The topic explained
07 Is it fair?
Is it fair?
- GRAMMAR Reported speech, reporting verbs
- I can use reported speech to talk about what someone else said.
LESSON 1A VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR
Is it fair? Charity, clean water and what people say
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
1 SPEAKING In pairs, read the quote. What do you think it means?
Clean water for villages: six charity phrases
Now use the six key words to complete the collocations from the radio report.
3 Use the words in the box to complete the phrases and collocations.
1 ___ fresh water supplies
2 ___ water filters
3 ___ problems
4 ___ pipes
5 ___ new toilets
6 ___ disasters
4 7.1 Listen again. Which of the above is the charity doing to help people?
| direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| here | there |
| now | then |
| tomorrow/next week | the following day/week or the next day/week |
| yesterday/last week | the day/week before |
| tonight/today/this evening | that night/day/evening |
| this | that (in time expressions) |
| this/that | the |
Think back: from reported to direct speech
1 The reporter said that in today’s programme, they would look at some of the amazing things that different charities were doing.
‘In today’s programme, we ___ .’
2 The professor said that others had to wash in rivers because they didn’t have clean water in their houses to have a bath or shower.
‘Others ___ .’
3 The reporter asked how the charity could help these people.
‘So how ___ ?’
4 The professor said that dirty water had mixed with clean water and that had made people ill.
‘Dirty water ___ .’
5 The reporter said that he could see the charity really should make a difference to people’s lives.
'I ___ .’
6 The professor told us to remember 90% of the world’s natural disasters were related to water.
‘ ___ .’
6 In pairs, discuss the questions, giving examples in each case from Exercise 5.
1 What usually happens to tenses in reported speech?
2 How does the word order change when we report Wh- and Yes/No questions?
3 How do will and can change in reported speech?
4 Does should change in reported speech?
5 What happens to pronouns, place and time phrases in reported speech?
7 7.3 Listen to two charity workers discussing a project and answer the questions.
1 Did Husam think his work was a success?
2 What does he plan to do next week? Say why.
8 Look at examples a–c from the recording in Exercise 7. What do you notice about the use of tenses? Match the examples with rules 1–3 below.
a ‘He said he’s going to do the same at another village next week as well.’ b ‘He says it’s really important to help all the villages in the area.’ c ‘He says he’s really determined to make the project work.’ 1 □ We do NOT change direct speech into reported speech when the reporting verb is in the present tense.
2 □ We may choose NOT to change direct speech when the action is still happening or is going to happen.
3 □ We may also choose NOT to change when the direct speech describes a general truth or fact.
Your turn: rewrite the statements
9 Rewrite each statement in reported speech.
Charity workers installed new drinking taps and a new toilet block in the village last week. The village has not had fresh water for many years, so the changes will make a big difference.
1 The journalist said that ___ .
Many children now go to school for longer because they don’t have to walk long distances to find water.
I would like to thank the charity for helping our village. I have one question. How soon will it be before all the villages in the area have the same help?
2 The villager said that ___ .
Grammar Reference: Unit 7, Lesson 1A Reported speech
Reported speech: the rules, step by step
- When we report what people said, we:
- move the original verb ‘one tense back’, except for the Past Perfect and modal verbs, and change pronouns as necessary:
- ‘I’ve found you a new phone.’
- He told me (that) he had found me a new phone.
- use say (that) or tell + object (that):
- He said/told me he would come.
- use ask + (object) + if/whether for yes/no questions. The word order becomes a statement:
- He asked (me) if/whether I could write.
- use tell + object + (not) + infinitive to report commands:
- He told me to meet him there that day.
- use ask + object + (not) + infinitive to report requests:
- He asked me to buy the fish.
- can/may ➔ could/might
- must ➔ must or had to
- Other modal verbs do not change.
When the tense stays the same
- It is not necessary to change verbs when:
- we use a Present Simple/Present Perfect reporting verb:
- He says/has said he’ll be back next week.
- the statement is reported soon after it was said so the situation is still relevant:
- He said he’ll be back next week. (It’s the same week.)
