Lesson 49: Reported Speech – Statements and Questions

Hi! Welcome to Lesson 49 from LingTrio!

Bonjour et bienvenue à la Leçon 49 de LingTrio

Today, we will learn about Reported Speech, focusing on Statements and Questions.

Aujourd’hui nous apprenons le discours rapporté et comment exprimer des phrases et des questions

What is Reported Speech

Qu’est-ce que le discours rapporté

Reported Speech or Indirect Speech is a way to tell what someone else said without quoting them directly. Instead of using exact words direct speech, we change the sentence into a different form indirect speech.

Le discours rapporté est une manière de transmettre les paroles de quelqu’un sans le citer directement. Au lieu d’utiliser les mots exacts on reformule la phrase

Direct speech → Reported speech

Discours direct → Discours rapporté

He said, "I am happy." → He said that he was happy.

Il a dit "Je suis heureux." → Il a dit qu’il était heureux

She asked, "Are you coming" → She asked if I was coming.

Elle a demandé "Tu viens" → Elle a demandé si je venais

Why is Reported Speech important

Pourquoi le discours rapporté est important

We use Reported Speech to share information from conversations or stories

Pour transmettre des informations provenant de conversations ou d’histoires

We use it to report questions and statements in a natural way

Pour rapporter naturellement des questions et des affirmations

We use it to make our language more varied and interesting

Pour rendre notre langage plus riche

You hear it everywhere in conversations, movies, news, and books

On l’entend partout dans les conversations les films les actualités et les livres

Reported Statements

Phrases rapportées

When reporting statements, we usually use the word that

On utilise généralement le mot que

Structure Subject + said or told + that + subject + verb in past tense

Structure Sujet + a dit ou a raconté + que + sujet + verbe au passé

Direct Speech He said, "I am tired."

Discours direct Il a dit "Je suis fatigué."

Reported Speech He said that he was tired.

Discours rapporté Il a dit qu’il était fatigué

Tense shifts from present to past

Discours direct Elle m’a dit "J’aime le film."

Direct Speech She told me, "I like the movie."

Discours rapporté Elle m’a dit qu’elle aimait le film

Reported Speech She told me that she liked the movie.

À l’oral le mot que peut être omis Il a dit qu’il était fatigué

Informal speech that can be omitted He said he was tired

Questions rapportées

Reported Questions

Rapporter une question consiste à transformer la forme interrogative en forme affirmative

Reporting questions involves changing question forms into statements

Questions Oui ou Non

Yes or No Questions

Structure si ou whether + sujet + verbe au passé

Structure if or whether + subject + past tense verb

Question directe Tu viens

Direct Question Are you coming

Question rapportée Elle a demandé si je venais

Reported Question She asked if I was coming

Question directe As-tu vu le film

Direct Question Did you see the movie

Question rapportée Il a demandé si j’avais vu le film

Reported Question He asked if I had seen the movie

Questions en Wh qui quoi où quand pourquoi comment

Wh-Questions who, what, where, when, why, how

Structure mot Wh + verbe → même mot Wh + sujet + verbe au passé

Structure Wh-word + question verb → same Wh-word + subject + past tense verb

Question directe Où habites-tu

Direct Question Where do you live

Question rapportée Elle a demandé où j’habitais

Reported Question She asked where I lived

Question directe À quelle heure part le train

Wh-word stays the same, tense shifts back

Question rapportée Il a demandé à quelle heure le train partait

Direct Question What time does the train leave

Question directe Pourquoi es-tu en retard

Reported Question He asked what time the train left

Question rapportée Il a demandé pourquoi j’étais en retard

Do or does disappears, tense shifts

Question directe Comment ça marche

Direct Question Why are you late

Question rapportée Ils ont demandé comment ça marchait

Reported Question He asked why I was late

Question directe Quand es-tu arrivé

am or are → was or were

Question rapportée Elle a demandé quand j’étais arrivé

Direct Question How does it work

Changements de temps dans le discours rapporté

Reported Question They asked how it worked

Présent simple → Passé simple

Do or does removed, verb moves back

"J’ai faim." → Il a dit qu’il avait faim

Direct Question When did you arrive

Présent continu → Passé continu

Reported Question She asked when I had arrived

"Je suis en train de lire." → Il a dit qu’il lisait

did → past perfect in reported speech

Passé composé → Plus-que-parfait

Tense Changes in Reported Speech

"Elle a fini." → Il a dit qu’elle avait fini

Present Simple → Past Simple

Will → Would

Present Continuous → Past Continuous

"J’irai." → Il a dit qu’il irait

Present Perfect → Past Perfect

Can → Could

Will → Would

Bravo pour ton travail

Can → Could

Utilise si ou whether pour les questions oui ou non

Direct "I am hungry." → Reported He said that he was hungry.

Garde le mot Wh dans les questions Wh mais change la structure

Direct "She has finished." → Reported He said that she had finished.

Les temps reculent généralement d’un niveau

Direct "I will go." → Reported He said that he would go.

Dans la prochaine leçon nous apprendrons à rapporter les commandes et les demandes

Great job

Continue à pratiquer — cela t’aidera à parler plus naturellement

Use if or whether for yes or no questions

Keep the Wh-word for Wh-questions but change the structure

Tenses usually shift back one step

In the next lesson, we will learn how to report commands and requests

Keep practicing — it will help you sound more natural in English