Place and Time expressions

For place and time expressions you have to check whether place and time are the same in direct and reported speech or not.

Check out the following example:

It is Friday and you meet James at a restaurant. James tells you that he saw Caroline in this restaurant today. (“I saw Caroline here today.”) A few minutes later, Helen joins you and you want to report what James has told you. Place (here) and time (today) are the same and you can say:

→ James said that he had seen Caroline here today.

One day later, you meet Mary at the same restaurant. Again, you want to report to her what James has told you. The place is the same, but not the time (it happened yesterday). So you would say:

→ James said that he had seen Caroline here yesterday.

Still a few days later, Tom rings you at home. Again, you want to report to him what James has told you. However, now you are not at the restaurant (but at home) and a few days have passed since then. So you would say:

→ James said that he had seen Caroline at the restaurant on Friday.

or

→ I met James in a restaurant on Friday and he said that he had seen Caroline there that day.

Therefore you always have to think which place and time expressions are logical in a certain situation.

 

In the following table, you will find ways of transforming place and time expressions into reported speech.

Direct speech	Reported speech
Today	That day
Now	Then
Yesterday	The day before
…days ago	…days before
Last week	The week before
Next year	The following year
Tomorrow	The next day/ the following day
Here	There
This	That
These	those

 

1. Transforming a question

Questions

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

• pronouns
• present tense verbs (3rd person singular)
• place and time expressions
• tenses (backshift)

Also note that you have to:

• transform the question into an indirect question
• use the interrogative or if / whether

 

type	example
With interrogative	Direct speech	“Why don’t you speak English?”
Reported speech	He asked me why I didn’t speak English
Without interrogative	Direct speech	“Do you speak English?”
Reported speech	He asked me whether /if I spoke English

Besides, note that instead of ‚that‘ you use the interrogative. If there is no interrogative, use ‚whether‘ / ‚if‘.

	Direct speech	Reported speech
Statement	He said: “She lives in London”	He said that she lived in London
Question with interrogative	He asked: “ Where does she live?”	He asked whether she lived in London
Question without interrogative	He asked: “does she live in London?”	He asked whether she lived in London. He asked if she lived in London

It is also important that you use an indirect question in reported speech, i.e. after the interrogative or ‚whether‘ / ‚if‘ you continue the sentence as if it were a statement (subject-verb etc.). The auxiliary verb ‚do‘ is not used in indirect questions.

Example:

He asked: “Where does she live?“ – He asked where she lived.

 

1. Transformation of a request

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

• Pronouns
• place and time expressions

type	Example
Direct speech	“Carol, speak English”
Reported speech	He told Carol to speak English

 

Tenses are not relevant for requests – simply use ‚to‘ + infinite verb.

Example:

She said, “Say hello to your mum.“ – She asked me to say hello to my mum.

For negative requests, use ‚not to‘ + infinite verb.

Example:

He said, “Don’t give up, Bob.“ – He advised Bob not to give up.