Reported Speech
Thus:
i. We have used the conjunction ‘that’ before the Indirect Statement.
ii. The pronoun “I” is changed to “HE”. (The Pronoun is changed in Person)
iii. The verb “am” is changed to “was”.
iv. The adverb “now” is changed to “then”.
Rules for changing Direct into Indirect Speech:
A. When the reporting or principal verb is in the Past Tense, all the Present Tenses in the Direct Speech are changed into Past Tense.
a. A simple present tense becomes simple past tense.
Example:
• Direct : He said, “I am unwell.”
• Indirect: He said that he was unwell.
b. A present continuous tense becomes a past continuous.
Example:
• Direct : He said, “ my mother is writing letter.”
• Indirect: He said that his mother was writing letter.
c. A present perfect becomes a past perfect:
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
Example:
• Direct: He said, “I have passed the examination.”
• Indirect: he said that he had passed the examination.
d. As a rule the simple past tense in the Direct Speech becomes the past perfecttense in Indirect Speech.
Example:
• Direct: He said, “His horse died in the night.”
• Indirect: he said that his horse had died in the night.
NOTE:
The shall of the future is changed into should.
The will of the future is changed into would.
The can and may of the future are changed into could and might respectively.
B. The tenses will not change if the statement is still relevant or if it is a universal truth. We can often choose whether to keep The original tenses or change them.
Examples:
• Direct: “I know her address”, said John.
• Indirect: John said that he knows/knew her address.
In this Indirect Speech, both the past tense and the present tense make the sentence a correct one.
• Direct: The teacher said, “The earth goes round the sun.”
• Indirect: The teacher said that the earth goes/went round the sun.
• Direct: She said, “German is easy to learn.”
•
i. We have used the conjunction ‘that’ before the Indirect Statement.
ii. The pronoun “I” is changed to “HE”. (The Pronoun is changed in Person)
iii. The verb “am” is changed to “was”.
iv. The adverb “now” is changed to “then”.
Rules for changing Direct into Indirect Speech:
A. When the reporting or principal verb is in the Past Tense, all the Present Tenses in the Direct Speech are changed into Past Tense.
a. A simple present tense becomes simple past tense.
Example:
• Direct : He said, “I am unwell.”
• Indirect: He said that he was unwell.
b. A present continuous tense becomes a past continuous.
Example:
• Direct : He said, “ my mother is writing letter.”
• Indirect: He said that his mother was writing letter.
c. A present perfect becomes a past perfect:
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
Example:
• Direct: He said, “I have passed the examination.”
• Indirect: he said that he had passed the examination.
d. As a rule the simple past tense in the Direct Speech becomes the past perfecttense in Indirect Speech.
Example:
• Direct: He said, “His horse died in the night.”
• Indirect: he said that his horse had died in the night.
NOTE:
The shall of the future is changed into should.
The will of the future is changed into would.
The can and may of the future are changed into could and might respectively.
B. The tenses will not change if the statement is still relevant or if it is a universal truth. We can often choose whether to keep The original tenses or change them.
Examples:
• Direct: “I know her address”, said John.
• Indirect: John said that he knows/knew her address.
In this Indirect Speech, both the past tense and the present tense make the sentence a correct one.
• Direct: The teacher said, “The earth goes round the sun.”
• Indirect: The teacher said that the earth goes/went round the sun.
• Direct: She said, “German is easy to learn.”
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