Exercise 1
Yesterday you met a friend of yours, Steve. You hadn’t seen him for a long time. Here are some of the things Steve said to you:
1 I’m living in London. |
7 I haven’t seen Amy recently. |
2 My father isn’t very well. |
8 I’m not enjoying my job very much. |
3 Rachel and Mark are getting married next month. |
9 You can come and stay at my place if you’re ever in London. |
4 My sister has had a baby. |
10 My car was stolen a few days ago. |
5 I don’t know what Joe is doing. |
11 I want to go on holiday, but I can’t afford it. |
6 I saw Helen at a party in June and she seemed fine. |
12 I’ll tell Chris I saw you. |
Later that day you tell another friend what Steve said. Use reported speech.
1 Steve said that he was living in London.
2 He said that …………………….
3 He …………………….
4 …………………….
5 …………………….
6 …………………….
7 …………………….
8 …………………….
9 …………………….
10 …………………….
11 …………………….
12 …………………….
Answers
1
2 He said (that) his father wasn’t very well.
3 He said (that) Rachel and Mark were getting married next month.
4 He said (that) his sister had had a baby.
5 He said (that) he didn’t know what Joe was doing.
6 He said (that) he’d seen / he had seen Helen at a party in June and she’d seemed / she had seemed fine. or He said (that) he saw Helen … and she seemed …
7 He said (that) he hadn’t seen Amy recently.
8 He said (that) he wasn’t enjoying his job very much.
9 He said (that) I could come and stay at his place if I was ever in London.
10 He said (that) his car had been stolen a few days ago. or … his car was stolen a few days ago.
11 He said (that) he wanted to go on holiday, but (he) couldn’t afford it.
12 He said (that) he’d tell I he would tell Chris he’d seen I he had seen me. or … he saw me.
Exercise 2
Somebody says something to you which is not what you expected. Use your own ideas to complete your answers.
1 A: It’s quite a long way from the hotel to the station.
B: Is it? The man on the reception desk said …………………….
2 A: Sue is coming to the party tonight.
B: Is she? I saw her a few days ago and she said she …………………….
3 A: Sarah gets on fine with Paul.
B: Does she? Last week you said ……………………. each other.
4 A: Joe knows lots of people.
B: That’s not what he told me. He said ……………………. anyone.
5 A: jane will be here next week.
B: Oh, really? When I spoke to her, she said ……………………. away.
6 A: I’m going out tonight.
B: Are you? I thought you said ……………………. home.
7 A: John speaks French quite well.
B: Does he? He told me ……………………. any other languages.
8 A: I haven’t seen Ben recently.
B: That’s strange. He told me ……………………. last weekend.
Answers
2
1 it was only five minutes’ walk.
2 she wasn’t coming / she was going somewhere else / she couldn’t come
3 they didn’t like each other / they didn’t get on with each other / they couldn’t stand each other
4 he didn’t know anyone
5 she would be away / she was going away
6 you were staying at home
7 he couldn’t speak / he didn’t speak any other languages
8 he’d seen you / he saw you last weekend
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