Reported Speech
There are two ways of
reporting a speech.
1. One way is to quote the actual words used by the
speaker. This is called Direct Speech.
Eg : He said , “ I am a
doctor .”
The verb said in the main
clause is called the reporting verb. In the written form, the words spoken are
put within quotation marks.
2. When the spoken words are not quoted exactly as they
were spoken, but are reported from the point of view of the reporter, it is
called Indirect Speech.
A direct speech or indirect
speech has two parts. The first part is reporting clause and the second part is
reported clause. The verb in the reporting clause is reporting verb or
introductory verb.
Eg. He said, “ I need more
money “
Reporting clause reported clause
Said - reporting verb
Ans : He said that he needed more
money
Reporting clause reported clause
The reporting clause can be
at the beginning or end of a sentence.
In indirect speech, while
reporting the words, some changes are made in respect of person, verb, pronoun,
and adverbs of time and place.
He said that he was a doctor.
(In indirect speech, when written,
the quotation marks are not used.
The following rules are
observed in the transformation of Direct Speech into Indirect
1.If the Reporting verb is
in the present or future tense, the tense of the verb in
the Reported Speech is not changed
Eg:
He says : “I am reading a
book.”
He says that he is reading
a book”
He will say: “I am not at
home.”
He will say that he is not
at home.
|
If the Reporting verb is in
the Past tense, the verb in the Reported Speech is changed to any of the four
forms of the past tense. Look at the tables given below.
Change in the verb
Direct Speech
|
Indirect Speech
|
Simple present
|
Simple Past
|
Present continuous
|
Past continuous
|
Present perfect
|
Past perfect
|
Present perfect continuous
|
Past perfect continuous
|
Simple Past
|
Past perfect
|
Past Continuous
|
Past perfect continuous
|
Past Perfect
|
Past Perfect itself
|
Past perfect continuous
|
Past perfect continuous
itself
|
Future
|
Future in the past
|
Change in Adverbs
When the reporting verb is in
the past tense, words referring to time and place are changed as shown below.
Now – then
Today – that day
Yesterday – the previous day
or the day before
Tomorrow – the next day or
the following day
Last week – the previous week
Next week – the following
week
Ago – before / earlier
Here – there
This – that
These – those
Come – go (if it suits the
context)
Change in Personal
pronouns
I – he/she
Me – him/her
Us – them
You – I /We/All of us
While attempting reported
speech one has to be familiar with the kinds of sentences in the language
because rules applicable for one kind of sentence are not applicable to
another. Following are the kinds of sentences in English language.
Kinds of Sentences.
1. Declarative sentences/
Assertive sentence (Statements)
2. Interrogative sentences (Questions)
3. Imperative sentences
(Order or requests)
4. Exclamatory sentences
(Sentences that exclaim)
1.Declarative Sentences
/ Assertive Sentences
Reporting verbs - said, said
to, told
Link Word – That
Tense changes as per Sequence
of Tense rules
(Remove the comma and the
inverted commas and connect the Reported speech to the Main clause by the
conjunction “that”.)
1.The station master said, “
The train is late .”
The station master said that
the train was late.
2.Hari said ,” Sitha is
coming now”
Hari said that Sitha was
coming then.
3.Rema said,” Tony has gone
to market.”
Rema said that Tony had
gone to market.
4.Renu said,” I have been
waiting since 8 a.m.”
Renu said that she had been
waiting since 8 am.
5.He said, “ Rajesh wrote a letter
yesterday”
He said that Rajesh had
written a letter the previous day.
6.John said, “ Mary was
studying Maths yesterday”
John said that Mary had been
studying Maths the previous day.
7.Anil said, “ The train had
left before I reached the station.”
Anil said that the train had
left before he had reached the station.
8. Raghu said, “ Smitha had
been studying English for 8 years.”
Raghu said that Smitha had
been studying English for 8 years.
9.Tom said,” I will play
football tomorrow.”
Tom said that he would play
football the following day.
10. Gayathri said, “I can
speak French”
Gayathri said that she could
speak French.
2. Interrogative
Sentences ( Questions )
Reporting verbs - asked
Link Word
If it is Yes or No questions
– If or Whether
If it is Wh Question – Wh
word itself
Verb + Subject pattern
changes to Subject + Verb pattern
Tense changes as per the Sequence
of Tense rules.
No question mark.
(Remove the comma and the
inverted commas and connect the Reported speech to the Main clause by the
conjunction “if/whether/wh word”.)
Yes or No Questions
- Kumar asked,” Is anyone here?”
Kumar
asked whether anyone was there.
2.Saritha asked, “ Did Suma come yesterday ?”
Saritha
asked if Suma had come the day before.
3.He asked me, “ Will you help me ?”
He
asked me if I would help him.
4.
The teacher asked the students “Are you happy?”
The
teacher asked the students whether they were happy.
5.
The officer asked the typist,” Could you type these letters in ten minutes?”
The
officer asked the typist if he could type those letters in ten minutes.
6.
The salesman asked, “Shall we send it to your office, sir?”
The
salesman asked the customer if he should send it to his office.
7.
John asked Lily, “Are you hungry?”
John
asked Lily whether she was hungry.
8.
Raju asked Seetha, “Can I have your pen?”
Raju
asked Seetha whether he could have her pen.
9.
Sunil asked Suresh, “Shall we go to the theatre?’
Sunil
asked Suresh whether they should go to the theatre.
10.
Subhash asked Ramesh, “Do you know him”?
Subhash
asked Ramesh whether he knew him.
Wh Questions
1.Heasked me, “ What are
you doing?”
He asked me what I was doing.
2.The stranger asked Alice, “ Where do you live
?”
The stranger asked Alice where she lived.
3.The policeman asked
man, “ Where are you going?”
The policeman asked the man
where he was going.
4.Mother asked the daughter,
“ Who is your headmaster?”
Mother asked the daughter who
her headmaster was.
5.Mother asked the
daughter,”What does he teach ?”
Mother asked the daughter
what he taught.
6.Meena asked Mithun, “ How
do you go to school ?”
Meena asked Mithun how he
went to school.
7.Ravi
asked me “ Where are you taking your sister on your bike?”
Ravi asked me where I was taking my sister on my bike.
8.He asked her, “ When did
you come to that place ?”
He asked her when she had
come to that place.
9.Raji asked Rekha, “ Where
is your daughter studying ?”
Raji asked Rekha where her
daughter was studying.
10.Vivek asked Ramesh, “
Where did you spend your vacation?”
Vivek asked Ramesh where he
had spent his vacation.
11.I asked her, “ How did you
cover the distance ?”
I asked her how she had
covered the distance.
Yes/No questions and Wh
Questions Combined
1.Sudha asked Suma, “ What
are you eating?”
Sudha asked Suma what she was
eating.
2.Father asked me, “ Can
you do this problem?”
Father asked me whether I
could do that problem.
3.The teacher asked me, “ Why
are you late?”
The teacher asked me why I
was late.
4.Nisha asked Usha, “ Are you
learning music? “
Nisha asked Usha whether she
was learning music.
5.The boy asked his friend,
“ Will you please help me ?”
The boy asked his friend
whether he would help him.
6.Raju asked Gopal, “ Are
you eating apples?”
Raju asked Gopal whether he
was eating apples.
7.Father asked me, “ What are
you writing ?”
Father asked me what I was
writing.
8.I asked her, “ Who are you ?”
I asked her who she was.
9.The teacher asked her, “
Which is your book?”
The teacher asked her which
her book was.
10.I asked him, “ Can I
help you ?”
I asked him whether I could
help him.
11.He asked me, “ Where is
the post office?”
He asked me where the post
office was.
12.She asked me,” How did
you get this ?”
She asked me how I had got
that.]
13. Father asked me, “Can
you get a pen for me?”
Father asked me whether I
could get a pen for him.
14. Mohan asked his friend, “Shall we
play chess?”
Mohan asked his friend whether they
would play chess.
3. Imperative Sentences (Commands
and requests)
Reporting verbs – ordered, requested,
begged, advised
Link word – to
No change of tense
Don’t – not to
1.He said, “ Please give me
another chance.”
He requested to give him
another chance.
2.The doctor said, “ Stop
taking tablets.”
The doctor advised to stop
taking tablets.
3.”Lend me Rs.1000/-“ She
told him.
She requested him to lend her
Rs.1000/-.
4.She told him, “ Open the
window”
She requested him to open the
window.
5.”Don’t go near the sea”,she told them.
She requested them not to go
near the sea.
6.”Please don’t make any
sounds” the master told the students.
The master advised the
students not to make any sounds.
7.”Get me the moon”, the
princess said to the king.
The princess requested the
king to get her the moon.
8.”Stop reading that list”
the king said to the chamberlain.
The kind ordered the
chamberlain to stop reading that list.
9.”Please listen to this
list” The Chamberlain said to the king.
The chamberlain begged the
king to listen to that list.
10.”Order fire works for the
princess” the mathematician said to the king.
The mathematician requested the king to order fireworks for the princess.
11.” Sing me a sad song” the
king said to the jester.
The king ordered the jester
to sing to him a sad song.
4.Exclamatory Sentences
Reporting verb – Exclaimed
Change the whole sentence
into a statement and then affect the normal changes.
Link word – that
No exclamation mark.
The tense changes
1.Tomy said “ What a fine
match it is ! “
Tomy exclaimed that it was a
fine match.
2.Ravi
said, “ How lucky I am! “
Ravi exclaimed that he was lucky man.
Father said, “ What a fool
you are !”
Father exclaimed that he was
a fool.
4.The teacher said, “How
clever the boy is!”
Teacher exclaimed that the
boy was very clever.
5.Mother said, “ How lucky
you are !”
Mother exclaimed that he was
very lucky.
6.She said, What a beautiful
sari it is!”
She exclaimed that it was a
beautiful sari.
7.The teacher said, “ What a
lazy fellow Mohan is !”
The teacher exclaimed that
Mohan was a lazy fellow.
9.Father said, “ What a sad
news it is!”
Father exclaimed that it was
a sad news.
10.Sheela said, “ What a fool
I am !”
Sheela exclaimed that she was
a fool.
11. “What a wonderful idea!”
he said.
He exclaimed that it was a
wonderful idea.
12.”Alas he is dead!”, she
said.
She cried with sorrow that he
was dead.
13. He said, “Good morning!”
He wished me good morning.
