English Modals and Reported Speech: Rules and Examples

Essential English Modal Verbs and Usage

Expressing Obligation and Necessity

• HAVE TO: Obligation imposed by a rule or external factor. (Tener que hacer por obligación – Norma)
  • Example: Tienes que llevar uniforme al colegio.
• MUST: Strong personal obligation or necessity (internal feeling). (Tener que hacer sin obligación – Obligación personal)
  • Example: Le tengo que comprar un regalo a mi madre porque es su cumpleaños.
• NEED TO: Necessity. (Necesidad)
• MUST and HAVE TO: Can be used to give very strong advice.

Lack of Obligation and Prohibition

• DON'T HAVE TO: Lack of necessity or obligation. (No tienes por qué hacerlo)
• DON'T NEED TO / NEEDN'T: Lack of necessity. (No tienes necesidad de hacerlo)
• MUSTN'T (CAN'T): Absolute prohibition. (Prohibición absoluta)

Advice and Recommendations

• SHOULD / OUGHT TO: Should. (Debería)
• SHOULDN'T / OUGHTN'T TO: Should not. (No debería)

Ability and Permission

• CAN: Ability, permission, and possibilities in the present. (Poder hacer algo, permiso y posibilidades)
• Asking for Permission:
  • Can I...?
  • Could I...? (More formal)
• COULD: General abilities in the past. (Habilidades generales en el pasado)
• COULDN'T: Specific past inability (something personal or concrete you couldn't do).
• BE ABLE TO / COULDN'T: Specific ability in the past. (Habilidad concreta en el pasado)

Mastering Reported Speech (Indirect Speech)

Reporting Statements: Tense Shifts

When reporting statements, the tense usually shifts back (e.g., Present Simple becomes Past Simple).

• Direct: "I have a good memory."
  Reported: She said that she had a good memory.
• Direct: "I'm not leaving."
  Reported: He told me that he wasn't leaving.
• Direct: "We'll never forget you."
  Reported: They said that they'd never forget me.
• Direct: "I can't remember."
  Reported: He said that he couldn't remember.
• Direct: "We might/may be a bit late."
  Reported: They told us that they might be a bit late.
• Direct: "I must go."
  Reported: She said that she had to go.
• Direct: "I love your bag."
  Reported: She said that she loved my bag.
• Direct: "I think you told me."
  Reported: He said that he thought we'd told him.

Changes in Time and Place Expressions

• Direct: "I'm leaving now."
  Reported: He said he was leaving then.
• Direct: "See you tomorrow."
  Reported: He said that he'd see me the next day.
• Direct: "I did it yesterday."
  Reported: She told me that she'd done it the day before.
• Direct: "I went skiing last week."
  Reported: He said that he'd been skiing the week before.
• Direct: "We don't like it here."
  Reported: She told us that they didn't like it there.
• Direct: "This is your station."
  Reported: She said that that was our station.
• These changes to those.

Reporting Questions

Reported questions use standard sentence word order (subject before verb) and often require if or whether for yes/no questions.

• Direct: "Where did you live before?"
  Reported: She asked me where I'd lived before.
• Direct: "Have you been to Australia?"
  Reported: He asked (us) if we'd been to Australia.
• Direct: "Are you coming with me?"
  Reported: She asked him if he was going with her.

Reporting Imperatives and Requests

Imperatives and requests are reported using ask or tell followed by the infinitive (to + verb).

• Direct: "Don't forget."
  Reported: He told me not to forget.
• Direct: "Wait in the car."
  Reported: She told me to wait in the car.
• Direct: "Buy six oranges."
  Reported: He told me to buy six oranges.
• Direct: "Could you close the window?"
  Reported: She asked me to close the window.
• Direct: "Can you wait here, please?"
  Reported: He asked us to wait there.