reported speech

Direct and Indirect Speech

If the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, tense of the verbs in the sentence remains unchanged.

Ø  She says, she wants to consult a doctor

ü  She says that she wants to consult a doctor.

If the reporting verb is in the past tense, tenses of verbs in the reported speech are changed into a corresponding past tense. The tense changes are as follows:

·         Is, are, am- was/were.                Has/have------Had

                                                   Had--------no change

·         Was/were- had been.                Past perfect--------no change

·         Had been - no change.             Will/shall--------would

·         Simple present- simple past.

·         Simple past- past perfect.

·         Shall-should.

·         May/can - might/ could.

·         Would/should/might/could/ought to/used to – no change.

·         Must- had to.

Sunil said, “Hema is a clever girl”------- Sunil said that Hema was a clever girl.

Deepak said, “Helen was very hard working”----- Deepak said that Helen had been very hard working.

Dennis said, “my father had been very successful”--------Dennis said that my father had been very successful

He said, “Jithin writes fast”.

He said that Jithin wrote fast.

Ramesh said, “she painted well”----Ramesh said that she had painted well.

 

Expressions of time and place in indirect speech

 

This/these---that/those

Here- there

Now-then

Ago-before

Today-that day

Yesterday-the day before/the previous day

Tomorrow-the next day/the following day

Next week/year—the following week/year

Last week/year-the previous week/year