On TV:

Angie: You took my mePhone!
Bob: I will never give you your mePhone back! I need to use Twitter!
Angie: I loved you until you took my mePhone.
Bob: That hurts.

Later, Mr. Maru and Sparky are talking:

Mr. Maru: Did you hear about Bob and Angie?
Sparky: Oh yeah, they are fighting again. She said he took her mePhone.
Mr. Maru: um, he took her mePhone?
Sparky: Yeah, that's right. And he said he would never give her your mePhone back!
Mr. Maru: You mean give her her mePhone back?
Sparky: Mmm, err, yeah. She said she loved him until he took her mePhone.
Mr. Maru: I'm completely confused.
Sparky: Me, too.

Reported speech can be confusing. We use it all the time to report the news or gossip. It is very useful. Let's first go over the basics:

There are two ways to report a person's words or thoughts:

1) We can report it directly:

Bob: I am Bob.

Bob said, "I am Bob."

2) We can report it indirectly:

Bob: I am Bob.

Bob said he was Bob.

In spoken English, we usually use the second one, indirect speech or reported speech. When we are writing a story, we always use the first one, direct speech. There are a few rules about indirect speech though. It can get very complicated. Let's look at the rules:

Change the tense

When we report the words, we have to change the tense of the verb. For example,

Bob: I am Bob.

Bob said he was Bob.

In the above example, 'am' is the present tense of 'to be' and this changes to 'was', the past tense of 'to be.'

We also need to change 'will' to 'would.' For example,

Bob: I will go shopping.

Bob said he would go shopping. (We can say this after Bob went shopping.) OR

Bob said he will go shopping. (We can say this before Bob goes shopping.)

This can be difficult! The same sentence is reported differently at different times:

Be careful! You can use both before he goes shopping. 'Bob said he will go shopping.' sounds stronger - Bob WILL go shopping! But, this is a small difference.

Let's take a quick quiz:

What did Bob say? (direct speech)

1) Bob said he would go fishing.

A) I will go fishing.

B) He will go fishing.

C) I would go fishing.

2) Bob said Angie went shopping too much.

A) Angie went shopping too much.

B) Angie goes shopping too much.

C) We go shopping too much.

3) Bob said Angie read comic books.

A) Angie reads comic books.

B) Angie read comic books.

C) Angie had read comic books.

Answers

1. A) or sometimes C) - Angie: Do you want to go fishing? Bob: I would go fishing (if it weren't raining.)

2. B)

3. A)

Do you have any questions? Please ask me in the comments. Please login and comment, you can earn Kala, or points, you can use in the future. So try it today and earn some Kala!