Reported Speech

GENERAL RULES FOR REPORTED SPEECH

• Tenses change from present to past (if we are talking about what somebody said in the past):
  • “I am 15.” ⇨ He said he was 15.
  • “We have a problem.”⇨ They said they had a problem.
  • “I can swim.” ⇨ She said that she could swim.
  • “She comes by bus.” ⇨ He said that she came by bus.
  • “Your sister doesn’t like pizza.” ⇨ She said that my sister didn’t like pizza.
  • “You are looking through the window.” ⇨ He said that I was looking through the window.
  • “They will probably fail.” ⇨ She said that they would probably fail.
  • “My mother saw a mouse.” ⇨ She said that her mother had seen a mouse.
• Personal pronouns change (if somebody is telling
  what somebody else has said before):
  
  • “I am 15.” ⇨ He said he was 15.
  • “My mother saw a mouse.” ⇨ She said that her mother had seen a mouse.
  • “We saw you at the cinema.” ⇨ They said that they had seen me at the cinema.
• Place and time complements have to be adapted to the new context:
• He came here.” ⇨ They said that he had gone there. 
• “It’s raining today” ⇨ Jake said that it was raining then / yesterday.
• “I saw you last week.” ⇨ She said that she had seen me the week before.

STATEMENTS

• Tell and say are common reporting verbs. (Tell is used before an indirect object.):
• She said that she liked pizza.
• My mother told me to go with her.
• Everyone said that the lesson was very difficult.
• He told his friends about my illness.

• Other verbs can be used: know, promise, insist, warn...
• That can be omitted after say:
• She said that she liked pizza. ⇨She said she liked pizza.
• They knew that he liked her. ⇨They knew she liked her.

QUESTIONS

• Typical reporting verbs are: ask, wonder, want to know.
• He wanted to know the opening times of the museum.
• She wondered how old my mother was.
• Subject always comes before the verb:
• She asked me how old I was.
• If the question is answered with yes or no, if should be introduced before the indirect question:
• My sister asked if you wanted to come with us.
• I wondered if she was watching the programme on TV.
• If the questions cannot be answered with yes or no, and usually begins with how / when / what / where  / who / how old... you keep this element in the reported speech and don't add if:
• He asked me "What is your name? " ⇒ He asked me what my name was.
• My mother asked me: "What time did you arrive?" ⇒ My mother asked me what time I had arrived.
• Gina asked: "When will you come tomorrow?" ⇒ Gina asked when I would come / go the following day.

• We use ask / tell + object + (not) + to + infinitive to say what people want(ed) us to do:

• “Please, open the window.” ⇨ She asked us to open the window.

• “Tidy your room.” ⇨ My father told me to tidy my room.

• “Don’t smoke here.” ⇨ My aunt asked me not to smoke in her car.

ONLINE EXERCISES

HAVE OTHER TEACHERS HELP YOU UNDERSTAND REPORTED SPEECH

Reported Speech 4 ESO from IES - Junta de Andalucia

IS YOUR BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND A SLOB?

EXERCISES:

statements

• Englisch Hilfen 1 - sentences
• Englisch Hilfen 2 - sentences
• Englisch Hilfen 3 - sentences
• Englisch Hilfen 4 - pronouns
• Englisch Hilfen 5 - time phrases
• My English pages - sentences
• British Council
• Ego4You - sentences
• Perfect English - sentences

questions

• Englisch Hilfen 1 - questions
• Englisch Hilfen 2 - questions
• Ego4Youe -  questions
• Ego4You - questions 2
• Perfect English - simple questions
• Perfect English - more difficult questions

imperatives

• Englisch Hilfen 1 - commands
• Englisch Hilfen 2 - commands

Passive sentences

Passive structures from Ana Arias Castro

Basic shopping activity

Shopping for clothes from Ana Arias Castro

Passive sentences

WHAT IS A PASSIVE STRUCTURE?
Active sentences usually focus on who did the action:

• My sister broke the window.

Whereas passive sentences usually focus on who or what suffered the effects of the action:

• The window was broken.

On most occassions the agent (who did the action) is not mentioned but, if relevant, it can be mentioned after the preposition by.

• The window was broken by my sister.
• Don Quixote was written by Cervantes.

HOW IS IT MADE?
Passive structures have these elements:

1. the passive subject (my sister)
2. verb be in the right tense (the same tense that would be used in the corresponding active structure)
3. the past participle of the lexical verb
4. only if necessary, the agent (by + ______)

CHANGING ACTIVE SENTENCES  INTO THE PASSIVE

1. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive structure
2. verb be in the same tense as the active verb in the active structure
3. past participle of the main verb
4. the subjet of the active sentence becames the object in the passive structure (by + agent)
• Peter builds a house. -> A house is built by Peter.
• They were cooking dinner when we arrived. -> Dinner was being cooked when we arrived.
• I will finish it tomorrow. -> It will be finished tomorrow.

PASSIVE SENTENCES WITH TWO SUBJECTS (ONLY ESO-4)
Some active sentences have both a direct and an indirect object. In English both can be the subject in a passive structure. The indirect object is introduced by to in the passive sentence.

• ACTIVE: My sister asked me a question.
• PASSIVE 1: A question was asked to me.
• PASSIVE 2: I was asked a question.

• ACTIVE. The teacher explained the exercise to the students.
• PASSIVE 1: The exercise was explained to the students.
• PASSIVE 2: The studens were explained the exercise.

Eso 3 passives from Ana Arias Castro

Revision of passive sentences from Ana Arias Castro

EXERCISES

• Exercise 1 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 2 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 3 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercises 4 (www.englisch-hilfen.de)
• Exercise 5 (www.itslj.org)
• Exercise 5 (http://a4esl.org)
• Exercise 6 passives in the present simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 7 Passives in the past simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 8 passives in the present perfect (Perfect English)
• Exercise 9 passives in the future simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 10 mixed passive tenses (Perfect English)
• Exercise 11 passives with two objects (Perfect English) ONLY 4ºESO STUDENTS
• Exercise 12 (English Current)
• Passives (easier exercises)
• Passives (more difficult exercises)
• Hot Potatoes ESO-3
• Hot Potatoes ESO-4
• Passives Game (1 or 2 players)
• ESL library-correct verb form 
• Digital Campus-conversion exercise 
• ESL Lounge: active to passive exercise 

Everyday routines

Eso 1 present-simple_review from Ana Arias Castro

Garfield`s routine from karolina cueva

How to write an essay in English

Here you are some advice to help you write your essays for EFL classes:

Eso 3 how to write an essay from Ana Arias Castro

and you can choose your topics from this list

Essay topics eso 3 from Ana Arias Castro

Tenses for ESO-3 and ESO-4 students

Neiu3 0-summary of tenses from Ana Arias Castro

Neiu4 0-summary of tenses from Ana Arias Castro

Passive sentences

WHAT IS A PASSIVE STRUCTURE?
Active sentences usually focus on who did the action:

• My sister broke the window.

Whereas passive sentences usually focus on who or what suffered the effects of the action:

• The window was broken.

On most occassions the agent (who did the action) is not mentioned but, if relevant, it can be mentioned after the preposition by.

• The window was broken by my sister.
• Don Quixote was written by Cervantes.

HOW IS IT MADE?
Passive structures have these elements:

1. the passive subject (my sister)
2. verb be in the right tense (the same tense that would be used in the corresponding active structure)
3. the past participle of the lexical verb
4. only if necessary, the agent (by + ______)

CHANGING ACTIVE SENTENCES  INTO THE PASSIVE

1. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive structure
2. verb be in the same tense as the active verb in the active structure
3. past participle of the main verb
4. the subjet of the active sentence becames the object in the passive structure (by + agent)
• Peter builds a house. -> A house is built by Peter.
• They were cooking dinner when we arrived. -> Dinner was being cooked when we arrived.
• I will finish it tomorrow. -> It will be finished tomorrow.

PASSIVE SENTENCES WITH TWO SUBJECTS (ONLY ESO-4)
Some active sentences have both a direct and an indirect object. In English both can be the subject in a passive structure. The indirect object is introduced by to in the passive sentence.

• ACTIVE: My sister asked me a question.
• PASSIVE 1: A question was asked to me.
• PASSIVE 2: I was asked a question.

• ACTIVE. The teacher explained the exercise to the students.
• PASSIVE 1: The exercise was explained to the students.
• PASSIVE 2: The studens were explained the exercise.

Eso 3 passives from Ana Arias Castro

Revision of passive sentences from Ana Arias Castro

EXERCISES

• Exercise 1 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 2 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 3 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercises 4 (www.englisch-hilfen.de)
• Exercise 5 (www.itslj.org)
• Exercise 5 (http://a4esl.org)
• Exercise 6 passives in the present simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 7 Passives in the past simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 8 passives in the present perfect (Perfect English)
• Exercise 9 passives in the future simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 10 mixed passive tenses (Perfect English)
• Exercise 11 passives with two objects (Perfect English) ONLY 4ºESO STUDENTS
• Exercise 12 (English Current)
• Passives (easier exercises)
• Passives (more difficult exercises)
• Hot Potatoes ESO-3
• Hot Potatoes ESO-4
• Passives Game (1 or 2 players)
• ESL library-correct verb form 
• Digital Campus-conversion exercise 
• ESL Lounge: active to passive exercise 

First type conditional sentences

The first conditional is also called the "real" conditional because it is used for real, or possible, situations. These situations take place if a certain condition is met.
In the first conditional we can salso use unless, which means "if... not". In other words, "... unless he hurries up" could also be written, "... if he doesn't hurry up."

• If it rains, we will stay at home.
• He will arrive late unless he hurries up.
• Sophie will buy a new car, if he gets his raise.

The first conditional is formed by the use of the present simple in the if clause followed by a comma and a future simple verb (will + infinitive) in the result clause. You can also put the result clause first without using a comma between the clauses.

• If he finishes on time, we will go to the movies.

OR

• We will go to the movies if he finishes on time.

Next year we are going to study the second conditional structure.

If you want to do some more exercises you might try these ones:

• exercise 1
• exercise 2
• exercise 3
• exercise 4
• exercise 5
• exercise 6

These sheet contains a summary of first, second and third type conditional sentences.

Modal verbs

These are the main modal verbs:

If you need to revise this chart or do some extra exercises, click on the following links:

• Basic verbs and written exercise (printable)
• Hot Potatoes exercise 
• Grammar for ESO-3
• Grammar for ESO-4 and BAC-1

Present simple and present continuous

In this unit we are revising the form and uses of two very common tenses: present simple and present continuous. These links will lead you to useful materials for you:

• Summary of tenses
• Tenses in detail
• Worksheet: unit 1
• Revision test for unit 1: Unit 1

Present simple and present continuous from Cynthia Maurizzio

present simple and present continuous from jesusmarcos42

Past simple and past continuous

In this unit we are going to revise the form and uses of past simple and past continuous. These two common tenses are often used in the same paragraph so it is useful to pay attention to the differences both in form and use:

Past simple boy (from www.isabelperez.com)
Lady past continuous (from www.isabelperez.com)
Choose the right tense exercise (perfect-english-grammar.com)
Revision exercise for unit 2 (past simple / past continuous / jobs / questions)
Shakira's life (past simple exercise)

Comparatives and superlatives

These last weeks we have been studying comparative and superlative structures in our classes.  This chart summarizes the main points that you have to keep in mind:

If you want to download the worksheet used in class, click here and if you want to check if you already know this grammar structure, you may try this Hot Potatoes exercise.