Another common way to say or write what someone has said is to use Reported Speech. Reported Speech uses Noun Clauses and does not use quotations.
Structure
A common form of Reported Speech is to use a past tense main verb of a sentence, and then another past tense in the Noun Clause.
- Emma asked why the clinic was closed. (asked = main verb of the sentence, was = past tense in Noun Clause)
- He said that he did not understand the grammar. (said = main verb of the sentence, did not understand = past tense in Noun Clause)
Backshifting
- In Reported Speech, we often backshift the tense of the verb or verbs in the Noun Clause.
- This means, if someone says something in the Present Simple tense, we need to report that speech using the Past Simple in the Noun Clause.
- If someone says something in the Present Continuous tense, we need to report that speech using the Past Continuous tense in the Noun Clause.
| Quoted Speech: Present Tenses | Reported Speech: Past Tenses |
|---|---|
| Lucas said, "I want to heal people." | Lucas said that he wanted to heal people. |
| Aleksi said that it was starting to bruise. | Aleksi said, "It is starting to bruise." |
The above two examples are changing Present Tenses to Past Tenses. Below are other backshifting rules:
| Quoted Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| "I study medical terminology every evening." | She said that she studied medical terminology every evening. |
| "I am studying medical terminology." | She said that she was studying medical terminology. |
| "I have studied medical terminology." | She said that she had studied medical terminology. |
| "I studied medical terminology." | She said that she had studied medical terminology. |
| "I was studying medical terminology." | She said that she had been studying medical terminology. |
| "I had studied medical terminology." | She said that she had studied medical terminology. |
| "I will study medical terminology." | She said that she would study medical terminology. |
| "I am going to study medical terminology." | She said that she was going to study medical terminology. |
| "I can study medical terminology." | She said that she could study medical terminology. |
| "I may study medical terminology." | She said that she might study medical terminology. |
| "I might study medical terminology." | She said that she might study medical terminology. |
| "I must study medical terminology." | She said that she had to study medical terminology. |
| "I have to study medical terminology." | She said that she had to study medical terminology. |
| "I should study medical terminology." | She said that she should study medical terminology. |
No Backshifting
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