1. SAY (dire) vs TELL (dire à)

You say SOMETHING (“Hello”, “Goodbye”, “How are you?”)

You tell SOMEONE (Tell me, I’ll tell you, She told us)

Grammatically speaking

SAY is followed by the direct object (la chose dite),

TELL is followed by the indirect object (la personne à qui on dit quelque-chose)

 2. ASK vs ASK for

It’s the opposite of French:

You ask someone (direct object): I asked my brother

C’est le contraire du français

On demande à quelqu’un (objet indirect) : J’ai demandé à mon frère
You ask for something or someone (indirect object): He asked for more time to think about it

On demande quelque chose ou quelqu’un (objet direct) : Il a demandé plus de temps pour y réfléchir

 3. Four basic reported speech patterns

STATEMENTS (déclarations)

 

He said, “I have a blog”

=> HE SAID (that) he had a blog

or

=> HE TOLD ME (that) he had a blog

   QUESTIONS (interrogations)

a) He said, “Do you have a website?”

=> HE ASKED ME IF I had a website

 

b) He said, “What is your e-mail address?”

=> HE ASKED ME WHAT my e-mail address was
REQUESTS (demandes)

a) He said, “Please wait” (“Could you wait?”, “Would you mind waiting?” etc)

 

=> HE ASKED ME to wait

   REQUESTS (demandes)

b) He said, “Could I have a glass of water?”

 

=> HE ASKED ME for a glass of wateror He asked me if he could have a glass of water
ORDERS (commandes)

He said, “Be patient”

    

=> HE TOLD ME TO be patient

Exercise: Change the direct speech into reported statements, questions, requests & orders

DIRECT

REPORTED
  1. She said, “I’m at the office”
   She told me (that) she ………………………….
  1. He said, “Can you wait a moment”
   He asked me to ……………………………………
  1. They said, “You’ve got the job”
   They told me I’d ……………………………………
  1. She said, “What can I do to help?”
   She asked us what ………………………………..
  1. He said, “What does ‘unavailing’ mean?”
   He asked her ………………………………………..
  1. He said, “Does it mean the same as ‘unavailable’?”
   He asked if …………………………………………..
  1. She said, “No, it doesn’t”
   She told him …………………………………………
  1. I said, “Can I have more time?”
   I asked for ……………………………………………

I asked if ……………………………………………..
  1. He said, “Wait in there”
   He told me …………………………………………..
  1. He said, “Please wait in there”
   He ……………………………………………………….

 

Patterns of reported speech
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