English Studio
Grammar B2 - Reported Speach for Formal Situations
Reported Speech is used when we want to report what someone else has said, especially in formal or indirect contexts. When we use reported speech, we often change the tense of the original sentence and remove direct speech marks ("..."). Here, we will focus on formal contexts, such as reporting information in a meeting or a professional setting.
Reporting Statements:
When reporting a statement, the verb tense usually changes.
Example:
Direct Speech: She said, "I am working on the project."
Reported Speech: She said that she was working on the project.
Notice how "am" changes to "was," and we add "that" (optional in spoken language).
Reporting Questions:
When reporting questions, we do not use the question format but report the information in a statement.
Example:
Direct Speech: He asked, "Are you attending the meeting?"
Reported Speech: He asked if I was attending the meeting.
In reported questions, we often use "if" or "whether" for yes/no questions.
Reporting Requests/Instructions:
When reporting requests or instructions, we use the verb "to ask" or "to tell" and often follow it with the infinitive form of the verb.
Example:
Direct Speech: The manager said, "Please submit your reports by Friday."
Reported Speech: The manager asked us to submit our reports by Friday.
Key Points for Formal Reporting:
"That" is often used in formal reporting (though optional).
Verb tense change is common (e.g., present becomes past).
Pronoun changes may be necessary to match the speaker's perspective.
Yes/No questions require "if" or "whether" in reported speech.
Requests and instructions use the infinitive form of the verb.