Lesson 12: Reported Speech and Reporting the News
Master reported speech and sharpen your skills for retelling news events using nuanced verbs and expressions.
About this lesson
In this lesson, you will master reported speech and learn how to retell news stories clearly and precisely. You will practise backshifting tenses, changing pronouns, and adjusting deictic expressions such as now/then and today/that day. You will explore the subtle differences between reporting verbs like claim, admit, deny, and suggest to convey exactly the right tone. You will then put everything into practice through multiple-choice, listening, and dictation exercises drawn from real-world news scenarios.
40 minutes
What you'll learn
- Recognise and use reported speech with correct tense backshifting.
- Retell news events using appropriate reporting verbs and expressions.
- Master key phrases for quoting and referencing sources.
- Transform direct speech into reported speech, including statements, questions, and commands.
- Distinguish the nuances between reporting verbs such as claim, admit, deny, and suggest.
- Apply tense and deictic shifts (now→then, today→that day) in context.
Lesson vocabulary
- allege The witness alleged that he saw the suspect near the building.
- confirm The spokesperson confirmed the rumors about the merger.
- deny The official denied any involvement in the scandal.
- reveal The investigation revealed serious flaws in the system.
- disclose He refused to disclose his sources to the editor.
- clarify The minister was asked to clarify his earlier statement.
- quote The article quoted several eyewitnesses to the incident.
- source According to anonymous sources, the talks had broken down.
- witness Witnesses claimed the water rose within minutes.
- spokesperson A spokesperson said that emergency shelters were being prepared.
- headline The story made the front-page headline overnight.
- rumor The spokesperson confirmed the rumors about the new policy.
- statement She said she would release the statement the following day.
- briefing Journalists attended the morning briefing at the ministry.
- verify Reporters must always verify their information before publishing.