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The Article of Reported Speech

Reported Statements When do we use reported speech? Sometimes someone says a sentence, for example "I'm going to the cinema tonight". Later, maybe we want to tell someone else what the first person said. Quoted speech refers to reproducing another person’s exact words. Quotation marks are used. Reported speech refers to reproducing the idea of another person’s words. Not all of the exact words are used: verb forms and pronouns may change. Quotation marks are not used. Quoted speech: Jane said, “I am hungry.” Reported speech: Jane said that she was hungry. Notice in the example: the verb form and pronoun change from quoted speech to reported speech. Tense / Modal Simple present Quoted speech: He said, “I like ice cream.” Reported Speech: He said (that) he liked ice cream Present continuous Quoted Speech: He said, “I am working hard.” Reported Speech: He said (that) he was working hard Simple past