Ubiquity of English plan: 1 Ubiquity of English

Definition of Reported Speech

Reported speech, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, is defined as “a report of what somebody has said that does not use their exact words.” The Collins Dictionary defines reported speech as “speech which tells you what someone said, but does not use the person’s actual words.” According to the Cambridge Dictionary, reported speech is defined as “the act of reporting something that was said, but not using exactly the same words.” The Macmillan Dictionary defines reported speech as “the words that you use to report what someone else has said.”

Rules to be Followed When Using Reported Speech

Reported speech is a little different from direct speech. As it has been discussed already, reported speech is used to tell what someone said and does not use the exact words of the speaker. Take a look at the following rules so that you can make use of reported speech effectively.

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  The first thing you have to keep in mind is that you need not use any quotation marks as you are not using the exact words of the speaker.
  
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  You can use the following formula to construct a sentence in the reported speech.
  

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  You can use verbs like said, asked, requested, ordered, complained, exclaimed, screamed, told, etc. If you are just reporting a declarative sentence, you can use verbs like told, said, etc. followed by ‘that’ and end the sentence with a full stop. When you are reporting interrogative sentences, you can use the verbs – enquired, inquired, asked, etc. and remove the question mark. In case you are reporting imperative sentences, you can use verbs like requested, commanded, pleaded, ordered, etc. If you are reporting exclamatory sentences, you can use the verb exclaimed and remove the exclamation mark. Remember that the structure of the sentences also changes accordingly.
  
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  Furthermore, keep in mind that the sentence structure, tense, pronouns, modal verbs, some specific adverbs of place and adverbs of time change when a sentence is transformed into indirect/reported speech.