Reported Speech

 

1.1.1 Reported Speech Rules in English:

1.1.2 How to Change Tenses in Reported Speech

As you can see, the rules governing how to report speech can vary based on the tense of the original statement. Generally, you can’t go wrong if you follow these guidelines (from the original statement to reported speech):

• Simple Present -> Simple Past
• Present Continuous -> Past Continuous
• Present Perfect -> Past Perfect
• Simple Past -> Simple Past OR Past Perfect
• Past Continuous -> Past Perfect Continuous
• Simple Future -> “will” becomes “would”
• Future Continuous -> “will” becomes “would”
• Future Perfect -> “will” becomes “would”
• Present Perfect Continuous -> Past Perfect Continuous
• Past Perfect Continuous -> Past Perfect Continuous
• Future Perfect Continuous -> Future Perfect Continuous

That said, there are some exceptions in the present tense. For example, if the original statement is comprised of general information that is unchanging, you don’t need to report it in the past tense. Here are a few examples:

• Simple Present: Water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius. -> He said that water freezes at zero degrees Celcius.
• Present Continuous: The planet is rotating around the sun. -> She said that the planet is rotating around the sun.
• Present Perfect: Human beings have always liked dogs. -> He said that human beings have always liked dogs.

1.2   Reporting Questions

Reporting statements is relatively straightforward, as it usually just requires the second clause to change tense (sometimes not even that). However, reporting questions is more complex. First of all, when you report a question, you cannot just repeat the original question. Instead, you must turn it into a statement. Here’s an example question:

Do you have a lighter?

If you want to report this question later, you’ll need to change it, like so:

They asked me if I had a lighter.

Thankfully, once you learn the guidelines for reporting statements, you can apply many of the same rules to reporting questions. All of the tense changes are the same:

• Simple Present: Do you like to read? -> He asked if I liked to read.
• Note: For “Yes/No” questions, we change “do” or “does” to “if.”
• Present Continuous: Are you running errands today? -> She asked if I was running errands today.
• Present Perfect: Have you spoken to her? -> He asked if I had spoken to her.
• Simple Past: Did you believe the story? -> She asked if I believed the story.
• Past Continuous: How were you behaving? -> He asked me how I was behaving.
• Simple Future: Will you go shopping later? -> She asked me if I would go shopping later.
• Future Continuous: Will you be cooking tonight? -> He asked me if I would be cooking tonight.
• Future Perfect: Will you have received your diploma by then? -> She asked if I would have received my diploma by then.
• Present Perfect Continuous – Have you been doing your homework? -> He asked me if I had been doing my homework.
• Past Perfect Continuous – How long had you been sleeping? -> She asked me how long I had been sleeping.
• Future Perfect Continuous – Will you have been travelling? -> He asked if I would have been travelling.

1.2.1 Requests and Demands

To keep things simple, requests are treated the same as questions when reported to someone else. For example:

• Please sit down. -> He asked me to sit down.
• Could you open the door for me? -> She asked if I could open the door for her?
• Would you mind holding my bag? -> He asked if I would mind holding his bag.

However, if someone demands something, we generally report the speech using “told” instead of “asked” or “said.” Here are some commands in reported speech:

• Be quiet! -> She told me to be quiet.
• Don’t touch that! -> He told me not to touch that.
• Brush your teeth. -> She told me to brush my teeth.

Finally, when reporting speech, you must always consider the time in which the original statement was made. If a time is mentioned within the statement, you will also have to consider how that time relates to the current moment.

You have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday.

For example, let’s say that the statement above was reported to you a few days prior, but you reported it to someone else on Monday (the day before the appointment). You could say either of the following:

She told me that I have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, or

She told me that I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.

Here are a few more time conversions to help you with reported speech:

• Call your father right now. -> She told me to call my father right then.
• I saw you at the movies last night. -> He said he saw me at the movies the night before.
• Were you at school last week? -> She asked if I had been at school the week prior.
• Can I talk to you tomorrow? -> He asked if he could talk to me the next day.

1.2.2                Changes in Time and Place in Reported Speech

Time and place references often have to change in Indirect Speech

·        Now –> Then

·        Today –> That day

·        Here –> There

·        This –> That

·        Tomorrow –> The following day/ The next day/ The day after

·        Next week –> The following week/ The next week/ The week after

·        Yesterday –> The previous day/ The day before

·        Last week –> The previous week/ The week before

·        Ago –> Previously/ Before

·        Tonight –> That night

1.2.3                No Change in Verb Tenses in Reported Speech

There is no change in verb tenses in Indirect Speech when:

·        The introductory verb is in the Present, Present Perfect or Future.

·        If the reported sentence deals with a fact or general truth.

·        The reported sentence contains a time clause.

·        The verb of the sentence is in the unreal past (the second or the third conditional).

·        The subjunctive stays unchanged in the subordinate clause.

·        Had better, could, would, used to, should, might, ought to and mustn’t remain unchanged.

·        If the speaker reports something immediately or soon after it was said.

1.2.4                Reporting Verbs in Indirect Speech

List of reporting verbs in reported speech.

·        Tell, say, ask.

·        Verb + that + clause: complain, deny, explain, exclaim, remark, promise, boast, inform somebody, claim, agree, suggest.

·        Verb + to + infinitive: agree, offer, refuse, demand, threaten, promise, claim.

·        Verb + indirect object + to + infinitive: advise, allow, beg, command, encourage, forbid, invite, want, instruct, permit, urge, order, remind, warn.

·        Verb + “ing” form: admit (to), accuse somebody of, apologize for, boast about/ of, complain to somebody of, deny, insist on, suggest.

·        Verb + how: explain to somebody.

·        Wonder.