Who said that? Test your awesomeness!. “I can show you the world shining, shimmering, splendid.”

Who said that?Test your awesomeness!

“I can show you the worldshining, shimmering, splendid.”

“I’ll be back.”

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

“We are more popular than Jesus.”

“If you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me

at my best.”

“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

“I can show you the world shining, shimmering, splendid”

What did they say?

Aladdin said that...he could show Jasmine the world.“I’ll be back”

The T-800 said...he would be back.“With great power comes great responsibility.”Uncle Ben said...to Peter that with great power comes great responsibility.“We are more popular than Jesus.”John Lennon said...the beatles were more popular than Jesus.

“If you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.”Marilyn said...If someone couldn’t handle her worst, this person didn’t

deserve her best.“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”Victor Corleone…said he was going to make Jack an offer he couldn’t

refuse.

To tell a third party what someone else has said.

to talk idly, especially about the affairs of others; go about tattling.

Source: dictionary.com

It’s a secret.He told me

that...

However, to be an effective gossipper, you need to be careful to preserve the original sense of your message:

My sister is dating Jack.

My sister is dating Jack.

How can she gossip properly?

His

Help our hero to pass the messages on:

She says that...

“My dad likes roast chicken.”

…her dad likes roast chicken.

He says that...

“My cousin is grounded.”

…his cousin is grounded.

She says that...

“My parents don’t like what they do.”

…her parents don’t like their jobs.

He says that...

“My friend hates doing homework.”

…his friend hates doing homework.

When gossiping, there are other factors to take into consideration in order to grant an effective communication. For example:

Time

I saw John today. He told me he had

seen John today.

What’s wrong in the second conversation? How could our hero

correct her mistake?

Expressions of place (here) and demonstratives (this, these) often require adaptations.

What expressions could you use to replace the following ones when telling someone something another person has told you?

1. Yesterday

2. Now

3. ...days ago

4. Last week

5. Next year

6. Tomorrow

7. This

8. These

Compare the sentences:

• Sam said that he was tired.• Sam told Dean that he was tired.

• Julie said you have a date tonight!• Julie told me you have a date tonight!

The use of THAT is optional

• 1. Julie ______________ that she would join us after work. • 2. She ______________ me that she was going running this

evening. • 3. John ______________ us that he couldn’t come to the

party. • 4. John ______________ that he had been to the cinema at

the weekend. • 5. She ______________ them she wanted to quit. • 6. David ______________ he was going to arrive at eight.

Complete the sentences with told or said:

Source: www.perfect-english-grammar.com

saidtold

told

said

told said

Rewrite the sentences using told instead of said:

• They said that they didn’t want to meet us on Tuesday.

• We said that we were going on holiday the following week.

• Jack said he would be in Spain this week.

• I said that I hated mushrooms.

• She said she loved chocolate.

Based on www.perfect-english-grammar.com

They told us that they didn’t want to meet on Tuesday.

We told them that we were going on holiday the following week.

Jack told me he would be in Spain this week.

I told them that I hated mushrooms.

She told me she loved chocolate.

Pair Work!

Positive Gossip

• The best advice someone has ever given to you.

• Something nice someone has told you about your partner.

• The funniest joke someone has told you.

Share with your partner:

I’m going to a party today.

He told me he is going to a party on

the 22.

If you want your gossip to make sense, many times you’ll

have to change the verb tenses (future, present, past

etc.).

When you want to pass information on, that’s what happens to the verbs:

“I played soccer when I was young.”

He told me he had played soccer when he was young.

“I am tired.”

She said she was tired.

“Brazil will not win this game.”

She believed Brazil wouldn’t win that

game.

“I may run late.”

He told me he might run late.

“I have never done this before.”

She said she had never done that before.

“I was doing my homework when you called.”

She said she had been doing her homework when I called.

These changes are called

Backshift

Backshift

• Past Perfect

• Could

• Might

• Would

• Should

“I had tried that” She said that she had tried that.

“It might work” They told me it might work.

“The only thing predictable about life is its

unpredictability.”Remy

We use backshift when it is logical to use backshift.

A short story to make it clearer:

You’re bored and you call your friend Anna, to see if she wants to hang out.

She says she can’t, because she is babysitting her baby brother, John.

Anna invites you to drop by her place.

While you’re there, the phone rings.

While Anna is on the phone, John comes to you and say: “I’m hungry. Give me a cookie.”

You ignore him.

But if John said "I am hungry" yesterday, you would likely use backshift:

Yesterday, John said that he was hungry.

[We hope that John has eaten since yesterday]

(you’re not going to give the brat YOUR cookie)

When Anna ends her call, you might tell her “Your brother said he is hungry”.

Because John is still hungry (he gave you the information two minutes ago).

What’s the right way of passing the information on?

John’s brother, Moo, is living with him right now.

John said Moo is living with him.

John said Moo was living with him.

“Moo is living with me.”

John talked to you this week.

John said they bought a house last week.

John said they had bought a house the previous week.

“We bought a house last week.”

Tara is able to swim.

They said Tara can’t swim.

They said Tara couldn’t swim.

“Tara can’t swim.”

The time to be late has not yet arrived.

She said she may be late.

She said she might be late.

“I may be late.”

You talked to her last month.

She said she would call me the next day.

She said she will call me tomorrow.

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

The homework isn’t done.

Bob said he has to do his homework.

Bob said he had to do his homework.

“I have to do my homework.”

“Do you think Han shot first?”

That nerd kid asked me if I thought Han shot first.

Han who?

To tell a friend about a question, you should use asked instead of said or told.

You also turn the question into an indirect question.

“Why don’t you speak English?”He asked me why I didn’t speak English.

“Do you speak English?”He asked me if I spoke English.

Gro

up

Work

!

How to play:-One person secretly writes the name of a place, person or object on a piece of paper.

-The other players are going to ask questions – not more than twenty – to try to guess what the secret word is.

-The player who wrote the secret word can only answer yes or no.

-Each participant asks a question and makes an educated guess, than it’s the next participant’s turn.

-The first one to guess, within the limit of 20 questions wins and can write his/her own secret word.

-If nobody guesses the word, the person who chose the word says it out loud and writes a new one.

What were the most helpful questions? Who asked them?

John asked me...

Depending on what the person was trying to do with the original message (invite, advise, give an order etc.) we can use specific verbs when trying to pass the message on.

How could you pass on the following messages?

1. “You must read this book.”

2. “Let’s go to the movies.”

3. “Do the exercise.”

4. “Don’t do this.”

Boring people tend to call gossip REPORTED or INDIRECT SPEECH.