REPORTED

SPEECH
 Direct and Indirect Speech
(Reported Speech)

Introduction:
We can report someone else’s speech either directly
—using the exact words of the speaker—or indirectly
—restating the speaker’s words in a different way
without
changing the original meaning of the speaker.
‘REPORTING VERB’& ‘REPORTED SPEECH’

• Direct Speech:
The teacher said, “ I purchased a new
house.”
REPORTING VERB: said

• REPORTED SPEECH
The teacher said that he had purchased a
new house.”
Changes to note from Direct to Indirect
Speech
• ‘Said’ becomes ‘said that’
• ‘Said to’ becomes told
• Comma and Inverted Commas are
removed.
• Tense Changes
• Pronoun changes as per the subject and
object of reporting part.
• Adverb of time and place changes
 General Rules
Tense Changes
Pronoun Changes
 Change of Time Words
• today=that day
• tomorrow=the next day/the following day
• yesterday=the day before/the previous day
• now= then/at that moment/at that time
• tonight=that night
• last night= the night before/the previous night
• last week=the week before/the previous week
• next week=the following week
• Thus=so
 Change of place Words
• Here there

• This that

• It it/that

• These those

• Ago before
i. Simple present tense changes to simple past tense.
• Rohan said, “I like my boss.”
• Rohan said that he liked his boss.
ii. Present continuous changes to past continuous.
• Reena said, “I am going to visit my friend tomorrow.”
• Reena said that she was going to visit her friend the next day.
iii. Present perfect tense changes to past perfect tense.
• Vishnu said, “ I have bought a new laptop .”
• Vishnu said that he had bought a new laptop.
• God said to man, “I have created you to spread happiness.”
• God told man that he had created him to spread happiness.
iv. Present perfect continuous changes to past perfect
continuous tense.
• Muneer said, “ I have been learning English for two months.”
• Muneer said that he had been learning English for two months.
v. Simple past changes to past perfect.
• Aishwarya said, “ I bought a new car.”
• Aishwarya said that she had bought a new car.
• Puneeth said, “I wrote a letter to my father.”
• Puneeth said that he had written a letter to his father.
vi. Past continuous changes to past perfect continuous.
• Sahana said, “ I was watching TV when my father came home
from work yesterday.”
• Sahana said that she had been watching T V when her father
came home from work the previous day.
vii. Past Perfect remains the same.
• Sambhav said, “ I had cooked dinner when power went off.”
• Sambhav said that he had cooked dinner when power went off.
viii. Past Perfect Continuous remains the same.
• Arnav said, “ I had been playing cricket for two hours when rain
started.”
• Arnav said that he had been playing cricket for two hours when
rain started.
Assertive sentence (statement)
1. Tanvi said , “I am really sorry for the mistake.”
Tanvi said that she was really sorry for the mistake.
2. The teacher said, “I really want to appreciate you for
this.”
The teacher said that he really wanted to appreciate her
for that.
3. Tanvi said, “I am going to change my behaviour.”
Tanvi said that she was going to change her behaviour.
4. The teacher said, “I knew it from your sorry face.”
The teacher said that he had known it from her sorry face.
5. Tanvi said, “I will always follow your advice.”
Tanvi said that she would always follow his advice.
Interrogative sentence (Questions)
Questions with ‘wh’ words:
(reporting verb +object+ given ‘wh’ question word )
1. The teacher said to Vedika, “Why did you disturb my class?”
The teacher asked Vedika why she had disturbed his class.
2. Vedika said, “Why are you blaming me?”
Vedika asked why why he was blaming her.
3. The teacher said, “What did I teach you yesterday?”
The teacher enquired what he had taught her the previous day.
4. Vedika said, “ You completed Reported Speech, sir. What will you
teach us today?”
Vedika replied that he had completed the Reported Speech and
further asked what he would teach them that day.
Interrogative sentence (Questions)

‘Yes’ or ‘No’ type questions

(reporting verb+object+if/whether)

1. The teacher said, “Did you complete the home work.”

The teacher asked the students if/whether they had completed
the home work.
2. Students said, “Yes sir. We completed it yesterday itself. Will you
give us more home work of the same type today also?”
The students replied that they had completed it the previous day
itself. They further asked him if/whether he would give them more
home work of the same type that day also.
3. The teacher said, “Do you like English grammar?”
The teacher asked if/whether they liked English grammar.
Imperati ve Sentence
(Commands and Requests)
(reporti ng verb+object+to infiniti ve)

1. The teacher said, “ Complete the assignment

today itself and submit it tomorrow.”
The teacher ordered the students to complete the
assignment that day itself and submit it the next
day.
2. The students said, “ Please give us more time”
The students requested the teacher to give them
more time”
Direct: She said to me, “Open the window.”
Indirect: She ordered me to open the window.
Direct: The captain said to the soldiers, “Attack the enemy.”
Indirect: The captain commanded the soldiers to attack the enemy.
Direct: I said to him, “Leave this place at once.”
Indirect: I told him to leave that place at once.
Direct: The teacher said to the students, “Listen to me attentively.”
Indirect: The teacher asked the students to listen to him attentively.
Exclamatory sentences !!!
• Exclamatory sentences contain exclamations like Hurrah!,
Alas!, Oh!, Heavens!, Bravo, etc…
• Such exclamatory words are removed in the indirect speech
and we use ‘exclaimed with sorrow’, ‘exclaimed with joy’,
‘exclaimed with surprise’, etc... instead of ‘said’.
• The exclaimed sentence takes statement form with pronoun,
tense, adverb changes
Direct: Jovan said, “Hurrah! We won the match.”
Indirect: Jovan exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.
Direct: Sudeep said, “Alas! I have lost my phone.”
Indirect: Sudeep exclaimed with sorrow that he had lost his phone.
Direct: The captain said to Kapil, “Bravo! You scored 52 runs.”
Indirect: The captain exclaimed with praise that he/Kapil had scored
52 runs.
Note:
1. If the reporting verb is in present/future tense, the tense
in reported part doesn’t change.
Pronoun, adverb etc… would change.
Direct: The teacher says, “I don’t like coffee.”
Indirect: The teacher says that he doesn’t like coffee.
2. If the reporting verb is in past tense, the tense in reported
part doesn’t change if the action narrated is
• Historical fact * Habitual action
• Scientific Fact
Direct: Advaita said, “India got independence in 1947.”
Indirect: Advaita said that India got independence in 1947.