Tense Changes When Using Reported Speech
Clave 1: Normally, the tense in reported speech is one
tense back in time from the tense in direct speech:
She said, "I am tired." = She said that she was tired.
Phrase in Direct Speech Equivalent in Reported Speech
Simple present Simple past
"I always drink coffee", she said She said that she always drank coffee.
Present continuous Past continuous
"I am reading a book", he explained. He explained that he was reading a book
Simple past Past perfect
"Bill arrived on Saturday", he said. He said that Bill had arrived on Saturday.
Present perfect Past perfect
"I have been to Spain", he told me. He told me that he had been to Spain.
Past perfect Past perfect
"I had just turned out the light," he explained. He explained that he had just turned out the light.
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
They complained, "We have been waiting for hours". They complained that they had been waiting for hours.
Past continuous Past perfect continuous
"We were living in Paris", they told me. They told me that they had been living in Paris.
Future Present conditional
"I will be in Geneva on Monday", he said. He said that he would be in Geneva on Monday.
Future continuous Conditional continuous
She said, "I'll be using the car next Friday". She said that she would be using the car next Friday.
You do not need to change the tense if the reporting verb is in the present, or if the original statement was about
something that is still true, e.g.
He says he has missed the train but he'll catch the next one.
We explained that it is very difficult to find our house.
These modal verbs do not change in reported speech: might, could, would, should, ought to:
We explained, "It could be difficult to find our house." = We explained that it could be difficult to find our
house.
She said, "I might bring a friend to the party." = She said that she might bring a friend to the party.
Clave 2: cambios en los verbos modales
Algunos de los verbos modales también cambian, ¡no te despistes!
Will – would: “I’ll go with you”, Eva said – Eva said she’d go with me.
Can – could: “Can you pass the salt?” he asked – He asked if I could pass the salt.
Must – had to: “You must wear your helmet”, my dad said – My dad said I had to wear my helmet.
Shall – should: “What shall we do tonight?” he asked – He asked what we should do that night.
May – might/could: “I may not go to the party”, Dan said – Dan said he might not go to the party.
Clave 3: cambios en las expresiones de tiempo
Como ya habrás visto en los ejemplos anteriores, las expresiones de tiempo también cambian, ya que estamos
refiriéndonos a un momento del pasado. Estas son las equivalencias:
Today – that day
Tonight – that night
This week / month / year – that week / month / year
Tomorrow – the next day
Next week / month / year – the following week / month / year
Yesterday – the day before or the previous day
Last week / month / year – the week / month / year before or the previous week / month / year
Now – then / at that moment
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Linguistics
Direct and Indirect Speech With Examples and
Explanations
Updated on March 13, 2019
Muhammad Rafiq
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Muhammad Rafiq is a freelance writer, blogger, and translator with a Master's degree in English literature from
the University of Malakand.
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Definition of Indirect Speech
Indirect speech is also known as reported speech, indirect narration, or indirect discourse. In grammar, when you
report someone else’s statement in your own words without any change in the meaning of the statement, it is
called indirect speech. Quoting a person’s words without using his own word and bringing about any change in the
meaning of the statement is a reported speech. Look at the following sentences:
Direct Speech: She says, “I am a little bit nervous.”
Indirect Speech: She says that she is a little bit nervous.
In the first sentence, the reporter conveys the message of the girl using her actual words (e.g., “I am a little bit
nervous.”) In the second sentence, the reporter conveys her message but in his own words without any change in
the meaning. Thus, both direct and indirect speeches are two different ways of reporting a statement of person. In
simple words, quoting a person using your own words is called an indirect speech.
Key Terminology
During the process, you will come across many important terms that you need to know better so that you can
convert any direct speech into indirect speech easily and without any hassle. Consider the following sentences:
Direct Speech: She says, “I am a little bit nervous.”
Indirect Speech: She says that she is a little bit nervous.
Now consider the different grammatical aspects of both.
Reporting Speech: The first part in the direct speech is called reporting speech.
Reported Speech: The second part of the sentence, which is closed in inverted commas or quotation
marks, is called reported speech.
Reporting Verb: The verb of the reporting speech is called the reporting verb.
Reported Verb: The verb of the reported speech is called the reported verb.
Basic Rules
Before proceeding ahead, it is mandatory to memorize these rules:
Changes in Person of Pronouns:
1st Person pronouns in reported speech are always changed according to the subject of the reporting speech.
2nd Person pronouns in reported speech are always changed according to the object of the reporting speech.
3rd Person pronouns in reported speech are not changed.
Changes in Verbs:
If the reporting speech is in present tense or future tense, then no change is required to be made in the verb
of reported speech. This verb could be in any tense i.e., present, past, or future. For example:
Direct Speech: He says, “I am ill.”
Indirect Speech: He says that he is ill.
Direct Speech: She says, “She sang a song.”
Indirect Speech: She says that she sang a song.
Direct Speech: You say, “I shall visit London.”
Indirect Speech: You say that you will visit London.
If the reporting verb is in past tense, then reported verb will be changed as per the following criterion:
Present indefinite tense is changed into past indefinite tense. For example:
Direct Speech: They said, “They take exercise every day.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they took exercise every day.
Present continuous is changed into past continuous tense.
Direct Speech: They said, “They are taking exercise every day.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they were taking exercise every day.
Present perfect is changed into the past perfect tense.
Direct Speech: They said, “They have taken exercise.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.
Present perfect continuous tense is changed into past perfect continuous tense.
Direct Speech: They said, “They have been taking exercise since morning.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they had been taking exercise since morning.
Past indefinite is changed into past perfect tense.
Direct Speech: They said, “They took exercise.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.
Past continuous tense is changed into past perfect continuous tense.
Direct Speech: They said, “They were taking exercise.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they had been taking exercise.
No changes are required to be made into past perfect and past perfect continuous tenses.
Direct Speech: They said, “They had taken exercise.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.
In Future Tense, while no changes are made except shall and will are changed into would.
Direct Speech: They said, “They will take exercise.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they would take exercise.
Important Word Changes
Words Changed Into Direct Speech Indirect Speech
He says, “He wants to buy He says that he wants to buy that
This That
this book.” book.
He says, “He wants to buy He says that he wants to buy those
These Those
these books.” books.
She says, “Everybody was
Here There She says that everybody was there.
here.”
They say, “It’s ten o’clock
Now Then They say that it’s ten o’clock then.
now.”
Words Changed Into Direct Speech Indirect Speech
They said, “Sir, the time is They said respectfully that the time
Sir Respectfully
over.” was over.
They said, "Madam, the time They said respectfully that the time
Madam Respecfully
is over." was over.
She said, “I am going to She said that she was going to
Today That Day
London today.” London that day.
She said, “I visited Oxford She said that she had visited Oxford
Yesterday The Previous Day
University yesterday.” University the previous day.
Following Day or She said, “I am going to She said that she was going to
Tomorrow
Next Day London tomorrow.” London the next day.
She said, “I am going to see She said that she was going to see
Tonigh That Night
him tonight.” him that night.
Good Morning, Good She said, “Good morning, Sir
Greeted She greeted Sir David.
Evening, Good Day David.”
The rules above are mandatory for converting direct speech into indirect speech. Hence, they should be memorized
thoroughly. The following examples cover all the aforementioned rules. So, focus on every sentence to know how
the above-mentioned rules have been used here.
Examples of Indirect Speech
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
She says, “I eat an apple a day.” She says that she eats an apple a day.
He will say, “My brother will help her.” He will say that his brother will help her.
We said, “We go for a walk every day.” We said that we went for a walk every day.
You say, “I went to London yesterday.” You say that you went to London the previous day.
He said, “My father is playing cricket with me.” He said that his father was playing cricket with him.
They said, “We have completed our homework.” They said that they had completed their homework.
She said, “I have been waiting for him since last She said that she had been waiting for him since last
morning.” morning.
She said, “I bought a book.” She said that she had bought a book.
They said that they had been celebrating Eid the previous
They said, “We were celebrating Eid yesterday.”
day.
We said, “We had been waiting since morning.” We said that we had been waiting since morning.
He said to me, “I will not give you any medicine He said to me that he would not give me any medicine
without prescription.” without a prescription.
Rafiq said, “I shall leave for London tomorrow.” Rafiq said that he would leave for London the next day.
She said that she would be visiting her college the
She said, “I shall be visiting my college tomorrow.”
following day.
They said, “It will have been snowing since morning.” They said that it would have been snowing since morning.
Assertive Sentences
Sentences that make a statement are called assertive sentences. These sentences may be positive, negative, false, or
true statements. To convert such sentences into indirect narration, use the rules as mentioned above except said is
sometimes replaced with told. Look at the following examples:
Direct Speech: She says, “I am writing a letter to my brother.”
Indirect Speech: She says that she is writing a letter to her brother.
Direct Speech: She says, “I was not writing a letter to my brother.”
Indirect Speech: She says that she was not writing a letter to her brother.
Direct Speech: She said to me, “I am writing a letter to my brother.”
Indirect Speech: She told me that she was writing a letter to her brother.
Imperative Sentences
Imperative sentences are sentences that give an order or a direct command. These sentences may be in the shape of
advice, entreaty, request, or order. Mostly, it depends upon the forcefulness of the speaker. Thus, a full stop or sign
of exclamation is used at the end of the sentence. For example:
Shut the door!
Please shut the door.
Repair the door by tomorrow!
To convert these types of sentences into indirect speech, follow the following rules along with the above-
mentioned rules:
The reporting verb is changed according to reported speech into order in case the sentence gives a direct
command. For example:
Direct Speech: The teacher said to me, “Shut the door.”
Indirect Speech: The teacher ordered me to shut the door.
The reporting verb is changed according to reported speech into a request in case the sentence makes a
request. For example:
Direct Speech: He said to me, “Shut the door.”
Indirect Speech: He requested me to shut the door.
The reporting verb is changed according to reported speech into advise in case the sentence gives a piece of
advice. For example:
Direct Speech: He said to me, “You should work hard to pass the exam.”
Indirect Speech: He advised me that I should work hard to pass the exam.
The reporting verb is changed according to reported speech into forbade in case the sentence prevents
someone from doing something. For example:
Direct Speech: He said to me, “Not to smoke.”
Indirect Speech: He forbade me to smoke.
Examples
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
We said to him, “Mind your own business.” We urged him to mind his own business.
She said to him, “Consult a doctor.” She suggested him to consult a doctor.
He said to me, “Write it again.” He asked me to write it again.
You said to your father, “Please grant him leave for some You requested your father to grant him leave for some
time.” time.
My mother said to me, “Never tell a lie.” My mother forbade me to tell a lie.
