said.
Finn said you were hungry.
Second change. In reported speech, we often move the tense back one step into the past.
So is hungry becomes were hungry.
But we don't have to change the verb tense in reported speech if the situation is generally true.
Here's an example. Finn, give us a sentence, please.
OK. I love cheese sandwiches.
Thank you. Finn and Neil, can you report what Finn said, please?
Yes, Finn said he loves cheese sandwiches.
OK, so there we don't change loves to loved because Finn loves cheese sandwiches and that's a general truth.
Now, the third thing we need with reported speech is a reporting verb.
Say and tell are the most common ones and we usually put them in the past tense.
For example, Finn said Neil was hungry.
Now let's look at how to report questions with question words like what and who.
We'll hear the direct speech first from Finn, then Catherine will give us the reported speech.
What's the time? Finn asked what the time was.
The reporting verb comes first, then the question word and then the reported sentence with the tense moved back.
And don't forget to change the word order from question word order to statement word order.
Another one, please, Finn and Catherine.
Who ate the cake? He asked who'd eaten the cake.
OK. Now it's time to look at pronunciation.
Yes, pronunciation.
Some past tense forms in reported speech can be difficult to hear.
In the last example, the two words who and had become who'd.
Who'd. He asked who'd eaten the cake.
So, had is shortened to just a d sound.
Listen out for the short d sound in this next example.
She asked where I'd gone.
So the phrase I had becomes I'd.
One more time, please, Finn.
She asked where I'd gone.
Thank you, Finn. So watch out for contractions in reported speech.
And now... are you ready?
For a quiz? It's quiz time!
Finn is going to say some sentences in direct speech.
As you listen, decide what the correct reported speech is.
Here's the first one.
I've eaten my lunch.
Is the reported speech A.
He said he's eating his lunch or B.
He said he'd eaten his lunch.
And the answer is B.
He said he'd eaten his lunch.
The present perfect changes to the past perfect.
OK, next one, please, Finn.
I go to work by bus.
Is the reported speech A.
Finn said he goes to work by bus or B.
Finn said he's going to work by bus.
And it's A. Finn said he goes to work by bus.
OK, and here's the last one.
Er... where are my glasses?
Is it A. He asked where were his glasses or B.
He asked where his glasses were.
And the right answer is B.
He asked where his glasses were.
Now, before we go, there's just enough time for a top tip With the reporting verb tell, we say who the person is talking to.
For example, Finn told me he's going to pay for lunch today.
Wow, and when we use the reporting verb say, we don't say who the person is talking to.
So, this next sentence is wrong.
Finn said me he was going to pay for lunch today.
But this one is correct.
Finn said he was going to pay for lunch today.
So, that's reported speech.
There's more about this on our website at bbclearningenglish .com.
Join us again for more 6 Minute Grammar.
Bye. Bye.