Косвенные вопросы (Indirect Questions)

Special Questions	He asked (me) He wanted to know He wondered
“Where do you live?” “Where does he work?” “What us Nick doing?” “What have you prepared for today?” “When did you come home yesterday?” “When will your mother come home?”	were I lived. where he worked. what Nick was doing. what I had prepared for that day. when I had come home the day before. when my mother would come home.
General Questions	He asked (me) He wanted to know He wondered
“Do you play chess?” “Does she go to school?” “Are you listening to me?” “Have you done your homework?” “Did you skate last winter?” “Will you see your friend tomorrow?”	if whether	I played chess. She went to school. I was listening to him. I had done my homework before. I had skated the winter before. I should see my friend the next day.

Повелительное наклонение заменяется в косвенной речи инфинитивом. Отрицательная форма повелительного наклонения заменяется инфинитивом с not:

He Он	asked попросил	me мне	to do it. сделать это.
	ordered приказал
	told велел		not to do it. не делать этого.
	advised посоветовал

Соотнесенность указательных местоимений и наречий времени в прямой и косвенной речи:

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
this, these	that, those, the
now	then, at that time, at once, immediately
now that	since
tonight, today	that night, that day
yesterday	the day before
last night/week/month/year	the previous night/week/month/year a night/week/month/year before
the day before yesterday	two days before
tomorrow	the next day/following day
the day after tomorrow	in two days’ time
next week/month/year
ago	before

Introductory verbs

Introductory verbs	Direct speech	Reported speech
agree+to-inf offer promise refuse threaten	“Yes, I’ll help you.” “Shall I open the door?” “Of course I’ll pay you.” “No, I won’t go with you.” “Stop crying or I’ll punish you.”	He agreed to help me. He offered to open the door. He promised to pay me. He refused to go with us. He threatened to punish me if I didn’t stop crying.
Advise+sb+to–inf ask beg command invite order remind warm	“You should see a lawyer.” “Could you help me?” “Please, please don’t hurt her!” “Stand to attention!” “Will you have dinner with me?” “Leave the cat alone!” “Don’t forget to ring Ann.” “Don’t go near the rocks.”	He advised me to see a lawyer. He asked me to help him. He begged me not to hurt her. He commanded the soldiers to stand to attention. He invited me to (have) dinner with him. She ordered me to leave the cat alone. She reminded me to ring Ann. He warned me not to go near the rocks.
admit + gerund accuse sb of apologise for boast of/about complain to sb of deny insist on (say one) prefers suggest	“Yes, I told her the secret.” “You took the money.” “I’m sorry I arrived so late.” “I’m the fastest of all.” “I have a toothache.” “I didn’t take the book.” “You must come with us.” ”I’d rather do it myself.” “Let’s have a party.”	He admitted (to) telling/having told her the secret. He accused me of taking/having taken the money. He apologized for arriving/having arrived so late. He boasted of/about being the fastest of all. He complained to me of having a toothache. He denied taking/having taken the book. He insisted on me/my going with them. He said he preferred doing/to do it himself. He suggested having a party.
agree + that-clause complain deny explain exclaim/remark promise suggest	“Yes, it’s a big house.” “You’re always lying to me.” ”I didn’t take that book” “That’s why I didn’t take it.” “What a sunny day it is!” “Of course I’ll help you.” “You’d better see a doctor.”	He agreed that it was a big house. He complained that I was always lying to him. He denied that he had taken the book. He explained to me why/that he hadn’t taken it. He exclaimed/remarked that it was a sunny day. He promised that he would help me. He suggested that I (should) see a doctor.
Note: admit, advise, boast, insist, threaten, warn, remind can also be followed by a that-clause in Reported speech.

Exercise 1.		Change direct speech into indirect (with declarative sentences).
1.	He has just said, “I want to speak to you”.
2.	He has said, “We have finished our work”.
3.	He will say “I will do it at once”.
4.	He said, “This task is very difficult”.
5.	He said to her, “I met him last month”.
6.	He said, “He is going to St. Petersburg tomorrow”.
7.	He said to me, “I have never been here before”.
8.	I said, “I was ill yesterday”.
9.	He said to them, “She will be here in half an hour”.

Exercise 2.		Change direct speech into indirect (with interrogative sentences).
1.	He has just asked me, “Who will come to the concert-hall with me?”
2.	He has asked me, “Will you be at home tonight?”
3.	He has just asked me, “Is it time to go?”
4.	He asked me, “Where are you going?”
5.	She asked me, “Does he always come so early?”
6.	He asked her. “How did you do that?”
7.	He asked me, “Is it raining?”
8.	She asked him, “Have the children returned from school?”
9.	He asked me, “How old are you?”

Exercise 3.		Change direct speech into indirect (with imperative sentences).
1.	I said to him, “Please open the door”.
2.	I said to her, “Copy this text”.
3.	I said to him, to him, “Please don’t be angry”.
4.	He said to me, “Don’t wait for me”.
5.	She said to, “Don’t be late”.
6.	He said to me, “Please send her the postcard”.
7.	He said to the secretary, “Bring me the fax we have received this morning”.