Reported speech

KRANTHI KUMAR CHILAGANI
LECTURER
DEPT. OF ENGLISH
4/25/2020
1
DIPLOMA I – II SEM
SUB: AVANCED ENGLISH
Jyothishmathi institute of technological
sciences, karimnagar.
Advance English Course : 3 KRANTHI KUMAR CHILAGANI

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Course : 3
SUB: AVANCED ENGLISH
TOPIC: 4 GRAMMAR

4. GRAMMAR
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Reported Speech

REPORTED SPEECH
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Direct speech is a report of the exact words used by a speaker or writer.
The words spoken appear within inverted commas “......” and should
be exactly word to word as spoken or written.
Example:The teacher said to the students,“You can go.”
When we report what someone said in our own words, it is
called Indirect speech.We do not use inverted commas, do not
write the exact words as spoken or written by someone.
Example:The teacher said to the students that they could go.

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A direct speech sentence consist of two parts.The part that is inside the
quotation marks, is called reported speech.The other one that is out of
quoted marks, is called reporting speech. Both direct and indirect
speech have two parts which are complete sentences in themselves.
They are -
•Reported verb - Who said to whom.
The teacher said to the students,“You can go.”
• Reported speech - –The exact words spoken, put within inverted
commas “_______”.
The teacher said to the students,“You can go.”
PARTS OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

RULES TO CONVERT
DIRECT SPEECH To
INTO INDIRECT SPEECH
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6 Advance English Course : 3 KRANTHI KUMAR CHILAGANI

Direct and Indirect Speech Punctuation Rules
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 Following punctuation rules in reported speech are applied
 Inverted comma are excluded
 Question mark is converted into full stop
 Exclamation mark is silenced
 Comma, in some cases, is used
Rule : 1

RULE: 2
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When the pronoun in Reporting speech is in first
person, it changes according to the subject of the
Reporting verb.

Example 1
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 Ram said to me,“I am going.”
 Ram said to me that he was going.
‘I’ (first person singular) in direct speech becomes‘he’ (third
person singular) in indirect speech as the subject of reported
verb‘Ram’ is also a third person singular noun.

Example 2
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 You said to Meena,“I am studying.”
 You said to Meena that you were studying.
‘I’ (first person singular) in direct speech becomes‘you’
(second person) in indirect speech as the subject of reported
verb‘you’ is also a second person pronoun.

Example 3
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 They said to me,“We are playing.”
 They said to me that they were playing.
 ‘we’ (first person plural) in direct speech becomes‘they’
(third person plural) in indirect speech as the subject of
reported verb‘they’ is also a third person plural pronoun.

When the pronoun in Reporting speech is
in second person, it changes according to
the object of the Reporting verb.
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RULE: 3

Example 1
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 I said to Ram, “You are unworthy.”
 I said to Ram that he was unworthy.
‘you’ (second person) in direct speech becomes‘he’ (third
person singular) in indirect speech as the object of reported
verb‘Ram’ is also a third person singular noun.

Example 2
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 Teacher said to me,“You are a good student.
 Teacher told me that I was a good student.
‘you’ (second person) in direct speech becomes‘I’ (first person
singular) in indirect speech as the object of reported verb
‘me’ is also a first person singular pronoun.

Example 3
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 I said to you, “You keep quiet.”
 I said to you that you keep quiet.
‘you’ (second person) in direct speech remains‘you’ (second
person) in indirect speech as the object of reported verb
‘you’ is also a second person pronoun.

When the pronoun in Reporting speech is
in third person, it will remain unchanged in the
Reporting verb.
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Rule : 4

Example 1
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 I said to him,“Ram is a fool.”
 I said to him that Ram was a fool.
 ‘Ram’ (third person) in direct speech remains‘Ram’ (third
person) in indirect speech.

Example 2
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 Mom said to dad,“They will come in the evening.”
 Mom said to dad that they would be coming in the evening.
 ‘they’ (third person) in direct speech remains‘they’ (third
person) in indirect speech.

changing the Auxiliary verbs
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Direct speech Indirect speech
Will Would
Shall Should / would
May Might
Can Could
Do / does Did
Is/am/are Was / were
Has / have Had
Rule:5

changing some more words
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Direct speech Indirect speech
Here There
This That
These Those
Now Then
Thus So
Hence Thence
Ago before
Today That day
Tomorrow The next day
Yesterday The previous day
Last night The previous night
Last week The previous week
tonight That night
The next day The following day
Rule: 6

Mood of Sentence
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 Request requested
 Advice advised
 Advice/Suggestion advised
 Oder ordered
 Suggestion suggested
 Joy / Sorrow expressed
 Wonder exclaimed
Rule: 7

Rule for changing historical truths, universal truths,
habitual facts Irrespective of the tense of the direct
speech, the tense of indirect speech will not
change.
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Ex. 1
 Teacher said to me,“We won the freedom struggle in 1947.”
 Teacher said to me that we won the freedom struggle in 1947.
Ex. 2
 Vyshali told us,“I study everyday.”
 Vyshali told us that she studies everyday.
Rule: 8

Rules for changing the Tense
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 If there is Present or Future tense in the direct speech
(Reported speech), then tense of indirect speech will not
change.
Ex: He says to me,“You are wise.”
He says to me that I am wise.
Ex: Ram will say to me,“I am true.”
Ram will say to me that he is true.
Rule: 9

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 Present SimpleTense ----- Past SimpleTense
 Ram said, "I always wait for Mark here
 Ram said that he always waited for Mark there.
 Present ProgressiveTense ----- Past ProgressiveTense
 He said, "I am waiting here for you“
 He said that he was waiting there for me.
 Present PerfectTense ----- Past PerfectTense
 Venkat said, "I have completed my essay"
 Venakat said that he had completed his essay.
 Present Perfect ProgressiveTense ----- Past PerfectTense
 Roja said, "I have been waiting for Mark"
 Roja said that she had been waiting for Mark.
Rule: 10

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 Past SimpleTense ----- Past PerfectTense
 Ravali said “Revathi received a letter"
 Ravali said that Revathi had received a letter.
 Past ProgressiveTense ----- Perfect ContinuousTense
 He said,‘‘I was writing a poem”
 He said that he had been writing a poem.
 Past PerfectTense (The tense remains unchanged)
 He said, "I had listened to your questions"
 He said that had listened to my questions.
 Past Perfect ProgressiveTense
(The tense remains unchanged)
Rule: 11

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 Future SimpleTense (e.g. will) -----‘‘would’’
 They said to me,“We will help you”.
 They said to me that they would help me.
 Future ProgressiveTense (e.g. will be) -----‘‘would be”
 David said,‘‘I will be making tea”.
 David said that he would be making tea.
 Future PerfectTense (e.g. will have) ----- “would have”
 She said,‘‘I will have cooked the food”.
 She said that she would have cooked the food.
 Future Perfect ProgressiveTense (e.g. will have been) ----- “would
have been”
 He said,‘‘I will have been visiting Delhi next week”.
 He said that he would have been visiting Delhi following week.
Rule: 12

References:
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 https://directindirectspeech.com/wp-
content/uploads/2019/02/Reported-Speech-Rules-PDF.pdf
 https://www.studyandexam.com/indirect-speech-for-
tense.html
 https://www.successcds.net/learn-english/direct-and-indirect-
speech-definition-rules-examples-exercises.html

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