Reported Speech
Introduction
Suppose your friend whose name is John tells you in school, “I will give you a pen”. You come to home and you want to tell your brother what your friend told you. There are two ways of relating what a person has said, or the words spoken by a person to other person; direct speech by repeating Johns exact words and indirect speech “sometime called reported speech”. Students must pay attention that exercises in reporting passages of direct speech into reported speech should not be treated as mere practice in mental gymnastics. Exercises of this type are really essays in comprehension and flexibility of expression. Consequently, this unit about reported speech offers plenty of mechanical and mental observations for narration and reporting in terms of basic rules and exceptions.
1. Definition of the Direct Speech
In direct speech we report the original speaker’s exact words:
· He said, “I’ve lost my umbrella.”
· He says, “I don’t answer the question.”
Ø The technique of reproducing the exact words spoken by a person is called the use of the direct speech or quoted speech.
Ø When we use direct speech in writing we must pay attention to the correct use of punctuation as follows: The exact words, remarks or the message that repeated exactly are enclosed in speech marks such as inverted commas, comma or colon. So quotes must go inside quotation marks. Furthermore, the first word of the speech or message must begin with a capital letter and the whole words of the message must be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma and colon. Finally, you must use a new line when s new speaker begins to speak.
Ø Direct speech is found in conversations in books, in plays, and in quotations.
Ø Quoted speech can add color and liveliness to your writing if used wisely. Use quotes when someone says something notable. A good quote might reveal something about a person’s character, have emotional impact or say something unusual or in an unusual way.
Ø Do not use it to quote facts.
1. 1. Definition of the Indirect Speech
When the words spoken by a person are reproduced or rewritten in our own words by changing the tense and the person whenever necessary, it is called the indirect speech. Example: John said that he was reading books.
Ø In indirect speech “sometime called reported speech” we give the exact meaning of a remark or a speech “message”, without necessarily using the speaker’s exact words:
· He said (that) he had lost his umbrella.
· He says that he does not answer the question.
Ø We use “reporting verbs” like say, tell, declare, mention, state, ask, announce …………….etc. either in the present or past tenses to report the direct message.
Ø There is no comma after “say” in indirect speech. “That” can usually omit after “say” and “tell” + object. But it should be kept after other verbs; complain, explain, point out, protest etc.
Ø We sometime need to change pronoun sand verbs tenses. We do not use speech marks.
Ø Indirect speech is normally used when conversation is reported verbally, though direct speech is sometimes employed here to give a more dramatic effect.
Ø When we turn direct speech into indirect speech, some changes are usually necessary. These are most easily studied by considering statements, questions, and command separately.
2. The Reporting Verb
Reporting verbs are a way for you, the writer, to show your attitude towards the source of information you are citing and using in your papers, essays and conversations. These attitudes are either ‘positive’, ‘negative’ or ‘neutral’. Grammatically speaking, when the reporting verb “introductory verb” is in the present, present perfect or future tense we can report the direct speech without any change of tense of the verb in the message. In other words, we keep the tense the same. Consider the examples below:
· Direct speech: He says: “I have missed the train.” Present perfect
· Indirect speech: He says that he has missed the train. Present perfect
· Direct speech: He has said “they have caught the train.” Present perfect
· Indirect speech: He has said that they have caught the train. Present perfect
· Direct speech: He said: “I have missed the train.” Present perfect
· Indirect speech: He said that he had missed the train. Past perfect
But when the reporting verb is in the simple past or other past tenses, which are more common, tenses and verbs in the message have to be changed into a corresponding past tense according to the next table. The changes are discussed in the section of tenses changes.
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Grammar Points: Key Terms 1. Reporting Speech: The first part in a direct speech is known as reporting speech. 2. Reported Speech: The second part of the sentence in a direct speech is called as reported speech. This part is enclosed within inverted commas or quotation marks. 3. Reporting Verb: The verb present in the reporting speech is known as the reporting verb. 4. Reported Verb: The verb present in the reported speech is called as the reported verb. |
2. 2. Special Notes about Verbs Used to Quote Speech
The most common verbs used for reporting speech are “say” and “tell”. After say, you need a noun clause, which may be introduced by that. After tell, you need an object + noun clause. It should be noted that using “say + noun phrase” or “tell + object + noun clause”. The conjunction “That” is optional and is often omitted in conversational English. Examples:
· Quoted: “I will be late for the session,” John said.
· Reported: John said (that) he would be late for the session.
· Reported: John told us (that) he would be late for the session.
§ There are many reporting verbs besides say and tell that can be used in reported speech and that are often more expressive than these two rather neutral verbs. Some of them are as follows: “add, announce, comment, explain, remark, state, ask, enquire, wanted to know, wonder ………….” It should be noted that not any verb could be used for reporting. There must be a choice for the verbs when the intention is about reporting what someone has said. The table below represents the most verbs used for reporting.
|
The Most Verbs Used for Reporting |
||
|
Positive Attitude |
Negative Attitude |
Neutral Attitude |
|
§ Affirm § Acknowledge § Proves § Identify § Argue § Analyse § Support § Observe § Explain § Applaud § Persuade § ………………. |
§ accuse § assert § doublt § intimate § comment § hope § speculate § confuse § apologize § question § guese § ……………… |
§ Accept § Express § Conclude § Assure § Report § Confirm § Maintain § Say § Tell § Think § Claim § ……………… |
§ Some reporting verbs used in direct speech cannot be used in reported speech, and have to be expressed with said or any other verb relevant to the idea of the message and an appropriate adverb of manner indicating the way in which something was said.
§ Sometimes the tone of the original can be preserved in the reported version only by the use of the reporting said, again with an appropriate adverb of manner.
§ When reporting we must choose the reporting verb according to the mood of the statement as following: (statements take verbs of declaration, commands take verbs of command, questions takes verbs of questions, promises take verb of promises …………….)
§ The reporting verb can take either of the two positions before the message or after the message. Students should note that both sentences are grammatically correct. Consider the following sentences:
· Quoted: “Is it true you will travel this week, sir?” Ann asked.
· Ann asked, “Is it true you will travel this week, sir?”
3. Tenses Changes from Direct into Indirect Speech
When reporting speech, grammatical changes must often be made in order to keep the original meaning of what was said. The most common changes occur in verb tenses. It should be noted that this type of reporting known as formal reporting takes place later on when you want to tell what somebody said that is why the reporting verb is in the past tenses. Furthermore, students must note that when the reporting verb (say, tell, know, think, learn, mention, claim …) is in the past tense or past tenses, the tense of the reported speech changes according the table below:
|
N |
Direct speech: He said, |
➔ |
Indirect speech: He said that |
|
1 |
§ Simple present § Present perfect § Present continuous § Present perfect continuous |
➔➔➔➔ |
§ Past perfect § Past perfect continuous |
|
2 |
§ Past perfect § Past perfect continuous |
➔ ➔ ➔ ➔ |
§ Past perfect or no change § Past perfect or no change § Past continuous or no change § Past perfect continuous or no change |
|
3 |
§ Simple future § Future perfect § Future continuous § Future perfect continuous |
➔➔➔➔ |
§ Conditional present § Conditional perfect § Conditional continuous § Conditional perfect continuous |
|
4 |
§ Conditional tenses |
➔ |
§ Conditional tenses |
|
5 |
§ Modal auxiliaries verbs: can, may, shall, must…… |
➔ |
§ Could, might, should, might, had to …………………...………………... |
|
6 |
§ Modal in past: Could, should, ought to, |
➔ |
§ No change |
|
7 |
§ Must |
➔ |
§ Had to or no change |
|
|
§ Imperative |
➔ |
§ Infinitive |
Students must point out that in formal reported speech; the tenses go back in time one tense. For example, “study” becomes “studied” and “studied” becomes “had studied.” In other words, each tense must go back to its corresponding past tenses as the table above indicates. In conversational or immediate reporting, the verb tenses do not change “see the next title”. Formal reported speech is the most challenging, so we will place our efforts here. Consider the examples below for more clarifications:
More Examples:
· He said: “I meet her today.” ➔ He said that he met her yesterday.
· He said: “I met her yesterday. ➔ He said that he had met her that day.
· He told: ‘I’m living with her this week.” ➔ He told that he was living with her that week.”
· He said: “I was meeting her here.” ➔ He said that he was meeting her there.
· He said: “I had met her a week ago.” ➔ He said that he had met her a week before.
· He said: “I am meeting her today.” ➔ He said that he was meeting her yesterday.
· He said: “I had been meeting her today.” ➔ He said that he had been meeting her yesterday.
· He said: “I will meet her tomorrow.” ➔ He said that he would meet her the next day.
· He said: “I will have met her the next day.” ➔ He said that he would have met her the following day.
· He said: “I can meet her here.” ➔ He said that he could meet her there.
2. Informal, Immediate and Conversational Reported Speech
Students must notice that the changes in verb tenses for reported speech do not take place in many cases. They must point out that in informal, immediate and conversational reported speech; the verb tenses do not change. For example, “study” keeps as “study” and “studied” keeps as “studied.” In other words, each tense keeps its original tense. It should be noted that in informal, immediate and conversational reported speech accepts two versions. Students can keep the original tenses of the verb in the message of the direct speech or change the tense of the verb in the message of the direct speech as the table above indicated. Furthermore, students must know that both sentences and versions are grammatically correct, meaningful and functional. Consider the examples below for more clarifications:
|
Quoted / Direct Speech |
Reported Speech |
|
Informal Reporting |
|
|
Immediate and Coversational Reporting |
|
|
· Ann said, “I learn French.” · Ann said, “I am learning French.” · Ann said, “I learned French.” · Ann said, “I have learned French.” · Ann said, “I am going to learn French.” · Ann said, “I will learn French.” · Ann said, “I can learn French.” |
· Ann said she learns French. Or Ann said she learned French. · Ann said she is learning French. Or Ann said she learned French. · Ann said she learned French. Or Ann said she was learning French. · Ann said she has learned French. Or Ann said she had learned French. · Ann said she is going to learn French. Or Ann said she was going to learn French. · Ann said she will learn French. Or Ann said she would learn French. · Ann said she can learn French. Or Ann said she could learn French. |
5. Special Notes about No Verb Tense Change in Reported Speech
In these three situations tenses are not always changed mechanically when speech is reported. It is especially important to remember that when the reported speech expresses the following cases:
§ Universal Truth or habitual fact or a situation that is still true: Occasionally, we don't need to change the present tense into the past if the information in direct speech is still true or the situation is still the same. In this case, you have the option of keeping what was said in the same tense or using formal reported tenses. But if the situation has changed or finished, you must change or use the formal reported speech. Again, you must you the formal reported speech or change the verb tense when there is a difference between what was said and what is really true. Examples:
· Quoted: Ann said, “I want to visit Paris next month.”
· Reported: Ann said that she wants to visit Paris next month. Here it means that Ann still wants to visit Paris next month.
· Quoted: “summers are very mild in Algiers,” he said.
· Reported 1: He said summers are mild hot in Algiers.
· Reported 2: He said summers were very mild in Algiers.
· Direct: My grandmother told “women are more patient than men”
· Indirect: My grandmother told that women are more patient than men.
· 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, “Girls are usually more sincere than boys”
· Indirect: She said that girls are usually more sincere than boys.
· You met Sonia a few days ago. She said: Joe is in hospital. Later that day you meet Joe in the street. You say: Hi, Joe. I didn’t expect to see you. Sonia said you were in hospital. (not ‘Sonia said you are in hospital', because clearly he is not) ➔ difference
§ Using the reporting verb in the present tenses to report: no changes are required to the tense of the main verb in the message. Examples:
· Quoted: “I really like my new boss,” Robert said.
· Reported: Robert says he really likes his new boss.
· Quoted: “We will hire two teachers in June,” the principal said.
· Reported: The principal says they will hire two teachers in June.
§ When we report soon after someone has spoken: When you report speech immediately after someone has spoken, you do not change the verb tenses. Examples:
· Quoted: Imagine Ann says to you right now, “I am sleepy.”
· Reported: The correct reported speech response would be as follows, Ann said she is sleepy.
· Quoted: The person next to you asks, “What did Ann say?”
· Reported: The person said to me what Ann says.
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Reminder: No Verb Tense Changes Cases In these situations it is not necessary to change verb tenses: § When we use say in the present tense to report. § When we report soon after someone has spoken. § When we speak or write about a general truth or if the situation is still true. |
5. Time and Place References Changes
When reporting speech, grammatical changes must often be made in order to keep the original meaning of what was said. The most common changes occur in adjectives of place and time. In this section we will introduce time and place references changes. In general, time and place references are also changed in reported speech. The table below represents words which get changed when the Direct Speech is changed into Indirect Speech.
|
N |
Direct speech |
› |
Indirect speech |
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 |
now today tonight yesterday the day before tomorrow the day after tomorrow next day, month, year last week, month, year last night ago “a week” ago this “for time” that here there these those thus |
› › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › › |
then / at that time that day /yesterday /Sunday / the fifth June that night the day before yesterday /Sunday /date two days before the next / following day / Wednesday /date in two days' time / two days later the following week, month, year the previous week, month / the week before the night before / Tuesday night before a week before that that there there those those so |
Examples:
· Direct speech: He said: “I met her today.”
· Indirect speech: He said that he has met her that day.
· Direct speech: He said: “I met her yesterday.”
· Indirect speech: He said that he had met her the day before.
· Direct speech: He said: “I met her the day before yesterday.”
· Indirect speech: He said that he had met her two days before.
· Direct speech: He said: “I shall meet her tomorrow.”
· Indirect speech: He said that he would meet her the next day.
4. Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives Changes
When reporting speech, grammatical changes must often be made in order to keep the original meaning of what was said. The most common changes occur again in pronouns. In this section we will introduce pronoun changes. It should be noted that, in general, we always refer to the personal pronoun mentioned with the introductory verb, and we obtain the following changes:
|
Direct Speech |
Indirect Speech |
|
|
First person pronouns in the direct speech change according to the subject of the reporting verb in the indirect speech. |
||
|
· The first singular person · The first plural person |
becomes becomes |
· The first /third singular person · The first /third plural person |
|
Second person pronouns in the direct speech change according to the object of the reporting verb in the indirect speech. |
||
|
· The second singular person · The second plural person |
becomes becomes |
· The first /second/third singular person · The first /second/third plural person |
|
Third person pronouns in the direct speech will not change in the indirect speech. |
||
|
· The third singular persons · The third plural persons |
keeps keeps |
· The third singular persons · The third plural persons |
Examples:
· Direct speech: he told her: “I want to meet your father.”
· Indirect speech: he told her that he wanted to meet her father.
· Direct speech: I said, “I am going.”
· Indirect speech: I said that I was going.
· Direct speech: I told him, “You are a stupid.”
· Indirect speech: I told him that he was a stupid.
· Direct speech: She said, “I am going.”
· Quoted: “I feel hungry,” Mary said
· Reported: Mary said she felt hungry.
· Quoted: Professor: “I’ve looked at the results of your work this year and you’ll be pleased to know that I’m recommending you for a scholarship next year.”
· Reported: The professor told me that she had looked at the results of my work this year and that I’d be pleased to know that she was recommending me for a scholarship next year.
6. Basic Rules for Indirect Speech
The indirect speech is formulated by following the steps mentioned in the table below;
|
Steps |
Rules |
|
Step 1 |
Words of the speaker (reported speech) are not enclosed in Inverted Commas or Quotation Marks in Indirect Speech. |
|
Step 2 |
Usage of word “that”: The conjunction “that” is always used between reporting verb and reported speech in indirect speech in positive statement. It should be noted that this conjunction is nit used for commands and questions. |
|
Step 3 |
Change in tense of the reported speech: A change is made in tense of reported speech for changing a direct speech into indirect speech when the reporting verb in in the past tenses. It should be noted that the tense of the message is not changed when the reporting verb is in the present tenses. It should be noted that the basic rule for tense change in indirect speech is to change a present tense into its corresponding past tense. That is why most past tenses keep the same past tense in the indirect speech. |
|
Step 4 |
Changes in Pronoun: The pronoun (or subject) of reported speech is sometime changed according to the pronoun (or subject) or Object of the reported verb (first sentence of Direct speech). The possessive pronouns (i.e. his, her, my, their, your etc.) may also change according to subject or object of the first sentence. |
|
Step 5 |
Change in Time and Place Reference: If there is time and place reference mentioned in the sentence of Direct speech, the time and place will be changed in Indirect Speech. There are certain rules changing the time and place references. |
|
Step 6 |
besides the general rules for changing the positive statements, there are specific rules for changing commands, requests, questions, yes /no questions, suggestions, intentions, hopes, whishes, promises and modals. |
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Important Reminder: Reported Speech When transforming statements, questions, imperatives, promises from direct speech (quoted speech) into indirect speech (reported speech), students must check to change: § Tense if the reporting verb is in the present tenses (backshift) § Place adverbs § Time references § Pronouns § Interrogatives into positive statements
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7. Changes in Different Kinds of Sentences
7. 1. Assertive Sentences
This refers to sentences that make a statement. The statements may be positive, negative, true or false statements. In order to change or convert such sentences into indirect speech, we follow the following steps to change it into indirect speech.
§ Step 1: Comma and inverted commas will be removed.
§ Step 2: The reporting verb “say” must keep its original meaning as “declare, tell, announce, state, say, inform, etc.” Consequently, the reporting verb in the indirect statement must take the meaning of a positive statement.
§ Step 3: The conjunction “that” will be used in Indirect Speech (in positive statement sentence). The conjunction “that” is used in indirect speech immediately after the reporting verb.
§ Step 4: The conjunction “that” must be followed immediately by the person addressed.
§ Step 5: The tense of the verb of the message must be changed according to the tense changes when the reporting verb is in the past tenses (see the table of tense changes). It is worth to note that the tense of the verb of the message keeps its original tense when the reporting verb is in the present tenses.
§ Step 6: Other general rules such as people, tense, time adverbs, and place adverbs and so on are observed too in this case. Examples:
|
Direct Speech |
› |
Indirect Speech |
|
They said: “We saw them in the cinema.” |
› |
They said (that) they had seen them in the cinema. Or They said (that) they saw them in the cinema. |
|
He said: “I work as an assistant.” |
› |
He said (that) he worked as an assistant.” |
|
She said: “I will be back soon.” |
› |
She said (that) she would be back soon. |
|
They said: “We are going to be late again.” |
|
They said that they were going to be late again. |
|
He said: “I’ve lost my keys again.” |
› |
He said (that) he had lost his keys again.” |
|
She said: “I will be back soon.” |
› |
She said (that) she would be back soon. |
|
She said: “I’m not very happy.” |
› |
She said (that) she wasn’t very happy. |
|
He said: “I can speak Chinese.” |
› |
He said (that) he could speak Chinese. |
|
The teacher said: “You might be right.” |
› |
The teacher said that I could be right. |
|
She said: “I had seen the play before.” |
› |
She said that she had seen the play before. |
|
He says: “I will be back soon.” |
› |
He says that he will be back soon. |
|
He says: “I have seen the play before.” |
› |
He says that she has seen the play before. |
7. 3. Interrogative Sentences
Those sentences that ask questions are known as interrogative sentences. Interrogative sentences end with a question mark (also known as a sign of interrogation). Some of the rules to be kept in mind while converting an interrogative sentence into indirect speech are:
In case the massage is a question, we follow the following steps to change it into indirect speech.
§ Step 1: Comma and inverted commas will be removed.
§ Step 2: The reporting verb “say” must change to a verb of question as “ask, wanted to know, enquired, etc.” The reporting verb in the indirect statement must take the meaning of interrogative.
§ Step 3: The conjunction “that” will not be used in Indirect Speech (in question sentence).
§ Step 4: The reporting verb “question verb” must be followed by the person being addressed and the question words as “what, when, where, who, why, etc.”
§ Step 5: The reporting verb must be followed by the person addressed.
§ Step 6: If there is no question words or the question is “Yes” or “No” question, we use “if” or “whether”. See the next title for more details.
§ Step 7: We turn the sentence from the interrogative form into the positive one. Consequently, we delete the inversion of subject and verb and omit the question mark at the end and replace it with the full stop.
§ Step 8: Do not use the auxiliaries do, does, and did.
§ Step 9: Other general rules such as people, time adverbs, and place adverbs and so on are observed too in this case. Examples:
|
Direct Speech |
› |
Indirect Speech |
|
He said: “what is your name?” |
› |
He asked me what my name was. |
|
He said: “why are looking through the keyhole?” |
› |
He said: “why are looking through the keyhole?” |
|
He said: “did you come by plane?” |
› |
He wanted to know if I had come by plane. |
|
He said: “have you got a computer?” |
› |
He enquired me whether I had got a computer. |
|
He says: “What are you doing?” |
› |
He asks me what I am doing. |
|
John says, “How are you?” |
› |
John asks me how I am. |
7. 4. Yes or No Questions
In case the massage is a “yes” or “no” question, beginning with Auxiliary Verbs, indirectly, observe the following rules:-
§ Step 1: Comma and inverted commas will be removed.
§ Step 2: The Reporting Verb - say - is changed into - ask or inquire, demand, etc. The reporting verb must be followed by the person addressed.
§ Step 3: Start the reported speech with the conjunction - if or whether.
§ Step 4: The conjunction “that” will not be used in Indirect Speech (in commands and requests sentence).
§ Step 5: Change the interrogative form of the reported speech into Assertive form (Helping Verb after Subject).
§ Step 6: Nouns or Pronouns in the vocative case are treated as objects of their verbs.
§ Step 7: Other general rules such as people, tense, time adverbs, and place adverbs and so on are observed too in this case. Examples:
|
Direct Speech |
› |
Indirect Speech |
|
The inspector told to me, "Is your mother at home?" |
› |
The inspector asked me if my mother was at home. |
|
Ann said to his men, "Are you ready to die for your country?" |
› |
Ann asked his men if they were ready to die for their country. |
|
The host said to the guest, "Would you like to have a cup of tea?" |
› |
The host asked the guest if he would like to have a cup of tea. |
|
John said, "May I use your pen, Ann?" |
› |
John asked Ann if he might use her pen. |
|
The clerk said to his officer, "Shall I type this letter again, Sir?" |
› |
The clerk asked his officer respectfully if he should type that letter again.
|
|
The crow said, "Are the grapes sour, Mr. Fox?" |
› |
The crow asked the Fox if the grapes were sour. |
7. 5. Questions for Objects
In case the massage is a question for objects, we follow the following steps:
§ Step 1: Comma and inverted commas will be removed.
§ Step 2: We use “ask” as an introductory verb.
§ Step 1: The reporting verb “question verb” must be followed by the person being addressed, then,
§ Step 3: The person who receives the question must be followed by the preposition “for” + the person addressed. “Ask + for + accusative”.
§ Step 4: The expressions and words such as “please, bravo ………………… ” should be omitted in the indirect speech.
§ Step 5: Other general rules such as people, tense, time adverbs, and place adverbs and so on are observed too in this case. Examples:
|
Direct Speech |
› |
Indirect Speech |
|
“Can I have a cherry pie?”, she asked |
› |
She asks for a cherry pie. |
|
“May I have a glass of water, please?” |
› |
He asked for a glass of water. |
|
“Sugar, please.” |
› |
He asked for the sugar. |
7. 2. Commands, Requests and Imperatives Sentences
Imperative sentences are sentences that give a direct command or an order and they may be in the form of an advice, request or order. According to the degree of force used by the speaker a full stop or a sign of exclamation is used at the end of the sentence. (Example- Shut the door!). In order to change such sentences into indirect speech, the above mentioned rules along with the following rules may be applied:
§ Step 1: Comma and inverted commas will be removed.
§ Step 2: The reporting verb “say” must change to a verb of command, order, advice or request as “advise, beg, command, forbid, invite, order, request, suggest, teach, tell, instruct, warn, caution, urge, warn, invite, etc.” Consequently, the reporting verb in the indirect statement must take the meaning of command or request.
§ Step 3: The conjunction “that” will not be used in Indirect Speech (in question sentence).
§ Step 4: The expressions and words such as “please, bravo………………… ” should be omitted in the indirect speech.
§ Step 5: The reporting verb must be followed by the person addressed and with the infinitive without “to”.
§ Step 6: The imperative mood must be changed into the infinitive.
· Accusative + to + infinitive = to report positive requests or command.
· Accusative + not + to + infinitive = to report negative requests or commands.
§ Step 7: Other general rules such as people, tense, time adverbs, and place adverbs and so on are observed too in this case. Examples:
|
Direct Speech |
› |
Indirect Speech |
|
He said: “sit down!” (order) |
› |
He ordered me to sit down. |
|
She said: “sit down!” (order) |
› |
She ordered me to open the door. |
|
He said: “Please help me.” (request) |
› |
He requested me to help him. |
|
He said: “Quit smoking.” (advice) |
› |
He advised me to quit smoking. |
|
He said: “don’t watch the film!” |
› |
He ordered us not to watch the film. |
|
The teacher said: “could you please be quiet!” |
› |
The teacher ordered us to be quiet. |
|
He shouted, “Let me go.” |
› |
He shouted to them to let him go. |
2. 2. 1. Negative Commands, Request and Instructions
In reported speech, use a negative infinitive for negative instructions, commands, and requests. (There is no such thing, really, as a negative invitation!)
§ Negative Instructions
· Direct: “Don’t eat just before going to bed,” the doctor told her.
· Reported: The doctor told her not to eat just before going to bed.
§ Negative Commands
· Direct: “Don’t climb the tree,” said the father.
· Reported: The father told us not to climb the tree.
§ Negative Requests
· Direct: “Please don’t eat all the cake. We need to save some for Ann.”
· Reported: He asked me not to eat all the cake because we needed to save some for Ann.
7. 6. Reporting Suggestions
In case the massage is a suggestion, we follow the following steps to change it into indirect speech.
§ Step 1: Comma and inverted commas will be removed.
§ Step 2: They are usually reported with “that” and “should”.
§ Step 3: The main useful reported verbs in this kind are “suggest, recommend, propose, insist, demand, request, etc.
§ Step 4: Other general rules such as tense, time adverbs, place adverbs and so on are observed too in this case. Examples:
|
Direct Speech |
› |
Indirect Speech |
|
My wife said: “why don’t you get a new car?” |
› |
She suggested that I should get a new car. |
|
“It would be a good idea to buy a new car”, said my mother. |
› |
My mother recommended I buy a new car. |
|
My wife says: “why don’t you get a new car?” |
› |
She suggests that I shall get a new car. |
7. 7. Reporting Intentions, Hopes and Promises
In case the massage is an intention, hopes and promises, we follow the following steps to change it into indirect speech.
§ Step 1: Comma and inverted commas will be removed.
§ Step 2: They are usually reported with “that” or “to + infinitive”.
§ Step 3: The main useful reported verbs in this kind are: “promise, hope, threaten, propose, guarantee, swear, etc.”
§ Step 4: The expressions and words such as “please, bravo………………… ” should be omitted in the indirect speech.
§ Step 5: Other general rules such as people, tense, time adverbs, place adverbs and so on are observed too in this case. Examples:
|
Direct Speech |
› |
Indirect Speech |
|
“You pay the ransom or we will kill your son” they said. |
› |
They threatened that they would kill my son, if I didn’t pay the ransom. |
|
He said, “Alas! I am undone”. |
› |
He exclaimed sadly that he was undone. |
|
Ann said, “How clever I am?” |
› |
Ann exclaimed that she was very clever. |
|
He said, “Bravo! You have done well.” |
› |
He applauded him, saying that he had done well. |
|
He says, “Bravo! You have done well.” |
› |
He applauds him, saying that he has done well. |
|
Ann says, “How clever I am?” |
› |
Ann exclaims that she is very clever. |
7. 8. Exclamatory Sentence
Sentences which express our feelings and emotions are known as exclamatory sentences. An exclamation mark (!) is used at the end of an exclamatory sentence. In order to change exclamatory sentences into indirect speech the following rules should be kept in mind:
§ Step 1: If the exclamatory sentence contains an interjection like alas!, aha!, hurry! etc., these interjections are omitted in the indirect speech.
§ Step 2: If the word ‘said’ appears in the exclamatory sentence, then it is replaced with these expressions: ‘exclaimed with joy’, ‘exclaimed joyfully’, ‘exclaimed with great wonder or sorrow’ etc. in the indirect speech.
§ Step 3: The exclamatory sentence becomes an assertive sentence when it is converted into indirect speech. Example:
· Direct Speech: He said, “What a delicious dosa this is!”
· Indirect speech: He exclaimed what a delicious dosa it was.
8. Indirect Speech for Modal
For converting direct speech into indirect speech, Present Modals (e.g. Must, Can, May) are changed into Past Modals (i.e. Could, Might, Had to). Examples:
· Direct: He said, “I can sing a song”.
· Indirect: He said that he could sing a song.
· Direct: She said, “I may go to Paris”.
· Indirect: She said that she might go to Paris.
It should be noted that the modals like Should, Might, Could, Would, Ought to and must are not changed in Indirect Speech. Examples:
|
Direct Speech |
› |
Indirect Speech |
|
He said, “I must study this book”. |
› |
He said that he must study that book. |
|
He said, “We must finish the work in time”. |
› |
He said that they must finish the work in time. |
|
He said, “I should start a Job”. |
› |
He said that he should start a Job. |
|
She said, “I might eat a cake”. |
› |
She said that she might eat a cake. |
|
Ann said, “I could buy a Camera”. |
› |
Ann said that he could buy a Camera. |
|
He said, “I would decorate the walls”. |
› |
He said that he would decorate the walls. |
|
John said, “I ought to avoid unhealthy diets”. |
› |
John said that he ought to avoid unhealthy diets. |
9. Rules for Converting Indirect to Direct Sentences
Until now, we were talking about the rules to be followed while converting different kinds of direct sentences to indirect sentences. Now let us take a look at rules to be kept in mind while transforming an indirect sentence to a direct one. The rules are as follows:
1. Use the reporting verb ‘say’ or ‘said to’ in its correct tense.
2. Remove conjunctions like ‘that’, ‘to’, ‘whether’ etc. wherever necessary.
3. Use question marks, exclamatory marks, quotation marks and full tops wherever necessary.
4. Place a comma before the statement.
5. Always write the first letter of the statement in capital letters.
6. Change the past tense into present tense wherever the reporting verb is in past tense.
7. Convert past perfect into either past tense or present perfect as required.
Summary
Narration has two main ways direct speech and indirect speech. Reported speech (or indirect speech) is used to report what someone has said without quoting them. If the reporting verb is in the present, present perfect or future tense, the tense stays the same. If the reporting verb (say, tell, know, think, learn, mention, claim …) is in the past tense (which it most commonly is), the tense of the reported speech changes as it is shown in the table below with other common rules:
|
Rules |
Examples |
|
§ simple present ➔ simple past |
· “I walk the dog every day.” ➔ Ann said (that) she walked the dog every day. |
|
§ present progressive ➔ past progressive |
· “I am walking the dog.” ➔ Ann told me that she was walking the dog. |
|
§ future ➔ conditional |
· “I will walk the dog every day.” ➔ Ann mentioned that she would walk the dog every day. |
|
§ simple past ➔ past perfect |
· “I walked the dog last night.” ➔ Ann answered that she had walked the dog the night before. |
|
§ past progressive ➔ past perfect progressive or past progressive |
· “I was walking the dog.” ➔ Ann said she had been walking/was walking the dog. |
|
§ simple present perfect ➔ simple past perfect |
· “I have walked the dog today.” ➔ Ann said that she had walked the dog that day. |
|
§ present perfect progressive ➔ past perfect progressive |
· “I have been walking the dog.” ➔ Ann replied that she had been walking the dog. |
|
§ past perfect ➔ past perfect |
· “I had walked the dog.” ➔ Ann said that she had walked the dog. |
|
§ Questions follow the same tense changes as statements. Note the word order in reported speech: |
· “Where did you park the car?” ➔ the policeman asked the man where he had parked the car. · “Is this your car?” ➔ The policeman asked the man whether it was his car. |
|
§ For requests use ask + object + infinitive |
· “Could you take me to the movies?” ➔ John asked his brother to take him to the movies. |
|
§ Imperatives become infinitives (with ‘to’) in reported speech: |
· “Hurry up!” ➔ Jenny told Michael to hurry up. · “Don’t shout like that!” ➔ Jenny told Michael not to shout that way. |
|
§ ‘Suggest + verb + -ing’ or ‘suggest that + pronoun + infinitive’. |
· “Let’s go to the cinema.” Ø John suggested going to the cinema. Ø John suggested that we go to the cinema. |
|
§ Some adverbs of time and place also change in reported speech, |
· now ➔ then · Yesterday ➔ the day before /…….. |
|
§ Statements involving truths and facts do not have to change. |
· My teacher said: “Isaac Newton discovered the principles of gravity.” ➔ My teacher said that Isaac Newton discovered the principles of gravity. |
It should be noted that in longer passages particularly, it is most important to preserve the spirit of the original, and this consideration should be before a strict adherence to the form. Students must, therefore, not only understand the content but also appreciate the style and tone of the original if their own version is not to sound flat or unnatural by comparison.
Exercise 1
Instruction: Change the following into direct speech or indirect speech.
1. The boy says, “I am doing my homework today”.
2. Ravi says, “I have met your brother here”.
3. Susan sys, “I waited for Rami till 10 o’ clock last night”.
4. Rahim says, “John will have met the governor tomorrow”.
5. He says, “It is time I went to bed here”.
6. They say, “I was watching T.V. here ”
7. He says, “I have bought this watch for you”.
8. Susan says, “I have been working here on this novel for five years”.
9. My father says to me, “You have done your work well”.
10. Mohan says to me, “I met Suresh in Paris yesterday”.
11. Ann said, “I have not stolen this necklace”.
12. The villager said to the stranger, “I have never seen you here”.
13. Susan said, “I am reading a novel now”.
14. Susan said, “My father went to Guntur yesterday”.
15. He said, “The children are having a bath now”.
Exercise 2
Instruction: Change the following into direct speech or indirect speech.
1. She said, “I am very poor yesterday”.
2. He said, “We are in the playground yesterday”.
3. Marry said, “I don’t believe you”.
4. John said to Mary, “You are innocent”.
5. My father said to me, “They are late”.
6. She said, “It may rain”.
7. The boy said, “I can do it”.
8. He said to me, “I shall meet your father”.
9. Joseph said, “I will go home soon”.
10. She said, “I can’t agree with you”.
11. Raman said, “I have a problem”.
12. The officer said to the clerk, “You must do it”.
13. John said, “I don’t drink coffee”.
14. Ann said, “Marry will not lie”.
15. Marry said, “Stephan has a car”.
Exercise 3
Instruction: Change the following into direct speech or indirect speech.
1. He said to me, “Who lives in this house”?
2. “Do you know when she will go home?” I said to him.
3. Ramesh said to me, “How are you feeling?”
4. She said, “Can you help me?”
5. I said to him, “What are you doing here today?”
6. My friend said, “Is Mr. John on leave?”
7. Susan said, “Shall I switch on the fan?”
8. She said, “Why didn’t he come?”
9. Marry said to her friend, “Which magazines do you usually read?”
10. He said, “Will you listen to such a man?”
Exercise 4
Instruction: Change the following into direct speech or indirect speech.
1. Rama said to Ann, “Go away”.
2. He said to him, “Please wait here till I return”.
3. “Call the first witness”, said the Judge.
4. “Open fire”, the officer said to the soldiers.
5. My friend said, “Let's sing together”.
6. Mary’s father said to the Principal, “Please pardon my daughter”.
7. They said to us, “Grow more trees”.
8. The doctor said, “You must exercise every day”.
9. He said, “Sit down”.
10. The manager said to the clerk, “Don’t come late”.