n.c..rurc I t:.

The words sp,oken by a,person can be reported in the f o:Howing

two ways:
• We may quote the words actu.ally used by a speaker. This is
caned Direct Speech. -
Ravi said, '1 am £,ond ,01
{ tea."
• We may report the sp,eake:r's words in the form of anarrative
1

instead of his actual words. This is called Indirect Speech or

Reported Speech.
Ravi said that he was fond of tea.
The verb introducing the·actual words of the speaker i:s. called
the Reporting Verb or the Introducing Verb. ·Jt indicates. who
speaks to whom, when and how.
 I
IVote the following facts about Direct Speech.
D
• The Reporting verb (said etc.) is followed by a comma{,),.
R
• The actual words of the speaker are placed within inverted I
commas f" "). E
• The first word of the_R_eported Speech begins with a capital I
Jetter. ]
]
Note the following facts about Indirect or Reported Speech.
• Th.e Reporting verb (said etc.) is not followed by a comma
but by a suitable connector (that)
• The Reported Speec~ is not placed within inverted commas.
• The tense of the verb .usually changes, if the reporting v·erb
. is in the past.
• There are some changes in the pronoun, too.

General Rules for changing Direct Speech into Indirect

Speecb
 General Rules for changing Direct Speech into Indirect
Spe,ecb

{a) Change in Tenses :

I

• If the ,Report ing Verb is in the Present or Future tense, the

· tense of the Verb in th·e D·irect Speech does not change.
• If the Reporting Verb is in the Past Tense, the.tense of the
Verb in the Direct speech .cha~ges as follows:

Direct Speec_h Indirect Speech

is I are / a·m wa,s/were
was/were had been
has I have had
Present Simple Past Simple
(play I plays) {played)
(do/ does not play) (did not play)
Present Continuous Past Continuous
(is I are I am playing) (was/ were ,pf aying)
ED SPE EC H
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
'Present Pertect . Past Pertect
{has ,f have played} (had played)
Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
(has/ have been pl_
aying) (had been playing)
Past 'Simple Past Pertect ,
(played/ did not play} (had played/ had not played )
Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
{was/ were playing) (had been playing)
Past .Perfect Past Perfect (no change }
will/ shall would/ should
can/may could / might
must hadto
 Illustrative Examples
Direct : She said,1 hate school."
Reported : She said that she hated school.
Direct ~ lie said,'The train is coming."
Reported : lie said that the hain was coming.
Direct : lie said,'Ram has not turned up yet"
· Reported : lie said that Ram had not turned up yet."
Direct : I said,1 will not return your book"
Reported : I said that I.would not ret1.1rn his book
Direct : lie said,'1t may rain today."
Reported : Ii0 said that it might rain that day.
Direct : lie sa.id,''I 1n1-1st ao home a.t once."
Reported : lie said that he had to ao home at once.
 txcept1ons
• The Simple Present stating a General Truth does not change.
Direct : The tead1er said, 'Th.e Sttn rises in the ea.st."
Reported : The teach.e r said tha.t the s11n rises in the e·ast.

• Simple Past stating a past historical event remains

unchang,ed.
'D ir·e ct : The teacher said, '1ndiabecame £ree in 1947."
Reported: The teacher said that India became lree in
1947.
,. Simple Past oir Past Continuous tense in Time Clauses do not
normally change. The main verb may either remain
unchanged or :may become the Past Pert ect~
D irect : lie sa.id, 'When w e live d / were livina in
Bomha.y, weo£ten went to beach.."
Re1:>0rted : lie sa.id that when they lived / ,vere
livina in Bon1,ba.1J, they oiteu went to the
beach.
 Say and tell
REMEMI
We say 'something' but we tel/ 'somebody/ something'. Reporting
The proI
. verb 'said'is changed to 'to/d'if it is followed by an object. ·
being tal
Dire ct : He said to me, 1 will com e a.gain soon." Dire•
Rep orte d : He told me that he wou ld com e agai n soon.
Repc
Note that :
1. 'said' has become 'told' because the object 'me' is mentioned. (c) Chan!
2. 'told' is not followed by the preposition 'to'. Words a1
the Dire
(b) Change in Personal Pronouns :
showing
• The pronouns of the First Person (I, my, me, mine, we, our,
Direct
us, ours) change into the person and gender of the subject of
the Reporting Verb. now

Direct ThebolJ said, 1am abra veb oy."

• Reported
Direct
ThebolJ said that hew asab r&v eboy .
The bolJs said, 'We are very bra; e." ·
tomorroV\i

last night
Reported : The bolJs said that they wereven_J brav e.
Direct : She said, 'My £ath erisa doct or. "
later
Rep orte d : She said that her£ athe rwa sado ctor .
the day
• The pronouns of the Second Person (you, your, yours) change after
into the person and gender of the object of the Reporting tomorrow
Verb. Dire ct
Dire ct I said tohe r, 'Youar eabr aveg irl." Rep orte d
Rep orte d I told hert hats hew asab rave girl.
Dire ct lsaid to him, ''Your brot heri sabr aveb oy." Dire ct
Rep orte d I told him that hisb roth erw asab rave boy . Reporte d :
rr
Dire ct I said toth em, 'You areb rave boys .
Rep orte d I told them that they were brav e boys. Direct

'
• The pronouns of the Third Person do not change.
Rep orte d :
Dire ct I said to her, "He is a good boy.'
REMEMBER :
The pronoun 'you' may also be changed to '/' when the person
being talked to is not named in the direct statement.
Direct liesai d, "Yot.1arebra.ve."
Reported : lie said that Iwas brave.

(c) 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 / ', . . .. .· . tJ>d,ay f •. that day l
straight c1w~y:: :, , , t9nig.ht , that nig:ht
tomorrow the next dayffhe'' i' YesfordaY • the previous day
· following day··: . /the day before
·last night the previous·· thus so
- night / the .night ago . before
before ~
JUS t,. then
'lat.er after at present at that time
the day jn two dav,' time next week the next week/
after the following
tomorrow · week
 ~ -~7J. •• _ _. "--- .1.1J u ve uuys.

• The pronouns of the ThirdPerson do not change.

Direct : I said to her, "He is a eood boy."
Reported : I told her that k was a eood boy.
Direct .• I said to him, "She is a eood 8irl."

Reported .. I told him that she was a eood@:rl.

Direc t .. I said to him, 'They a:re eood boys."
Reported .• _I told hini thqt they were 5ood boys.
. ' .

'D
. irect · In.direct -:'Direct
' •r , , ,. Indirect
I you he~she, thev
me him.,, her , ,. ··: ._,. ·,( ··
.. . . '·' ·.
you him, her, them
my his, her ,, , ,·: your his, her, their
..
mine his, hers. yours hi.s, hers, theirs
we they
us them
our · their
ou·rs theirs
 I I weeK
Dir ect : Alisa.id, 1w ill wat cha hor rorm ovi eton iaht."
Rep orte d . : Ali said tha t he wou ld wat ch a horror movi~
that nig ht.
Dir ect : ThegirlsaicL 1mustgotoDelhitomorrow."
Rep orte d : The girl said tha t she had to fio to Delhi the
nex t day .
Dir ect : Sunil sa.icL f'l pltt,n to leav e £or At1stra.lia nex t
week."
Reported : Sunil said that he plan ned to leav e for
Aus tral ia the£ollowina wee k.
Direct : Sh\ }am asa id, "Th .ete ach erle £tan hou ra8° -"
Reported. : Sh\}ama said tha t the teac her had le£t an hou r
he!ore.
Direct : Ma nish said, 1 am busy now."
Reported. : Ma nish said tha t he was busy then.

(d) Other Changes :

 Reported Statements Mixed Exercise

Change this direct speech into reported speech:

1. "He works in a bank"

She said
-------------------------
2. "We went out last night"
She told me
------------------------
3. "I'm coming!"
She said
-------------------------
4. "I was waiting for the bus when he arrived"
She told me
------------------------
5. " I' d never been there before"
She said
-------------------------

6. "I didn't go to the party"

She told me
------------------------

7. "Lucy' II come later"

She said
-------------------------
8. "He hasn' t eaten breakfast"
She told me
------------------------
9. "I can help you tomorrow"
She said
-------------------------