Chapter1: Telecommunication Unit 4: Can I take a message?

Study the smart box

Reported Speech

Caller: Yes, please. We sent you an enquiry last week. We said for all details of your new portable

weights. And now I want to know if MrMcWain has already received the letter. It is urgent,

there will be a meeting of our management here tomorrow and we will decide what new

articles to buy for the next season. Could MrMcWain call me back when he comes in from

lunch, please? My nuber is 754 8864, extension 223.

The caller says that

Smart

Box

2 This is how we show what somebody saying (or writing in a letter) and how we make reports

about it.

He says: ´We sent you an enquiry last week.´

(= what he really says)

He says that they sent us an enquiry last week (or: the week before)

(= your present report)

He said that they had sent us an enquiry the week before.

(= your past report)

He says: ´There will be a meeting tomorrow.´

(= what he really says)

He says that there will be a meeting tomorrow (or: the next day).

(=your present report)

He said that there would be a meeting there the next day.

(= your past report)

Do you notice the differences?

Times and places many changedepending on the situation

Tenses do not change if your report is about something new and present:

He saysthat…

He tellsme that…

He writesthat …

Tenses changeif your report is about something in the past:

He saidthat...

He toldme that…

He wrotethat…

Remember: The past tense changes into the past perfect tense!

The future tense changes into the first conditional!