1. Mandy is sitting in the café where James works. He tells her, “I work in this café almost
every day. But yesterday I saw a famous TV presenter here for the rst time. She was
eating an ice-cream at the table where you are sitting now.”A week later, Mandy is
speaking to a friend on the phone, “I saw James at the café last week. He said that he
worked in that café almost every day, but that the day before he had seen a famous TV
presenter there for the rst time. She had been eating an ice-cream at the table where I
was sitting at that moment.”
Answers
Explanation:
In English grammar, we use reported speech to say what another person has said. We can use their exact words with quotation marks, this is known as direct speech, or we can use indirect speech. In indirect speech, we change the tense and pronouns to show that some time has passed. Indirect speech is often introduced by a reporting verb or phrase such as ones below.
Example:
He says/said …
She explains/explained …
She tells/told me …
He asks/asked …
Learn the rules for writing indirect speech in English with Lingolia’s simple explanation. In the exercises, you can test your grammar skills.
Example
Mandy is sitting in the café where James works. He tells her, “I work in this café almost every day. But yesterday I saw a famous TV presenter here for the first time. She was eating an ice-cream at the table where you are sitting now.” Bild 1
Bild 2 A week later, Mandy is speaking to a friend on the phone, “I saw James at the café last week. He said that he worked in that café almost every day, but that the day before he had seen a famous TV presenter there for the first time. She had been eating an ice-cream at the table where I was sitting at that moment.”