1. Devaj advised Paco to drink much water

Icono IDevice Reading activity

One of the things Paco wants to do in Ladakh is going trekking to the Himalayas. Of course he is not going to climb either the Everest or K2, but he has always wanted to see this range of mountains much closer. So, he decides to join a group of other tourists who will spend three days trekking and visiting the most wonderful landscapes in the area. Devaj, the guide in charge of the expedition, gives the group some advice in order to avoid having problems. Paco is really concentrated on what Devaj is saying.

"There are several things you must bear in mind when trekking at these altitudes. In order to avoid altitude sickness, you must follow my advice:

Go slow. If you try to keep up you may get tired soon. Don't trust you feel invincible and go at your own pace.
Drink lots of water. You should drink at least four litres of water in the morning and four in the afternoon. Don't use a plastic bottle, use a water bottle instead.
Put on warm clothes, but not too many. It is difficult to walk if you wear lots of garments on.
Consider already-used hiking shoes for the approach. Don't use new hiking boots. Remember that "a pound on your feet is like five on your back". So, stow your hiking boots until you really need them in snow.
Finally, drink more water. The water bottles will be filled up when necessary on the way. Get ready to leave at 6.00 a.m."

Listen to and read the passage very carefully. Then answer the following questions.

1. According to the text, should trekkers walk as fast as they can? Explain your answer briefly.

2. According to the text, what is the most important advice Devaj gives the group?



Icono IDevice Important
As you can see, Devaj uses imperatives to give the group all those pieces of advice. So, although imperatives are frequently used to give orders, they are also frequently used:

 

To give a warning or advice.
Watch out! / Don't use hiking boots all the time. Your feet may hurt you.

To give instructions or directions.
Fill up the water bottle before leaving and don't use any other liquid but water.

To make a request.
Don't drink any alcohol before trekking, please / Be on time, please.
 
To invite someone.
Come to my party.

Reporting verbs: Imperatives

 

Thus, whenever we want to use reported or indirect speech, that is, whenever we want to restate what someone else said in the past, we must take into account what the speaker used the imperative for, since depending on his/her intention or the nature of his/her words, we should use a reporting verb or another. Have a look at the following chart to learn some of the most common reporting verbs to report imperatives.

 

Orders, commands
 		tell, say, ask, command, order, demand, wish
Warnings, advice
 		tell, say, warn, remind, advise
Instructions, directions
 tell, say, advise, caution, instruct, recommend
Requests tell, ask, urge, plead
Invitations
 tell, ask, invite

As you can see, most times we can use tell, say, or ask (pedir). However, English sounds more natural if you use a verb which includes the nature of the speaker's words.

Icono de IDevice de pregunta Self-assessment activity

Decide whether the following imperatives are used to give orders, warnings or advice, instructions or directions, requests or invitations.

1. Don't use new hiking boots, please.

  
a. Invitation.
b. Order or command.
c. Request.

2. Don't panic if you can't keep up.
  
a. Order or command.
b. Warning or advice.
c. Instruction or direction.

3. Go straight away and turn the second left.
  
a. Order or command.
b. Instruction or direction.
c. Request.

Icono IDevice Further knowledge

If you want to see the difference between reported speech (indirect speech) and quoted speech (direct speech), click here and watch the video.

Now, to read more about reporting verbs for the uses studied in this section, click here. And we highly recommend you to do this exercise. You will find it really helpful!


Once we have introduced the main uses of the imperatives and the reporting verbs used to restate what someone ordered, requested, etc., by means of imperatives, let's study how to report those sentences in the following section.
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