REPORTED SPEECH

Reported speech (also known as indirect speech) is a way of expressing what someone else has said without quoting their exact words. Instead of using quotation marks, the original speaker's words are paraphrased and often introduced by verbs like "said," "told," or "asked."

For example:
Direct speech: He said, "I am going to the store."
Reported speech: He said that he was going to the store.



In the direct speech, the actual words spoken by the speaker are placed within inverted commas.

Raman said to me, “I am going out for lunch.”

Raman said to me is reporting verb while “I am going out for lunch” is reporting part.

In indirect speech, the words of the speaker are reported in the form of a narrative with necessary changes. Reporting involves the selection of an appropriate reporting verb.

Raman told me that he was going out for lunch







THE RULES FOR CHANGING THE REPORTING VERB


 No change is made in the tense of reporting part when Reporting Verb is in present or Future tense. Only the following changes are made-

(i) ‘Says’ is changed into ‘tells’.

(ii) ‘Will say/ Shall Say’ changes into ‘Will tell/ Shall tell’

(iii) Conjunction ‘that’ is used.

(iv) Inverted commas are removed.

Examples-

John says “I like to freak out on weekends”

John says that he likes to freak out on weekends.

Sylvia says to Leonardo “We shall start our journey tomorrow at 4 o’ clock.”

Sylivia tells Leonardo that they will start their journey tomorrow at 4 o’ clock.

Joseph will say “I am not interested in this job”

Joseph will say that he is not interested in this job.

Marry will say to me “I have placed all the articles”

Marry will tell me that she has placed all the articles.



When the reporting verb is in the past tense i.e. said, was/were saying, had said etc. the following changes take place in the reporting speech:

i) ‘Said to’ is changed into ‘told’.

ii) Conjunction ‘that’ is used.

iii) Inverted commas are removed.

Direct Speech              Changes into                  Indirect Speech

Simple Present                                                      Simple Past

Subject +V1+ s/es                                                 Subject +V2

Present Continuous Tense                                      Past Continuous Tense

Subject + Is/Am/Are +V1+Ing                              Subject+Was/Were+V1+Ing


Present Perfect Tense                                              Past Perfect Tense

Subject+Has/Have +V3                                          Subject +Had +V3+

Present Perfect Continuous Tense                         Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Sub+Has/Have+Been +V1+Ing                            Sub+Had Been +V1+Ing

Past Simple Tense                                                  Past Perfect Tense

Subject+V2+---                                                      Subject +Had +V3

Past Continuous Tense                                          Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Subject+Was/Were +V1+Ing +                             Sub+Had Been+V1+Ing +---

Do/Does (Not)+V1                                                Did (Not)+V1

Did (Not)+V1                                                         Had (Not)+V3



Note: Past Perfect and Past Perfect continuous tense do not change.



Change of Pronoun

The way pronouns change in reported speech depends on the context and the relationship between the speaker, the listener, and the person or thing being referred to. Here are the general rules:

1. First-person pronouns (I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours):

• If the original speaker is the same as the reported speaker, the first-person pronouns remain unchanged.

            Example: "I will go tomorrow" becomes "He said he would go tomorrow."

 

• If the original speaker is different from the reported speaker, the first-person pronouns are changed to the appropriate third-person pronouns.

            Example: "I saw him yesterday" becomes "He said he saw him yesterday."

2. Second-person pronouns (you, your, yours):

• If the original listener is the same as the reported listener, the second-person pronouns remain unchanged.

            Example: "You should go" becomes "He told me I should go."

• If the original listener is different from the reported listener, the second-person pronouns are changed to the appropriate third-person pronouns.

            Example: "You should go" becomes "He told him he should go."

3. Third-person pronouns (he, she, it, they, him, her, them, his, hers, theirs):

• Third-person pronouns generally remain unchanged in reported speech.

            Example: "He is coming" becomes "She said he is coming."

4. Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those):

• Demonstrative pronouns may change depending on the context. If the reference is to something close to the original speaker, "this" or "these" may be changed to "that" or "those" in reported speech.

            Example: "This book is interesting" becomes "She said that book is interesting."

5. Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs):

• Possessive pronouns generally remain unchanged in reported speech.

            Example: "This is my book" becomes "He said this is his book."

(It's important to consider the specific context of each sentence when determining how pronouns should be changed in reported speech.)



Change in expressions of time and place (Adverb) words denoting nearness of time and place are changed into words denoting distance.



This Changes Into That

These Changes Into Those

Here Changes Into There

Now Changes Into Then

Today Changes Into That Day

Yesterday Changes Into The Previous Day

Tomorrow Changes Into The Next Day

Next Day Changes Into The Following Day

Ago Changes Into Before

Come Changes Into Go


The sentences with universal truths or historical facts or habitual facts don’t show any change in their tense and conjunction ‘that’ is used.

EXAMPLES:

Universal Truths:
Original: "The sun rises in the east."
Reported: "He said that the sun rises in the east."
Original: "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius."
Reported: "She told me that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius."

Historical Facts:
Original: "Columbus discovered America in 1492."
Reported: "The teacher said that Columbus discovered America in 1492."
Original: "The French Revolution happened in 1789."
Reported: "He told us that the French Revolution happened in 1789."

Habitual Facts:
Original: "I usually go for a walk in the park."
Reported: "She said that she usually goes for a walk in the park."
Original: "Birds fly."
Reported: "He told me that birds fly."

In these examples, the original tense (present simple) is retained in the reported speech because the statements are about facts that are generally true or happened in the past. The conjunction "that" is used to introduce the reported statement.

Note: While this is a common pattern, there may be exceptions depending on the context and the speaker's intention. Sometimes, the tense might change to reflect a shift in time or perspective.




Imperative Sentences in Indirect Speech

Imperative Sentences are commands or requests. When reporting an imperative sentence, we typically change the verb to the base form and introduce the reported statement with a verb like "tell," "ask," "order," or "advise."

Examples:

Original sentence: "Close the door."
Indirect speech: He told me to close the door.

Original sentence: "Don't touch the glass."
Indirect speech: She warned us not to touch the glass.

Original sentence: "Please help me."

Indirect speech: He asked me to help him.

Original sentence: "Let's go for a walk."

Indirect speech: She suggested going for a walk.

Similarly prohibit, order, command, enquired, replied, explained, begged, pleaded, warned, assured etc. are used in accordance with the tone of the sentence of reported speech. Thus, reporting verb of Imperative Sentence is converted according to the tone of reported speech:

Examples:

The police said to thief “Tell me the name of your partners or I will hang you”

The police threatened the thief to tell them the name of his partners or he would be hanged

The mother said to Marina “Do not mix up with bad girls”

Mother forbade Marina to mix up with bad girls.


Exclamatory Sentences

We have already learned about the exclamatory sentences in the chapter or Interjections. These exclamatory sentences from direct speech to indirect speech are changed in following ways-

Examples:

Philips “O Jesus! What a beautiful catch!”
Philips exclaimed with surprise that it was a beautiful catch.

"What a beautiful day!"
He exclaimed how beautiful the day was.

"How delicious this cake is!"
She exclaimed what a delicious cake it was.

“Wow! That was amazing!"
He exclaimed that it was amazing.

Paul “Alas! I lost the last chance also.”
Paul exclaimed with sorrow that he had lost the last chance also.

Shauna “eeu! Take this dirty napkin away.”
Shauna exclaimed with disgust and ordered the waiter to take that dirty napkin away.

Denny “Hurrah! We have won the jackpot.”
Denny exclaimed jubilantly that they had won the jackpot.

Varying the reporting verb: The choice of reporting verb can affect the tone and intensity of the reported exclamation. For example, "exclaimed" is a general term, while "cried out" suggests a stronger emotion.

Direct speech: Ouch! That hurts!"
Indirect speech: He cried out that it hurt.



Interrogative Reported Speech
Questions asked in direct speech are converted to indirect speech in the following ways-


● Questions beginning with helping verb are converted placing ‘if’ between reported verb and reported speech

Examples-

Catherine said to victor “Are you writing with this pen?"

Catherine asked victor if he was writing with that pen.

Ronald said to Margaret “Did you see today’s newspaper?”

Ronald asked Margaret if she had seen that day’s newspaper.

● Questions beginning with WH family are converted without placing any connecter between reported verb and reported speech but placing sub after WH family then the helping verb.

Examples-

Cathy said to Homer “Where have you kept my jewellery box?”

Cathy asked Homer where he had kept her jewellery box.

Churchill said to Edward “Why did you not support me in the meeting?”

Churchill asked Edward why he had not supported him in the meeting.

Mocha said to crimson “Why will Bill not attend our party?”

Mocha asked crimson why Bill would not attend their party.

Exercise

(a) Read the following dialogues and complete the paragraphs given below-

Rohit: I am going to Mangalore to attend a workshop on small entrepreneurs.

Ronnie: When will you go?

Rohit: I shall go on Monday.

Ronnie: Where will you stay?

Rohit : I will stay in a lodge provided by the organisation.

Ronnie: I also want to join you but I cannot take any leave this month. Guide me to start my own business when you come back.

Rohit: I’ll help you.

Ronnie: Thank you.



Rohit told Ronnie that (a)________________________________________________. Ronnie asked him (b)_______________________________________. Rohit replied that (c)________________________________________________________. Ronnie inquired (d)_______________________________________________________. Rohit replied that (e)_______________________________________________________. Ronnie told him (f)_______________________________________________________. Rohit assured him (g)____________________________________________________. Ronnie thanked him.



(b)

Visitor: Will you please tell me the availability of single room for two nights?

Receptionist: Well I check, Please wait.

Visitor: What is the tariff for the single room?

Receptionist: It costs Rs. 2000/-. Per day, shall I book one for you?

Visitor : Yes, please.

Receptionist : Do you want any wake up service?

Visitor: No, thanks, but make sure that my breakfast should reach at 9 o’clock.

Receptionist: Yes sir, we shall take care of it.

Visitor: Thank you.



A visitor went to a hotel receptionist and asked (a)____________________________ The receptionist requested(b)______________________________________ The visitor again inquired (c) ___________________________________________The receptionist told him (d)____________________________________________________________ and asked (e)_______________________________________________________ The visitor replied (f)____________________________________________ the receptionist inquired whether (g)______________________________________________. The visitor replied in negative and instructed that (h)________________________________________the receptionist assured the visitor that (i)__________________________________________. The visitor thanked the receptionist and went away taking the keys.