Exercices: reported speech practice

A) Put these sentences into reported speech:

Example: 'I am a teacher', Mary told me.
Reported speech: Mary told me that she was a teacher

1. I’ve finished my homework, Mary told us.
2. I’ll be back at eight, George said.
3. I’m not going shopping today, Sarah said
4. I need to phone my brother, Brian told the police
5. I haven’t seen him for a year, said Josh
6. I’ll call you tomorrow, Bill told me
7. I’m going to be late for dinner, Kristen told me

B) Ahora te damos un texto en reported speech. Léelo con atención y después completa la conversación con las palabras exactas que dijeron Anne y Tony.

Anne asked Tony what music he liked and he told her that he liked heavy metal music. Actually, he said that he sometimes played with a band called The Cliff.

Then, Anne asked him where the band played and Alex answered that they played live in a well known pub in the city centre every Friday night.

Finally, Tracy asked him if he wanted to become a professional musician but Alex said that he had a very successful career and that he only played with the band as a hobbie.

Anne: Tony, what music do you like ?

Tony: I .................................................................... Actually, I sometimes....................... .........................................................................

Anne: Where ...................................................................................?

Tony: We .....................................................................................

Anne: Tony, ........................................................................ professional musician?

Tony: I ................................................................ I .............................................................

C) Can you put this joke into reported speech?

In a restaurant:

Customer: Waiter, waiter! There is a frog in my soup!!!
Waiter: I’m sorry, sir. The fly is on holiday.

Te damos el principio:

In a restaurant, a customer called the waiter and told him that........

Exercise: A visit to the fortune-teller

The fortune-teller told me...

Reported speech practice

El sábado pasado, Sally fue a ver a Madame Future, una adivina, para que le leyese la mano. Madame future le contó a Sally cosas sobre su pasado, presente y futuro. Esto es lo que dijo la adivina:

‘The crystal ball tells me you are a very intelligent person, Sally. I see that you work very hard and have a good sense of humour. In fact, you are a very sociable person, you love being with other people. When you were little, you were a rebellious child. In fact, you were always getting into trouble! When you were 4, you had a serious illness and you nearly died. Concerning your future, I see a very happy life. You are going to be rich one day. You will marry a handsome man and you’ll have three children. You will be lucky in your life.’

Ahora Sally le está contando a su amigo Peter lo que la adivina le dijo. Lee la conversación y completa los verbos que faltan en el tiempo correspondiente. ¡Recuerda que ahora todos los verbos tienen que ir en reported speech!

Peter: So, how did it go? What did the fortune-teller say?

Sally: Well, it was interesting. She started talking about me. She said THAT I WAS a very intellingent person. She told me that I ...................................very hard and ................... a good sense of humour. She said that I ........ sociable and that I ............................ with other people.

Peter: Well, that’s not much. That’s what everyone wants to hear!

Sally: That’s what I thought. But then she told me about my childhood. She told me that I ....................... rebellious when I was a kid and that I .................................................... into trouble.

Peter: Really?

Sally: And then she said that when I .................... 4, I ............................... a serious illness and ............. nearly ................

Peter: Oh my god, she’s really good! You had pneumonia when you were little, that’s true!!

Sally: I was amazed! I couldn’t believe it!

Peter: What else did she say?

Sally: She talked then about my future. She said she ................ a happy life and that I ............................... rich one day!

Peter: Well, that’s good news!

Sally: She also told me that I ................................a rich man and we ............................ three kids. She was convinced that I ............................... lucky in my life.

Peter: Definitely, I have to go see that fortune-teller. I hope my future is as good as yours!!

One pumpkin and six suspects

Halloween night. There is a costumes party at Mr. Green’s house.
Noche de Halloween. Hay una fiesta de disfraces en la casa del señor Green.

He has decorated all the house with bats, spiders and mummies. He has spent a whole month looking for a beautiful pumpkin, which would be a surprise for his girlfriend, Mrs Peacock.

Ha decorado toda la casa con murciélagos, arañas y momias. Ha pasado todo el mes buscando una preciosa calabaza, que sería una sorpresa para su novia, la señorita Peacock.

At midnight, he takes all the guests to the living room and he opens the curtains that hide the pumpkin…

A medianoche, lleva a los invitados al salón y abre la cortina que esconde la calabaza....

However, the pumpkin isn’t behind the curtains. What they see there is…

Sin embargo, la calabaza no está detrás de ellas. Lo que allí ven es...

A delicious pumpkin pie! Mr Green is horrified. Who can have done this?

¡Una deliciosa calabaza! El señor Green está horrorizado. ¿Quién puede haber hecho eso?


He looks around at his guests: Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard, Mrs Peacock, Professor Plum and his maid, Mrs White.

Echa un vistazo a sus invitados: la señorita Scarlet, el coronel Mustard, la señorita Peacock, el profesor Plum y la criada, la señorita White.


After tasting the pie, he phones the police. A tall policeman goes to the house and asks questions to the suspects.

Tras probar la tarta, llama a la policía. Un policía alto va a la casa y hace unas preguntas a los sospechosos.


¿Quién hizo una tarta con la calabaza?


Escribe el informe policial sobre lo que dijeron los sospechosos y deja un comentario diciendo quién crees que es el culpable.






I arrived at Mr Green’s house at midnight. He opened the curtains at the same time I entered the house. I never saw the pumpkin.



I don’t like pumpkins. I don’t like cooking. I did not carved the pumpkin.


I spent all the day at Mr Green’s house helping him but I did not see the pumpkin.



I drank a lot. I went to the toilet upstairs. I never saw the pumpkin.



I cleaned the house in the afternoon. I saw the pumpkin behind the curtains. I didn’t touch it. I cooked some pumpkin pies but not with this pumpkin.




Aquí tienes el informe de uno de los sospechosos para que te sirva de ejemplo:

Colonel Mustard said that he didn’t like pumpkins, that he didn’t like cooking and that he had not carved the pumpkin.

Who said that?

Join these quotes with the person who said them. Use the Internet to find the information. Then, use Reported Speech as in the example:

George Bernard Shaw said that first love was only a little foolisness and a lot of curiosity.

Be careful with the tense changes!

QUOTES
- Big girls need big diamonds.
- A day without a laughter is a day wasted.
- All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.
- Hair has always been important.
- Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.
- I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.
- I dream for a living.
- I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing: that it was all started by a mouse.
- I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.
- My life is my message.
- The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.

CHARACTERS
- Walt Disney
- Charlie Chaplin
- Diana Ross
- Galileo Galilei
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Albert Einstein
- Michelangelo
- Elvis Presley
- Marilyn Monroe
- Steven Spielberg

Beckham said that...

Reported speech practice: we have asked David Beckham about the most typical dish of Britain. This is what he said.

“Fish and chips”

Interviewer: Hello David! I know you love fish and chips, but I would like you to tell us a bit more about this typical English food.
David: You are right, I love it!! Well, "Fish and chips" is deep-fried fish in batter with deep-fried potatoes, and a popular take-away food
Interviewer: Is it originally from the United Kingdom?
David: Yes, Fish and chips is originally from the United Kingdom, but also very popular in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and some coastal towns of the Netherlands and Norway; and also increasingly so in the United States and elsewhere. For decades it was the dominant (if not the only) take-away food in the United Kingdom.
Interviewer: Is it called “fish and chips” everywhere?
David: The fried potatoes are called chips in British and international usage; and while American English calls them french fries, the combination is still called "fish and chips". (Potato chips, an American innovation, are a different potato-derived food, and are known as crisps in the United Kingdom.)

Interviewer: Is it a new dish, or on the contrary is it a very old one?
David: Fish and chips have separately been eaten for many years – though the potato was not introduced to Europe until the 17th century. The originally Sephardi dish Pescado frito, or deep-fried fish, came to Netherlands and England with the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Interviewer: Then, when did it become popular in the United Kingdom?
David: The dish became popular in more widespread circles in London and the south-east in the middle of the 19th century (Charles Dickens mentions a "fried fish warehouse" in Oliver Twist) whilst in the north of England a trade in deep-fried "chipped" potatoes developed.
Interviewer: Do you know when was the first “fish and chips” shop opened?
David: It is unclear when and where these two trades were merged to become the fish and chip shop industry we know today. The first combined fish and chip shop was probably the one opened in London by Joseph Malin in 1860. During World War II, fish and chips were one of the few foods that were not rationed in the UK.



Interviewer: Thank you very much David. Enjoy your fish and chips!




Exercise:
Report, using Reported Speech, what David said.

Example: David said that the interviewer was right and that he loved it. He said that fish and chips was deep-fried fish in batter with deep-fried potatoes, and a popular take-away food.