Mastering Reported Speech and English Humor Vocabulary

Direct Speech Fundamentals

Direct speech involves quoting the exact words spoken, enclosed in quotation marks.

• Dr. Ames wrote, “Negative emotions are harmful and cause illness.”
• He continued, “But Cousins hasn’t proved anything.”
• Cousins said, “Laughter cured me.”
• We wrote, “He isn’t practicing laughter yoga.”
• She claimed, “We were telling the truth.”
• Doctors admitted, “We’ve learned from Cousins’s article.”
• He told her, “I’ll check to see how you’re feeling later.”
• Pam told us, “I can’t understand what happened.”
• He told me, “You have to see this funny movie.”
• The nurse told the little girl, “You must rest.”

Indirect Speech Transformation

Indirect speech (or reported speech) conveys what was said without quoting the exact words. Tenses often shift backward.

• Dr. Ames wrote (that) negative emotions were harmful and caused illness.
• He continued (that) Cousins hadn’t proved anything.
• Cousins said (that) laughter had cured him.
• We wrote (that) he wasn’t practicing laughter yoga.
• She claimed (that) they had been telling the truth.
• Doctors admitted (that) they had learned from Cousins’s article.
• He told her (that) he would check to see how she was feeling later.
• Pam told us (that) she couldn’t understand what had happened.
• He told me (that) I had to see this funny movie.
• The nurse told the little girl (that) she had to rest.

Modal Verbs in Reported Speech

Note: There are no changes to modal verbs such as could, should, may, might, would, and ought to when reported.

Time Expressions in Reported Speech

When converting direct speech to indirect speech, certain time and place expressions change:

• Now: then
• Today: that day
• Tomorrow: the next day / the following day
• Yesterday: the day before / the previous day
• This year: that year
• Last week: the week before / the previous week
• Next month: the following month
• Here: there

Reporting Yes/No Questions

When reporting yes/no questions, use “if” or “whether.”

• He asked, “Did you find that joke funny?”
  - He asked if I had found the joke funny. OR He asked whether or not I had found the joke funny.
• My boss asked me, “Were you able to finish the project yesterday?”
  - My boss asked if (or whether) I had been able to finish the project the day before.

Reporting Information Questions

When reporting information questions (wh-questions), use the question word (who, what, where, when, why, how) as the conjunction.

• She asked, “How did you respond to that offensive joke?”
  - She asked how I had responded to that offensive joke.
• People often ask Nora, “How many years have you been studying English?”
  - People often ask Nora how many years she has been studying English.

Responding to Jokes in English

Common phrases to express your reaction to a joke:

• That's so funny: (Eso es muy divertido)
• That's so hilarious: (Eso es muy gracioso)
• That's hysterical: (Eso es histérico)
• That's too much: (Eso es demasiado)
• I don't get it: (No lo entiendo)
• That went over my head: (I didn't understand it, or it wasn't funny to me)
• That's ridiculous: (Eso es ridículo)
• Silly: (Tonto)
• Offensive: (Ofensivo)

Types of Jokes in English

Different categories of jokes based on their content:

• A dirty joke: A joke about sex or with sexual content.
• An ethnic joke: A joke about people from a particular ethnic origin.
• A sexist joke: A joke about men or women.
• A political joke: A joke about a political candidate, party, opinion, or government official.
• A verbal joke: A joke that uses language in such a way that the language itself becomes funny (e.g., puns, wordplay).

Understanding Practical Jokes

Phrases related to practical jokes and their implications:

• Be the butt of a joke: To be the person on whom a trick or “practical joke” is played; to be the object of ridicule.
• Can take a joke / Be a good sport: To be able to laugh at a practical joke, even when one is the target, without being insulted or taking it too personally.
• Be in bad (or poor) taste: To be offensive or extremely cruel.
• Cross the line: To go beyond what's funny to something bad, hurtful, offensive, or cruel.