Reported Speech – Advanced

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is a way of conveying what someone else has said without quoting their exact words. Instead of using the speaker’s original words (direct speech), you rephrase what they said. This often involves changing the tense, pronouns, and other parts of the sentence to fit into the context of your own sentence.

Rules for Reported Speech

1. Tense Changes:
   • When you change from direct to reported speech, the tense usually moves one step back into the past. This is called back shifting.
   • Present Simple changes to Past Simple:
     • Direct: She says, “I am happy.”
     • Reported: She said that she was happy.
   • Present Continuous changes to Past Continuous:
     • Direct: He says, “I am reading a book.”
     • Reported: He said that he was reading a book.
   • Present Perfect changes to Past Perfect:
     • Direct: They say, “We have finished the project.”
     • Reported: They said that they had finished the project.
   • Past Simple changes to Past Perfect:
     • Direct: She said, “I saw the movie.”
     • Reported: She said that she had seen the movie.
   • Will changes to Would:
     • Direct: He says, “I will go there.”
     • Reported: He said that he would go there.
2. Pronoun Changes:
   • Pronouns often need to change to match the perspective of the reporting speaker.
     • Direct: “I am going to the market,” she said.
     • Reported: She said that she was going to the market.
3. Time and Place Changes:
   • Words that refer to time and place often need to be adjusted.
     • Now → Then: “I am busy now.” → She said she was busy then.
     • Today → That day: “I will see you today.” → He said he would see me that day.
     • Tomorrow → The next day: “We will meet tomorrow.” → They said they would meet the next day.
     • Here → There: “She is here.” → He said she was there.
4. Modals:
   • Some modal verbs change in reported speech.
     • Can → Could: “I can swim.” → She said she could swim.
     • May → Might: “I may go.” → He said he might go.
5. No Change in Tense:
   • If the reporting verb is in the present, future, or the statement is a general truth, the tense does not change.
     • Direct: “The earth orbits the sun.”
     • Reported: He says that the earth orbits the sun.
6. Questions in Reported Speech:
   • Change the structure from a question to a statement, and the tense usually shifts back.
     • Direct: “Where are you going?”
     • Reported: She asked where I was going.
7. Commands and Requests:
   • Use tell for commands and ask for requests, followed by the infinitive form of the verb.
     • Direct: “Please close the door.”
     • Reported: She asked me to close the door.
     • Direct: “Finish your homework!”
     • Reported: The teacher told him to finish his homework.
8. Reporting Verbs:
   • The verb used to introduce reported speech can affect how the sentence is structured (e.g., said, told, asked, suggested, etc.).

Attention!

Back shifting is generally accepted and is a standard part of English grammar when converting direct speech into reported speech. Back shifting reflects the fact that the reported statement was made at an earlier time, which often requires moving the tense of the verbs one step back into the past. However, back shifting is not always needed. We have another page on Back Shifting!