POTENTIAL TUTORIAL

Speech notes

Reported speech, or indirect speech, is used to convey what someone has said without
quoting their exact words. Instead of directly repeating their sentence, we restate it, often
making changes to the tense, pronouns, and other elements to fit the context.

Change in tense
When converting direct speech into reported speech, the tense of the original sentence
usually shifts back one step into the past.

Is/am/are was/were
has/have had
do did
was/were Had been

The present tense changes as follows-

Present simple Past simple

v1 v2
Do/does not+v1 Did not+v1

Present continuous Past continuous

Is/am/are+v1+ing was/were+v1+ing

Present perfect Past perfect

Has/have+v3 Had+v3

Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous

Has/have been+v1+ing Had been+v1+ing

The past tense changes as follows-

Past simple Past perfect

v2 Had+v3
Did not+v1 Had not+v3

Past continuous Past perfect continuous

Was/were+v1+ing Had been+v1+ing

Note: past perfect and past perfect continuous tenses do not change in reported
(indirect) speech.

1
POTENTIAL TUTORIAL
Speech notes

Also-

will would
shall should
can could
may might
must had to

Exceptions: the simple present stating a general truth does not change in indirect speech.
Similarly, the simple past stating a past historical event remains unchanged.

Say and tell

We ‘say’ something but we ‘tell’ somebody something. Thus, reporting verb ‘said’ is
changed to ‘told’ if followed by an object.
DIRECT: Sammy said to me, “I will buy a new book.”
REPORTED: Sammy told me that he would buy a new book.
Here, ‘said’ has become ‘told’ because object me is mentioned. ‘told’ is not followed
by the preposition to, ‘told to’ is incorrect ❌.

Change in personal pronouns

The pronouns of first person change into the person and gender of the subject of the
reporting verb.
Examples-
1. They said, “we have finished our presentation.”
They said that they had finished their presentation.
2. Rita said, “I love my new dress.”
Rita said that she loved her new dress.

I he, she
me him, her
my his, her
mine his, hers
we/us they/them
our/ours their/theirs

The pronouns of the second person change into the person and gender of the object of
the reporting verb.
Examples-
1. I said to him, “your t-shirt looks cool.”

2
POTENTIAL TUTORIAL
Speech notes

I told him that his t-shirt looked cool.

2. I said to them, “you missed the deadline.”
I told them that they had missed the deadline.

you he, she, they

you him, her, them
your his, her, their
yours his, hers, theirs

The pronoun ‘you’ may also be changed to ‘I’ when the person being talked to is not
mentioned in the direct speech.
Example- Mother said, “you look sick.”
Mother said that I looked sick.

The pronouns of third person do not change.

Change in words and expressions of time and place-

Words and expressions showing ‘nearness’ in ‘time and place’ in the direct speech are
changed into words or expressions showing distance.

DIRECT INDIRECT DIRECT INDIRECT

now then today/tonight that day/that night

tomorrow the next day/ yesterday the previous day/

the following day the day before
the previous night/
last night the night before thus so

later after ago before

the day after in two days’ time just then

tomorrow

at present at that time next week the following week

DIRECT INDIRECT DIRECT INDIRECT

this that these those
here there come go
bring take

3
POTENTIAL TUTORIAL
Speech notes

Rules for changing questions (interrogative) into indirect:

The reporting verb ‘say’ is changed into interrogative words like ‘ask/enquire’ etc.
The word order in the reported question is changed to make it a statement. The subject
is placed before the verb.
The question mark (?) is removed.
All the other general rules regarding the change of tense, pronouns etc. are applied.

In questions that begin with a helping verb, if/whether is used.

Ex- Arav said to me, “are you coming to the movie with me?”
Arav asked me if I was going to the movie with him.

In questions beginning with a question word, the given question word itself is
repeated. Ex- He said to me, “what are your hobbies?”
He asked me what my hobbies were.

In questions that begin with do/does (simple present tense), we change the main verb
into simple past. Do/does are dropped.
Ex- She said to me, “do you want a cookie?”
She asked me if I wanted a cookie.
Remember, conjunction ‘that’ is not used in interrogative in indirect speech.

Rules for changing Imperative (commands, requests and suggestions)-

The reporting verb ‘say’ is changed into verbs such as ‘order’, ‘command’, ‘instruct’,
‘warn’, ‘remind’, ‘request’, ‘beg’, ‘suggest’, ‘advise’ etc.

The infinitive (to+ verb root form) is used in direct commands and requests.
Ex- “Stay away from the fence, students,” said the teacher.
The teacher instructed the students to stay away from the fence.

Negative commands are expressed by not+ infinitive (to+ verb root form).
Ex- The captain said to the soldiers, “don't cross that white line.”
The captain warned the soldiers not to cross that white line.

In sentences beginning with ‘please’, we omit the word from the indirect speech but
change it into ‘request’, ‘beg’ or something similar.
Ex- “Turn off the TV, please,” Neha said to Rohan.
Neha requested Rohan to turn off the TV.

In sentences beginning with ‘let’, the reporting verb is changed into ‘proposed’ or
‘suggested’. In place of infinitive, ‘should+ verb’ is used.
Ex- He said, “let us watch The Batman.”
4
POTENTIAL TUTORIAL
Speech notes

He suggested that we should watch The Batman.

Exclamations-
Exclamations are expressed in the indirect by changing them into statements and
expressing the spirit of the exclamations through the reporting verb or the adverb.
The exclamation mark (!) is removed.
Examples-
1. “What a tall building the Burj Khalifa is!” said the tourist.
The tourist exclaimed in wonder that the Burj Khalifa is a very tall building.
2. “Ugh! How dirty the streets of this town are!” said the mayor.
The mayor exclaimed with disgust that the streets of that town were very dirty.”
3. The old man said, “Alas! All my belongings have been washed away in the
flood.”
The old man exclaimed with sorrow/ grief that all his belongings had been
washed away in the flood.
4. “Oh, no! I have forgotten my spectacles at home,” said Mrs Nikhat.
Mrs. Nikhat exclaimed with regret that she had forgotten her spectacles at home.
5. The children said, “yippee! We are going to the zoo.”
The children exclaimed with great joy that they were going to the zoo.
6. “Ouch! I have sprained my left ankle,” said Geeta.
Geeta exclaimed in pain that she had sprained her left ankle.
7. “Well done boys!” the captain said to his team members.
The captain applauded his team members for doing well.
Also-
1. She said, “Thankyou!”
She thanked me.
2. She said, “Goodluck!”
She wished me good luck.
3. She said, “Happy Diwali!”
She wished me happy Diwali.
4. She said, “Congratulations!”
She congratulated me.
5. She said to her brother, “Goodnight/goodbye!”
She bade her brother goodnight/goodbye.

5
POTENTIAL TUTORIAL
Speech notes