Are you an English (EFL/ESL) teacher? Download this pdf. worksheet to use as a Speaking / Writing exercise for your students. A quick explanation of how reported / indirect speech works, and then a comic where the students have to convert direct to indirect speech.
The introductory pdf. does not cover the full range of indirect speech. None of my pdfs are intended to replace the teacher – this is an answer to the person who said that my worksheets were no good, because they are too simple and don’t include all the grey areas. My intention is to give material to help teachers, not do their job for them (which would be impossible, apart from being a very bad idea. Sorry, but you’ll understand if I had to get that off my chest!)
I have to say, though, that I also agree with that same person. ‘Real’ English is always much more fluid and flexible than ‘Class’ English. I just think that it’s better explained by the teacher in class than on a worksheet. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with teaching Reported Speech for this same reason. Let’s take this example:
- Dave to Simon (11:00am Tuesday) “I’m going to the concert tomorrow.”
- Simon to Tracy (1:00pm the same day) “Dave said he’s going to the concert tomorrow.”
A classic example of how everyday conversation often doesn’t follow the ‘rules’ we set in class, so I think it’s worthwhile pointing out that these ‘rules’ are more applicable when we’re talking about a conversation that took place a few days ago, or more. That’s why I’ve started the comic with ‘A few weeks ago…’.
This can be used as a Speaking or Writing Activity, as you prefer. The worksheet pdf. is below for you to download for free.
Reported/Indirect Speech Worksheet