Turning direct speech into an indirect one is a basic skill for communication. Knowing the grammatical rules is one thing but being able to use it well is quite another.

This is the second part of the programme on indirect speech.

Today, Yang Li and Diarmuid Mitchell look at two other elements in turning direct speech into indirect speech.

1. The transformation of questions.

"I don’t know whether I should drive or take the train." - He hesitated about whether to drive or take the train.

2. The transformation of imperatives

"Don’t forget your passport please." – She told us not to forget our passport.

3. Time reference change

"I haven’t seen the boss today." - He said he hadn’t seen the boss that day. (If you are reporting the speech at a later date)

The use of reported speech is especially important at higher English levels.

Students, at this point, are fine tuning their communication skills to include

expressing the ideas of others, as well as their own opinions.

Listen to the programme and see how well you do with the exercise. Good luck.

If you have a question about English, email our team at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. We may answer it on this programme.

Glossary 詞匯

transformation 轉(zhuǎn)換

questions 疑問句

imperatives 祈使句

time reference 時(shí)間參照

fine tuning 推敲

communication skills 交流技巧