Reported Speech

Kingdom of Bahrain Education Context

  • Location: Kingdom of Bahrain

  • Institution: Ministry of Education

  • Target Audience: Grade 9, Semester 2

  • Unit Title: Unit 7 - Visual Stories

  • Lesson: Lesson 6 - Grammar 2

Classroom Rules

  • Always be kind: Promotes empathy and kindness in the learning environment.

  • Be respectful at all times: Ensures a respectful interaction among students and teachers.

  • Raise your hand to speak: Encourages orderly communication and participation in class.

  • Ask questions: Fosters a culture of inquiry and understanding.

  • Listen carefully: Enhances comprehension and retention of information presented.

  • Help each other: Builds a cooperative learning environment.

  • Learn from mistakes: Instills a growth mindset and resilience in students.

  • Work quietly: Promotes focus and minimizes distractions during learning activities.

  • Play safely: Ensures students are aware of safety guidelines during recess or physical activities.

  • Always do your best: Motivates students to strive for excellence in their work.

Understanding Reported Speech

  • Objective: To identify and understand reported speech in language usage.

    • Definition of Reported Speech: Also known as indirect speech; it conveys what someone else said without quoting their exact words. It can be explained as:

    • Direct Speech: Reporting the exact words as they were spoken.

    • Reported Speech (Indirect Speech): Reporting by paraphrasing the original words.

Uses of Reported Speech

  • Communicating News: Used to inform someone about news received from another person.

    • Example: "Nora told me that Amal graduated."

  • Reporting Past Events: Employed to relay information about events that occurred earlier.

    • Example: "Ahmad said that the other driver ran the red light and hit his car."

  • Giving Telephone Messages: Helpful for conveying messages received through a phone call.

    • Example: "Maha said that she couldn’t come today because she was sick."

Grammatical Changes in Reported Speech

  • When transforming direct speech into reported speech, it is common to shift the verb tenses to the past form:

    • Present Simple changes to Past Simple:

    • Direct: "He's American," she said.

    • Reported: "She said he was American."

    • Additional transformations include:

    • "I’m happy to see you," becomes "Mary said that she was happy to see me."

    • Questions in direct speech convert from direct to indirect questioned forms:

      • Direct: "Are you happy?"

      • Reported: "He asked me if I was happy."

Examples of Direct and Reported Speech

  • Present Simple to Past Simple conversions:

    • Direct: "I'm happy to see you," Mary said.

    • Reported: "Mary said that she was happy to see me."

Exercise Task

  • Complete reported speech sentences by filling in the blanks:

    • "Ahmad told me that he ______ not happy at his job anymore and he ______ he ______ quit."

    • Possible answers: was, thought, would

    • "Ameera said that ______ sister was coming to visit ______ soon."

    • Possible answers: her, her

Important Notes on Pronouns

  • Careful when changing pronouns in reported speech, keeping in mind to mirror the speaker's perspective:

    • Example: Change from "My sister" to the name of the speaker when quoting their words.

Final Assessment and Practice

  • Engage with interactive assessments to reinforce understanding and application of reported speech concepts:

    • Task: Choose the correct answer based on knowledge of reported speech.

Acknowledgments

  • Thank You: A note of appreciation to learners and educators for their effort in mastering reported speech.