Introduction
Reported speech is when we want to report one person’s speech to another person but we do not use the exact words because we focus on the message rather than the exact words.
Questions in reported speech don’t have inverted order, we use the normal word order.
Form
In reported speeches, questions turn into affirmative forms: subjects do not come after verbs like in normal questions and we do not use auxiliary verbs if we do not need them.
We can use the reporting verbs ask, demand, wonder…
NOTE: We do not use question marks in reported speech questions and we report yes/no questions with the words if or whether.
Example
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
| He asked: “Do you want metallic colour?” | He asked whether I wanted metallic colour. |
| “Where is the rainbow?” | My little sister asked me where the rainbow was. |
| “Have you ever met with a perfectionist?”
“Is your car parked under a shadow?” |
She asked me that whether I had ever met with a perfectionist.
They wondered if our car was parked under a shadow. |
| They asked: “Do we need to wear tie?” | They asked that if they need to wear tie. |
Use
We can use reported speech when we report a question to somebody else.
Summary
We can use reported speech when we report a question to somebody else.
In reported speeches, questions turn into affirmative forms: subjects do not come after verbs and we do not use auxiliary verbs if we do not need them.
We can use the reporting verbs ask, demand, wonder…
For example:
— “Where is John?”, she wondered. ⇒ She wondered where John is.
NOTE: We do not use question marks in reported speech questions and we report yes/no questions with the words if or whether.
For example:
— “Do you want to go to the park?” ⇒ He asked me whether I wanted to go to the park.
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.