Exercise. 3. Turn the sentences into reported speech. In which of the following sentences do the tenses not change? In which do they not have to be changed?
1.The article says, “The artist only uses oil paints.”
The article says (that) the artist only uses oil paints.
The tenses do not change because the introductory verb is in the present simple.
2. “They are working hard today,” he said.
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3. “I’ve done the things you asked me to do,” Mary said.
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4. “The sun rises in the east,” she said.
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5. “He broke the window,” they said.
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6. “We’ve never been on holiday abroad,” they said.
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7. Mum says, “Dinner is ready.”
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8. “I’ll start cooking at six o’clock,” she said.
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9. “We went to the supermarket yesterday,” he said.
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10. Mrs Jones says, “My daughter is going to have a baby.”
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11. “You’re never going to get a job,” Dad always says.
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12. “Fish live in water,” he said.
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13. “We went to the beach last weekend,” they said.
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14. “He showed me his photographs,” she said.
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15. “I’m working on my project now,” Billy said.
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Exercise. 4. Reported questions.
1. “Where do you live?” I asked her.
I asked her where she lived.
2. “How old will you be on your next birthday?” he asked me.
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3.“Where is your umbrella?” she asked her daughter.
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4. “Do you like playing football ?” John asked us.
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5. The boss asked, “What time are you going home today?”
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6. “Will you take the children to school today?” he asked.
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7. “Who called you today?” she asked.
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8. “When will you decorate the kitchen?” Martha asked.
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9. “Who broke my vase?” I asked.
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10. Father asked, “Will you help me lift these boxes, please?”
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11. “Can you speak a foreign language?” she asked her.
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12. “Where is the tourist information center?” we asked.
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Exercise. 5. Fill in the gaps with the introductory verbs in the list in the correct form.
Order, tell, ask, beg, suggest
1.“Please visit me in hospital,” Joan said to Colin.
Joan askedColin to visit her in hospital.
1. “Let’s eat out this evening,” Paul said to her.
Paul ___________________ eating out that evening.
2. “Please, please be careful,” she said to him.
She __________________ him to be careful.
3. “Don’t go near the fire,” Dad said to us.
Dad __________________ us not to go near the fire.
4. “Be quiet!” the commander said to the troops.
The commander _________________ the troops to be quiet.
Exercise. 6. Turn the following sentences into reported speech.
1. The doctor said to the patient, “Come back to see me again next week.”
The doctor told the patient to go back and see him again the following week/the week after.
2. The guard said to the driver, “Stop!”
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3. He said, “Shall we go for a walk?”
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4.She said to him, “Please, please don’t leave me!”
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5. Jenny said to Dave, “Please help me with this.”
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6. She said to him, “Open the window, please.”
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7. Mother said, “How about going for a drive?”
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8. She said, “Let’s eat now.”
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