Grammar Reference

 

9.1 ■ Reported speech

We use reported speech when we want to tell someone about something that another person said. Tenses and pronouns change in reported speech if the time and the speaker change.

The tense of the main verb changes in the following ways.

Direct speech		Reported speech
Present simple She said, 'The facts are true.'	→	Past simple She said that the facts were true.
Present continuous 'I'm watching the news,' I said.	→	Past continuous I said that I was watching the news.
Present perfect 'I've seen the news,' he said.	→	Past perfect He said that he had seen the news.
Past simple 'I found my pen,' he said.	→	Past perfect He said that he had found his pen.
will You said, 'I will come.'	→	would You said that you would come.

Pronouns and possessive adjectives also change

'I've seen the news,' he said. → He said that he had seen the news.

'My birthday was very memorable,' said Louise. →  Louise said that her birthday had been very memorable.

'We will go to Paris in June,' my parents said. → My parents said that they would go to Paris in June.

We sometimes leave out that in reported speech.

'There is a letter for you,' she said. → She said (that) there was a letter for me.

say and tell

We can use say or tell to introduce reported speech.

• say + (that)

Marisa said (that) she was worried.

She said (that) she had had a bad day.

We never use an object after say.

NOT She said me that …

• tell + person + (that)

Tell is always followed by a personal object.

Marisa told me (that) she was worried.

She told me (that) she had had a bad day.

NOT Marisa told that she was worried.

There are many other reporting verbs. Some examples are: announce, confirm, complain and explain. These verbs are not followed by a personal object.

They announced (that) they were getting married.

NOT They announced me that … 

We confirmed (that) the details were true.

She complained (that) the radio didn't work.

He explained (that) it was broken.

9.2 ■ Question tags

A question tag is a short question that we sometimes add at the end of a statement.

• After an affirmative statement, the question tag is negative.

He's part of the film crew, isn't he?

• After a negative statement, the question tag is affirmative.

War films aren't very interesting, are they?

The verb used in the question tag depends on the verb that is used in the statement. If there is an auxiliary verb, we repeat the auxiliary verb and add a pronoun. The tense for the auxiliary verb matches the tense used in the statement.

The film set is very convincing, isn't it?

The actors weren't very good, were they?

Leah won't be late, will she?

You haven't seen Tom, have you?

If there is no auxiliary verb, we use the auxiliary verb do / does for a present simple verb, or did for a past simple verb.

Lauren likes costume dramas, doesn't she?

You finished the crossword, didn't you?

The intonation used in question tags affects the meaning.

• We use rising intonation when we aren't sure if what we are saying is true, and we want the other person to confirm it.

  You don't like romantic comedies, do you?

• We use falling intonation when we are sure that what we are saying is true, and we want the other person to agree with us. 

  Sarah hasn't started taking acting lessons, has she?