有關reported speech

Reported Speech

當你要把人地既說話複述出唻既時候, 你就需要用到reported speech.
中文例子: 小明: “今日我無返學.”
之後你複述時會講: 小明話今日佢無返學.
Reported speech 內, 引號無左, 而我會變成佢.

當句子由direct 改成reported speech 時, 需要作以下既改變.

Present tense à past tense
Past tense à past perfect tense
Present perfect à past perfect
Will à would
Can à could

Examples: (第一句direct speech, 第二句reported speech)

Joey said, “I am very tired.”
Joey said that she was tired.
複述他人的句子時, 多數會用到that 來連接.

Lily said, “I was a doctor before changing careers.”
Lily said that she was a doctor before changing career.

The teacher said, “Be quiet!”
The teacher told us to be quiet.

Kelly asked, “What color is your new car?”
Kelly asked what color my new car was.
當改成reported speech 時, is(was) 既位置由名詞前面改成名詞後面.
有what/which/who/where 等時亦唔需要加that 來連接.

Tom asked, “Can you dance?”
Tom asked me if I could dance.
當問題係yes/no question 時, 就會用到if.

Indirect Speech (also referred to as 'reported speech') refers to a sentence reporting what someone has said. It is almost always used in spoken English.


If the reporting verb (i.e. said) is in the past, the reported clause will be in a past form. This form is usually one step back into the past from the original.
For example:


He said the test was difficult.
She said she watched TV every day.
Jack said he came to school every day.

If simple present, present perfect or the future is used in the reporting verb (i.e. says) the tense is retained.
For example:


He says the test is difficult.
She has said that she watches TV every day.
Jack will say that he comes to school every day.

If reporting a general truth the present tense will be retained.
For example:

She said, "I want to bring my children." BECOMES She said she wanted to bring her children.
Jack said, "My wife went with me to the show." BECOMES Jack said his wife had gone with him to the show.
It is also important to change time words (signifiers) when referring to present, past or future time to match the moment of speaking.
For example:

She said, "I want to bring my children tomorrow." BECOMES She said she wanted to bring her children the next day.
Jack said, "My wife went with me to the show yesterday." BECOMES Jack said his wife had gone with him to the show the day before.
Indirect Questions
When reporting questions, it is especially important to pay attention to sentence order. When reporting yes/ no questions connect the reported question using 'if'. When reporting questions using question words (why, where, when, etc.) use the question word.
For example:


She asked, "Do you want to come with me?" BECOMES She asked me if I wanted to come with her.
Dave asked, "Where did you go last weekend?" BECOMES Dave asked me where I had gone the previous weekend.
He asked, "Why are you studying English?" BECOMES She asked me why I was studying English.
The following chart includes sentences changed from quoted speech to reported speech using a past form. NoteSimple past, present perfect, and past perfect allchange to past perfect in the reported form.