REPORTING

why have the tenses underlined been used in reporting them?

Can’t has become

Couldn’t

Will has become

would

There is a backshift
from the past simple
to the past perfect

The reported
statement uses the
present because the
situation reported
continues to be true
REPORTING
When direct speech is reported, it becomes indirect speech.
There is usually a change of tense in the indirect speech, which
is called 'backshift':

Robert's mother said that after he had left primary school, he

had grown up very quickly.

When something is reported that is a general truth, there is

often no tense change:

'Girls' exam results are generally better than boys',' the head
teacher admitted.

The head teacher admitted that girls' exam results are generally
better than boys'.
REPORTING VERBS

ACCUSE INSIST

ADMIT PROMISE

APOLOGISE REFUSE

ARGUE SAY

CLAIM SUGGEST

DENY URGE

EXPLAIN WARN
a. “I visited my old school
recently and it was
much smaller than I
remembered”
b. “Perhaps we should
educate parents about
how they can help their
children”
c. “We belong to an anti-
learning culture”
d. “I’ll make more of an
effort”
1. She complained that
society doesn't
encourage education.
2. He promised to work
harder.
3. She explained that she
had been back and
had found it very
different.
4. He suggested showing
parents what to do.
Speaker 2: statement E

She said that when boys and girls start

schools, they are both keen to learn.
She complained that parents don’t help boys
at home.
She insisted that basic skills have to be
introduced in the home.
Speaker 3: statement A

He suggested discussing society rather than

just schools.
He explained that as society has changed so
much, boys don’t have clear goals any more.
He claimed that girls, in contrast, have a lot to
aim for.
Speaker 4: statement H

She explained that girls’ brains develop

differently to boy’s at a young age.
She warned that nursery education should be
extended to the age of six in Britain.
Speaker 5: statement B

He insisted on the recent achievement by girls

being seen as a good thing.
He argued that this was not true ten years
ago.
He suggested that this is part of more equal
opportunities nowadays
Yoel Macha