Direct and Reported Speeches and Questions

16th March 2017

Lingua e traduzione inglese I

(Monolingua)

Direct and Reported Speeches

When you transform a direct speech into a reported speech, you must pay attention to:

• using the backshift,
• changing pronouns,
• changing the time expression.

Take a look at the following examples:

DIRECT SPEECH: I'm going to post pictures tomorrow.
REPORTED SPEECH: Regina said (that) she was going to post pictures the next day.

The underlying summary table can help you transform direct speeches into reported speeches:

From: https://aliciateacher2.wordpress.com/grammar/1271-2/

NB: In reported questions, the word-order is subject + verb:

DIRECT QUESTION: What time is the next train?
REPORTED QUESTION: She asked what time the next train was.

NB2: In yes/no questions, use if or whether:

DIRECT QUESTION: Do you like watching action movies?
REPORTED QUESTION: She asked if [OR: whether] I like watching action movies.

Vocabulary

English expressions which could give hard time

The following is a list of phrasal verbs and verbal locutions where the native Italian-speaker sometimes make mistakes:

• to call sth off [= to cancell vtr]: "cancellare, disdire"
• to get to work (BUT to arrive at work): "arrivare al lavoro"
• to make up one's mind (ALSO to make one's mind up) [= to decide vtr]: "decidere" 
• to set off: "mettersi in viaggio"
• to tell the truth (NOT to say the truth): "dire la verità"
• to put off; "posporre" = to postpone vtr

Important events

• bonding n.: "legame"
• to create a long-lasting relationship: "creare un rapporto duraturo"
• to have a great time: "spassarsela"
• on the rocks adv [slang]: "in difficoltà"
• romantic adj: "romantico" ↔ creepy adj: "orrendo, raccapricciante"
• to spend quality time together: "passare insieme del tempo di qualità"
• to stand sb up (inf.): "dare buca"

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