When we ask questions about the past we use what did and the present tense of the verb. What did you find? What did she win? What did they do?
ANNE What did he say?
2. REPORTED SPEECH
Reported speech is telling other people what someone has said.
DAVID My mother said she was glad that I’m okay. She said she was happy to hear my voice. She told me that she’s been very worried.
We use the past tense of say, said.
DAVID My mother said she was glad that I’m okay.
Or the past tense of tell, told.
DAVID She told me that she’s been very worried.
We usually report the rest of what a person has said using the past tense.
DAVID She said she was happy to hear my voice.
Now listen to some reported speech and then what was actually said.
DAVID He said he was very angry, but that he forgives me, and he told me that he loves me..
The reported speech is 'he said he was very angry'.
This is what he actually said:
NORMAN (*episode 39) Of course I’m angry.
The reported speech is 'he told me that he loves me'.
This is what he actually said:
NORMAN (*episode 39) Your mother and I love you, and we want to see you.
Listen again to some reported speech.
ROSE Did he say anything else?
DAVID Yes, he asked me to go home. He said they want to see us.
The reported speech is 'he asked me to go home'.
This is what he actually said:
NORMAN (*episode 39) I want you to come home.
You can use other words besides said and told when reporting speech. He ordered me to go home.
He begged me to go home.
He asked me to go home.
DAVID They asked us to go to Singapore.
3. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
As soon as possible means as soon as you can or very soon.
ROSE We’ll go as soon as possible.
Here are some other words that mean soon. I’ll do that in a minute.
I’ll do that in a little while.
4. INFLECTION / STRESS
In English, usually one word in a sentence is said with more emphasis, or stress than the others.
Listen for the word that is stressed in this example.
ANNE You can come with me.
It’s me. - Listen again:
ANNE You can come with me.
Changing the word that is stressed can change the meaning of a sentence. You can come with me.
When you say it like this, it means the person you are talking to can come, but others can’t. It is also more like an order.
Listen again: You can come with me.
You can stress can if someone has suggested that they can’t come. I don’t know if I can come.
You can come with me.
You can stress with to invite someone or point out that you are not going by yourself. You can come with me.
Here are some common expressions that rely on stress for their meaning.
Listen What are you doing?
We say this when someone is doing something annoying or wrong.
If you don’t know exactly what someone is doing, or you are curious, you say: What are you doing?
If you are surprised that someone is doing something you say: What are you doing?
To tell someone that a place is worth visiting we say: Thailand is beautiful. You must go.
But to tell someone to leave immediately we say: You must go.
EPISODE LIST
