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Reported Speech

The document explains the concepts of direct and indirect speech, including rules for converting between the two forms. It details changes in tense, pronouns, modals, and time expressions when converting from direct to indirect speech and vice versa. Additionally, it provides examples to illustrate these rules.

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ali80umair
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10 views4 pages

Reported Speech

The document explains the concepts of direct and indirect speech, including rules for converting between the two forms. It details changes in tense, pronouns, modals, and time expressions when converting from direct to indirect speech and vice versa. Additionally, it provides examples to illustrate these rules.

Uploaded by

ali80umair
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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REPORTED SPEECH

What is Direct & Indirect Speech?


Direct speech – reporting the message of the speaker in the exact words as spoken by him.
Example: Maya said ‘I am busy now’.
Indirect speech: reporting the message of the speaker in your own words
Example: Maya said that she was busy then.

Rules of Conversion: Direct To Indirect Speech

1. IDENTIFY
6. UPDATE
TIME SPECIFIC
WORDS
2. CHANGE OF
RV

5. CHANGE OF SIX STEPS


TENSE

4. CHANGE OF 3. REPLACE “…”


PRONOUN WITH THAT

Change of Reporting Verb

1. When the reporting verb of direct speech is in past tense then all the present tenses are changed to the
corresponding past tense in indirect speech.

Direct to indirect speech example:


Direct: She said, ‘I am happy’.
Indirect: She said (that) she was happy.

2. In indirect speech, tenses do not change if the words used within the quotes (‘’) talk of a habitual action or
universal truth.

Direct to indirect speech example:


Direct: He said, ‘We cannot live without air’.
Indirect: He said that we cannot live without air.

3. The tenses of direct speech do not change if the reporting verb is in the future tense or present tense.

Direct to indirect speech example:


Direct: She says/will say, ‘I am going’
Indirect: She says/will say she is going.
Change of Tenses

 Simple Present changes to Simple Past


 Present Continuous changes to Past Continuous
 Present Perfect changes to Past Perfect
 Present Perfect Continuous changes to Past Perfect Continuous
 Simple Past changes to Past Perfect
 Past Continuous changes to Past Perfect Continuous
 Simple Future Tense: will changes to would
 Future Continuous Tense: will be changes to would be
 Future Perfect Tense: will have changes to would have

Change in Modals:
While changing direct speech to indirect speech, the modals used in the sentences change like:

1. Can becomes could


2. May becomes might
3. Must becomes had to /would have to

Examples:

 Direct : She said, ‘She can dance’.


 Indirect: She said that she could dance.
 Direct: She said, ‘I may buy a dress’.
 Indirect: She said that she might buy a dress.
 Direct: Rama said, ‘I must complete the assignment’.
 Indirect: Rama said that he had to complete the assignment.

There are modals that do not change – could, would, should, might, ought to

 Direct: She said, ‘I should clean the house’


 Indirect: She said that she should clean the house.

Change of verbs:

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH


is/am/are was/were
is/am/are + V- ing was/were + V- ing
has/have had
was/were had been
was/were + V-ing had been + V-ing
had had

Change of Pronouns:

1. The first person in direct speech changes as per the subject of the speech.

Examples-
Direct: He said, “I am in class Twelfth.”
Indirect: He says that he was in class Twelfth.

2. The second person of direct speech changes as per the object of reporting speech.

Examples –
Direct: She says to them, “You have done your work.”
Indirect: She tells them that they have done their work.

3. The third person of direct speech doesn’t change.

Examples –
Direct: He says, “She dances well.”
Indirect: He says that she dances well.

Change in time denoting words:

In direct speeches, the words that express nearness in time or place are changed to words that express distance in
indirect speech. Such as :

 now becomes then


 here becomes there
 ago becomes before
 thus becomes so
 today becomes that day
 tomorrow becomes the next day
 this becomes that
 yesterday becomes the day before
 these become those
 hither becomes thither
 come becomes go
 hence becomes thence
 next week or month becomes following week/month

Examples:
Direct: He said, ‘His girlfriend came yesterday.’
Indirect: He said that his girlfriend had come the day before.

The time expression does not change if the reporting verb is in the present tense or future tense.

Examples:
Direct: He says/will say, ‘My girlfriend came yesterday.’
Indirect: He says/will say that his girlfriend had come the day before.

Rules of converting Indirect Speech into Direct Speech


The following rules should be followed while converting an indirect speech to direct speech:
1. Use the reporting verb such as (say, said to) in its correct tense.
2. Put a comma before the statement and the first letter of the statement should be in capital letter.
3. Insert question mark, quotation marks, exclamation mark and full stop, based on the mood of the sentence.
4. Remove the conjunctions like (that, to, if or whether) wherever necessary.
5. Where the reporting verb is in past tense in indirect, change it to present tense in the direct speech.
6. Change the past perfect tense either into present perfect tense or past tense, as necessary.

Examples:

 Indirect: She asked whether she was coming to the prom night.
 Direct: She said to her, “Are you coming to the prom night?”
 Indirect: The girl said that she was happy with her result.
 Direct: The girl said. “I am happy with my result.”

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