said and told; other verbs used for reporting; reporting questions; polite questions
CONTEXT LISTENING
A journalist called Tim has written a newspaper report about a footballer, Joe Chapman. His boss wrote the headline. Does the report match the headline?
CHAPMAN: THE GIRLFRIENDS, THE TV CAREER, THE MONEY
Tim Donnelly finds out about Joe Chapman’s life away from the football field.
Last season Joe Chapman scored more goals than any other player and he’s become one of our star players. But where were the goals on Saturday in the away match? There weren’t any. This is because he hurt his knee in training and isn’t fully fit. So what plans does Joe have? He’s had offers to join other teams but isn’t interested. He wants to see United win the cup this year for the third time.
You are going to hear Tim talking about the report. Why is his boss angry?
Listen again and tick the questions Tim asked.
Have you got a new girlfriend?
Why didn’t you score any goals on Saturday?
Who were you with at that nightclub?
Does your mother always watch your games?
Did you argue with the new manager?
How long are you going to stay with the team?
What do you do in your free time?
When will we see your TV programme?
How much do you earn from adverts?
Will your team win the cup?
Find these sentences and fill in the gaps.
I asked him _____ he _____ any goals on Saturday.
I asked him _____ his mother always _____ his games.
Look at the questions you ticked above.
1. Which questions can we answer with Yes or No?
2. Which questions begin with a question word?
Log into Learnclick to do the exercise and check your answers.
Look at your answers in the gaps above.
3. When do we use if to report questions?
4. What do you notice about the word order when we report a question?
GRAMMAR
said and told
When we report what someone said we often use said or told.
said:
He said (that) they would win.
He said to me (that) they would win.
not He said me (that) they would win.
told:
not He told (that) they would win.
not He told to me (that) they would win.
He told me (that) they would win.
Other verbs used for reporting
We sometimes use the infinitive (to ...) after tell and ask:
Direct: Be careful
Reported: I told him to be careful.
Direct: Please don’t take any photographs
Reported: He asked us not to take any photographs.
and also after some other reporting verbs:
Would you like to have lunch with me?
I invited him to have lunch with me.
Write a new article!
He ordered me to write a new article.
Remember to watch the match.
He reminded me to watch the match.
Reporting questions
There are two kinds of question:
questions which begin with a question word:-
how
which
when
what
who
why
Where
how long
questions we can answer with Yes or No
Q-word question
How’s your knee?
Where will you play?
Why didn’t you score?
Reporting verb + Q-word + statement
Tim asked Joe how his knee was. (not how was his knee)
Tim asked Joe where he would play. (not where would he play)
Tim asked Joe why he hadn’t scored. (not why hadn’t he scored)
Yes/No question
Are you happy?
Does your mother always watch?
Reporting verb + if/whether + statement
Tim asked Joe if/whether he was happy. (not if/whether was he happy)
Tim asked Joe if/whether she always watched. (not if/whether did she always watch)
Remember the tense changes too!
Are you happy? Tim asked Joe if he was happy.
We sometimes use a different verb instead of asked:
How much do you earn?
wanted to know how much he earned.
Will they win?
I wondered if they would win.
Polite questions
When we ask politely for information we use the same word order as in reported questions:
Can you tell me when the match starts? - not Can you tell me when does the match start?
I’d like to know if there are any tickets left. - not I’d like to know are there any tickets left?
We don’t change the tense.
When does the match start?
Can you tell me when the match starts?
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