Reported Speech- Bluffing Game

Reported Speech- Bluffing Game
Try to remember one (real) example of one of the situations below, e.g. checking into a
flight in January this year or a football match the day before yesterday. Try to remember
two things that people really said there and add one thing just from your imagination (in
other words something that no one really said). Report all three things to your partner.
Perhaps after asking for more details (about the situation, what people said, why particular
things were said, etc) your partner will guess which of those three things wasn’t really
said.

Useful phrases for reporting what someone said
“A man/ A woman/ Someone/ Someone there/ Someone working there…”
“The man/ The woman/ He/ She…”
“… asked if/ whether…”
“… asked when/ where/ who/ why/ which/ how/ how many/ how much/ how long…”
“… asked… to…”/ “… told… to…”
“… told… (that)…”
“… said (that)…”
Possible questions to ask about what people said
“Why did… say/ ask/ tell…?”
“How did you reply (to…)?”
“Did you agree about…?”
“Had you discussed… before?”
“What did you talk about after that?”
“What did… say (about…)?”
Useful language for playing the game
“I think… is false”
“You’re right”/ “Actually,… is false”
“Really? Why did…?”/ “I’m surprised. I didn’t think…”

Reported speech presentation
What is the grammatical difference between “say (that)…” and “tell…(that)…”?/ Which one
takes a person as an object (… someone that…)?

What is the (big) difference in meaning between “told me that…” and “told me to…”?

What is the (small but important) difference in meaning between “ask someone to” and “tell
someone to”?

What kind of (direct) question needs “if/ whether” when it is changed into reported speech?
Why do you think we add that? Why don’t other kinds of questions need it?

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2017

1

Possible conversations to report
 A (business) meeting
 A celebration (wedding, graduation party, retirement party, housewarming party, etc)
 A ceremony (e.g. graduation ceremony or wedding ceremony)
 A club event
 A committee (e.g. a local resident’s association meeting)
 A complaint
 A conversation exchange
 A conversation with a relative/ a colleague/ a teacher/ a classmate/ a bus driver/ cabin

crew/ a coach/ an immigration officer/ a boss/ a doctor/ an in-law/ a friend/ a police
officer/ a shop assistant/ station staff/ a passerby/ an acquaintance/ a stranger/ a
foreign visitor/ a tourist/…

 A date/ A group date
 A debate
 A discussion on a website (e.g. in the comments section)
 A lesson/ A workshop/ A lecture
 A meal
 A negotiation
 A networking event (e.g. a cocktail party at a conference)
 A party (e.g. a housewarming party)
 A phone call
 A picnic/ A barbecue
 A political event
 A presentation
 A protest/ A demonstration
 A pub conversation
 A request
 A Skype conversation
 A speech
 A teleconference/ A video conference
 A trade fair/ A trade show/ A conference
 An academic discussion
 An apology
 An argument/ A quarrel/ A disagreement/ A fight
 An email exchange
 An enquiry (= asking for information)
 An offer
 At a religious place (mosque, cathedral, shrine, temple, church, synagogue, etc)
 At a sporting event (football match, horse race, etc)
 At the airport (at the check-in desk, at security, at immigration, at customs, etc)
 Being introduced to some people
 During a performance (opera, musical, play, etc)
 During a tour (of a palace, of a manor house, of a museum, of a town, etc)
 During an interview (job interview, etc)
 Going out for drinks
 Group brainstorming

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2017

2

 In a bank
 In a bar
 In a café
 In a car (e.g. a taxi)
 In a classroom
 In a hotel
 In a post office
 In a restaurant
 In a shop (e.g. in a duty free shop, in a department store or in a convenience store)
 In reception
 In someone else’s house/ In someone else’s garden
 In the elevator/ In the elevator hall
 In the street
 In tourist information
 In your office
 On a bus
 On a plane
 Staying at someone’s house
 The first day at…
 Trying to sell something
 Volunteering
 While gambling
 While taking part in a sport/ While taking part in a game

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Reported speech presentation suggested answers

What is the grammatical difference between “say (that)…” and “tell…(that)…”?/ Which one

takes a person as an object (… someone that…)?

-

“Tell” needs “someone”, e.g. “He told me that…”. “Say” doesn’t, meaning “He said me

that…” X is incorrect.

What is the (big) difference in meaning between “told me that…” and “told me to…”?

-

“He told me to come” means “He ordered/ commanded/ instructed me to come”. “He

told me that…” means he gave me some information, making it the same as “He said

that… (to me)”.

What is the (small but important) difference in meaning between “ask someone to” and “tell

someone to”?

-

“He asked me to…” means “He requested…”, meaning he probably said something like

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2017

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“Could you possibly…?”. “He told me to…” means he probably said something like

“Make sure that you…” or “I need you to…”

What kind of (direct) question needs “if/ whether” when it is changed into reported speech?

Why do you think we add that? Why don’t other kinds of questions need it?

-

Yes/ No questions like “Do you like cheese?” need “if/ whether”, e.g. in “He asked me

if/ whether I like(d) cheese”, perhaps because otherwise it wouldn’t be clear if it was a

question or not. Wh- questions retain their wh- word in the reported question, so it’s

clear that they are questions.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2017

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