7 Rick’s flight to London leaves very … tomorrow. 8 Are you sitting … ? Then we’ll begin. 9 Please, send the invoice … . 10 I thought the food would be expensive, but it was … cheap. Unit 8 Reported speech Meaning When you report what you or someone else said, you can do it in two ways. You can use the same words as the original speaker (direct speech) or you can reword it using verbs like say, tell, ask, advise, etc. (reported speech). Mary: “I’m feeling ill.” 1 Mary said (that) she was feeling ill. Form In general, the present form in direct speech changes to the past form in reported speech. am/ is 1 was have / has 1 had must 1 had to are 1 were know 1 knew can 1 could want 1 wanted go 1 went will 1 would do / does 1 did may 1 might etc. Note: ■■ When you use reported speech, the reporting verb is usually past. Mary said / told me / asked … The rest of the sentence is usually past too. Mary said that she was feeling ill. Peter said it wasn’t his fault. John asked (me) if I felt OK. ■■ However, if you want to underline that the situation you’re talking about is still valid, do not change the verb in the reported statement to the past. John said that his new job is very interesting. (His job was – and still is – interesting.) She told me that English pounds are OK in Scotland. (They have been, are and will presumably be OK.) ■■ The modal verbs would, could, should, might and used to don’t change in reported speech. Mary: “I could meet you at the airport.” 1 Mary said that she could meet me at the airport. ■■ You can leave out that when reporting a statement. Mary said that she was feeling ill. or Mary said she was feeling ill. ■■ When you report what someone told someone else (not) to do, use tell / ask + someone + (not) + to + infinitive. Boss: “Mary, please call the IT manager.” 1 Mary’s boss asked her to call the IT manager. Mother: “Don’t worry.” 1 His mother told him not to worry. ■■ When you talk about or report yes/no questions, use if or whether. Mary: “Do you speak English?” 1 Mary asked (him) if he spoke English. ■■ You report wh- questions using ask / want to know + question word. Mary: “What’s your name?” 1 Mary asked (him) what his name was. (not what was his name) Practice Change the statements, instructions and questions into reported speech. 1 “I’m planning to open a shop.” The manager said … 2 “Are you on a business trip?” The customs officer asked her … 3 “Have you ever used a fitness centre?” The interviewer wanted to know … 4 “How long are you planning to stay?” The receptionist asked me … 5 “Stay in bed for at least three days.” Her doctor told … 6 “Don’t shout at me.” The waitress asked her boss … 7 “We don’t have much free time.” We explained to gran … 8 “Prepare your presentation well!” The teacher told us … 9 “We might drop in if we have time.” Stephen said … 10 “Where’s our CD player?” Ms Fleming asked the class … 11 “I’ll help you with the project.” Ryan told his mates … Infinitive constructions with or without to Meaning Verbs like allow, want, would like, tell, order, promise, persuade, remind, expect that express wishes, orders or thinking processes can be followed by the infinitive with to. Sentence structure: subject – verb – object – infinitive with to They allowed him to pay by credit card. Mom wants me to come home early today, because we are celebrating Gran’s birthday. The tennis coach told Michael to hold his racket differently. The infinitive with to can follow how and whether to explain how something works or to speak about choices. Thiago did not know whether to stay in Glasgow for another day or leave for Edinburgh. I showed him how to operate the vending machine. We discussed whether to invite Ricky’s new boyfriend or not. The infinitive with to can follow words like the first/second/ last or some adjectives like easy, difficult, interesting. After only it can express a disappointing result of something. Martin was the first to arrive at the station. It was easy for Sarah to spot the mistake. Pam went to the expensive shoe store only to find that it was closed. (She was disappointed about it.) He got his bike repaired only to damage it again. (He ruined it immediately afterwards, which is disappointing.) 154 G Grammar reference and practice Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum d s Verlags öbv
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