{"id":73722,"date":"2020-04-04T07:06:46","date_gmt":"2020-04-04T07:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/?p=73722"},"modified":"2020-04-04T07:06:46","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T07:06:46","slug":"direct-and-indirect-speech-basic-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/direct-and-indirect-speech-basic-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Direct And Indirect Speech Basic Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Rules for the change of tenses<\/h2>\n<p>When the reporting verb is in the past\u00a0tense, all present tenses within the inverted commas are changed into the corresponding past tenses.<\/p>\n<p>Simple present\u00a0will change into\u00a0simple past.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She said, &#8220;I\u00a0<b>am<\/b>\u00a0fine.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>She said that she<b>\u00a0was\u00a0<\/b>fine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Present continuous\u00a0will change into\u00a0past continuous tense.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She said, &#8220;I\u00a0<b>am\u00a0<\/b>going.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>She said that she<b>\u00a0was<\/b>\u00a0going.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Present perfect tense\u00a0will change into\u00a0past perfect tense.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She said, &#8220;I<b>\u00a0have<\/b>\u00a0finished.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>She said that she<b>\u00a0had\u00a0<\/b>finished.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Present perfect progressive\u00a0will change into\u00a0past perfect progressive.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She said, &#8220;I\u00a0<b>have been<\/b>\u00a0working.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>She said that she<b>\u00a0had been\u00a0<\/b>working.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Simple past will change into past perfect.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He said, &#8220;I\u00a0<b>wrote\u00a0<\/b>a letter.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>He said that he\u00a0<b>had written\u00a0<\/b>a letter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Past perfect will not change.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I said, &#8220;I\u00a0<b>had made\u00a0<\/b>a call.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>I said that I\u00a0<b>had made<\/b>\u00a0a call.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Points to be noted<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>1.\u00a0<\/b>The tenses may not change if the statement is still relevant or if it is a universal truth. We can often choose whether to keep the original tenses or change them.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He\u00a0<b>said<\/b>, &#8220;I<b>\u00a0know\u00a0<\/b>your address.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>He said that he\u00a0<b>knows\/knew<\/b>\u00a0her address.<\/li>\n<li>She\u00a0<b>said<\/b>, &#8220;English<b>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/b>easy to learn.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>She\u00a0<b>said\u00a0<\/b>that English\u00a0<b>is\/was<\/b>\u00a0easy to learn.<\/li>\n<li>He\u00a0<b>said<\/b>, &#8220;I\u00a0<b>have missed<\/b>\u00a0the train.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>He said that he\u00a0<b>has\/had missed\u00a0<\/b>the train.<\/li>\n<li>The teacher\u00a0<b>said<\/b>, &#8220;The Earth\u00a0<b>goes<\/b>\u00a0round the Sun.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>The teacher\u00a0<b>said\u00a0<\/b>that the Earth\u00a0<b>goes\/went\u00a0<\/b>round the Sun.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>2.\u00a0<\/b>After\u00a0<b>present, future\u00a0<\/b>and\u00a0<b>present perfect<\/b>\u00a0reporting verbs, tenses are usually the same as in the original.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He\u00a0<b>says<\/b>, \u201cI\u00a0<b>don\u2019t\u00a0<\/b>want to play any more.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>He\u00a0<b>says<\/b>\u00a0that he\u00a0<b>doesn\u2019t\u00a0<\/b>want to play any more.<\/li>\n<li>I\u00a0<b>will<\/b>\u00a0tell her, \u201cYour idea\u00a0<b>is\u00a0<\/b>great.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>I will tell her your idea\u00a0<b>is<\/b>\u00a0great.<\/li>\n<li>The government\u00a0<b>has announced,\u00a0<\/b>\u201cTaxes\u00a0<b>will be\u00a0<\/b>raised.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The government has announced that taxes\u00a0<b>will be\u00a0<\/b>raised.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Modal verbs in indirect speech<\/h3>\n<p>The modals\u00a0<b>will, shall, can\u00a0<\/b>and\u00a0<b>may\u00a0<\/b>change to their corresponding past tense forms in indirect speech.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He said, &#8220;I\u00a0<b>can<\/b>\u00a0swim.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>He said that he\u00a0<b>could\u00a0<\/b>swim.<\/li>\n<li>I said, &#8220;I\u00a0<b>will\u00a0<\/b>probably be late.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>I said that I\u00a0<b>would\u00a0<\/b>probably be late.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The modals\u00a0<b>would, should, could, might, ought\u00a0<\/b>and\u00a0<b>must\u00a0<\/b>are normally unchanged after past reporting verbs in indirect speech. This is also true of modal\u00a0<b>need\u00a0<\/b>and\u00a0<b>had better.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He said, \u201cIt\u00a0<b>would\u00a0<\/b>be nice if I\u00a0<b>could\u00a0<\/b>see you again.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>He said that it\u00a0<b>would\u00a0<\/b>be nice if he\u00a0<b>could\u00a0<\/b>see me again.<\/li>\n<li>She said, \u201cIt must be pretty late. I really\u00a0<b>must\u00a0<\/b>go.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>She said that it must be pretty late and she really\u00a0<b>must\u00a0<\/b>go.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>First person\u00a0<b>shall<\/b>\u00a0and conditional\u00a0<b>should\u00a0<\/b>may be reported as\u00a0<b>would\u00a0<\/b>in indirect speech (because of the change of person).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They said, \u201c<b>We shall\/should\u00a0<\/b>be delighted to come.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>They said that\u00a0<b>they would\u00a0<\/b>be delighted to come.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Rules For The Change Of Pronouns<\/h2>\n<p>A change in speaker may mean a change of\u00a0pronoun.<\/p>\n<p>Compare:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alice: \u201c<strong>I\u00a0<\/strong>am going home.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Mary: Alice said that\u00a0<strong>she<\/strong>\u00a0was going home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the example given above, Alice says\u00a0<strong>I\u00a0<\/strong>to refer to herself. Mary, talking about what Alice said, naturally uses\u00a0<strong>she<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bill said that\u00a0<strong>he\u00a0<\/strong>didn\u2019t like the party. (NOT Bill said that I didn\u2019t like the party.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Rules for the change of Pronouns<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>First person pronouns(I, we, me, mine, us, ours) normally change to the\u00a0third person\u00a0(he, she, they, his, her, their, him, her, them).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>He told her, \u201c<strong>I\u00a0<\/strong>want to meet\u00a0<strong>your\u00a0<\/strong>father.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>He told her that\u00a0<strong>he\u00a0<\/strong>wanted to meet\u00a0<strong>her\u00a0<\/strong>father.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>There will be no change in the pronoun when the speaker reports his own words.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>I said, \u201c<strong>I\u00a0<\/strong>am going.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>I said that\u00a0<strong>I\u00a0<\/strong>was going.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>Second person pronouns (you, yours) change according to the person of the object of the\u00a0reporting verb.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>He told\u00a0<strong>her,\u00a0<\/strong>\u201c<strong>I\u00a0<\/strong>love\u00a0<strong>you.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>He told her that\u00a0<strong>he<\/strong>\u00a0loved\u00a0<strong>her.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>I told\u00a0<strong>him<\/strong>, \u201c<strong>You<\/strong>\u00a0are a stupid.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>I told him that\u00a0<strong>he\u00a0<\/strong>was a stupid.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>Third person pronouns do not normally change in the\u00a0reported speech.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li>She said, \u201c<strong>I\u00a0<\/strong>love\u00a0<strong>him.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>She said that\u00a0<strong>she<\/strong>\u00a0loved\u00a0<strong>him.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Rules for the change of adverbs<\/h2>\n<p>Words showing nearness in direct speech are normally changed into words showing distance in indirect speech. The most common changes are given below.<\/p>\n<p><b>Now\/just\u00a0<\/b>changes to\u00a0<b>then<\/b><br \/>\n<b>Come\u00a0<\/b>sometimes changes to\u00a0<b>go<\/b><br \/>\n<b>Today\u00a0<\/b>changes to\u00a0<b>that day\/the same day<\/b><br \/>\n<b>Tomorrow\u00a0<\/b>changes to\u00a0<b>the next day\/the following day<\/b><br \/>\n<b>Yesterday\u00a0<\/b>changes to\u00a0<b>the day before\/the previous day<\/b><br \/>\n<b>Next week\/month\/year\u00a0<\/b>changes to\u00a0<b>the following week\/month\/year<\/b><br \/>\n<b>Last week\/month\/year\u00a0<\/b>changes to\u00a0<b>the previous week\/month\/year<\/b><br \/>\n<b>Ago<\/b>\u00a0changes to\u00a0<b>before<\/b><br \/>\n<b>This<\/b>\u00a0sometimes changes to\u00a0<b>that<\/b><br \/>\n<b>Here\u00a0<\/b>changes to\u00a0<b>there<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Examples are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He said, &#8220;I won&#8217;t answer your question\u00a0<b>now<\/b>.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>He said that he wouldn&#8217;t answer my question\u00a0<b>then.<\/b><\/li>\n<li>He told her, &#8220;I want to leave for Delhi\u00a0<b>tonight.<\/b>&#8220;<\/li>\n<li>He told her that he wanted to leave for Delhi\u00a0<b>that night.<\/b><\/li>\n<li>He said, &#8220;I will come\u00a0<b>tomorrow.<\/b>\u201d<\/li>\n<li>He said that he would come\u00a0<b>the next day.<\/b><\/li>\n<li>She said, &#8220;I will see you\u00a0<b>here tomorrow<\/b>.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>She said that she would see me\u00a0<b>there the next day.<\/b><\/li>\n<li>&#8220;I have an appointment\u00a0<b>next week,<\/b>&#8221; she said.<\/li>\n<li>She said that she had an appointment\u00a0<b>the following week.<\/b><\/li>\n<li>&#8220;I was on holiday\u00a0<b>last week,<\/b>&#8221; he told us.<\/li>\n<li>He told us that he had been on holiday\u00a0<b>the previous week.<\/b><\/li>\n<li>&#8220;John called 10 minutes\u00a0<b>ago,<\/b>&#8221; she told me.<\/li>\n<li>She told me that John had called 10 minutes\u00a0<b>before.<\/b><\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Do you like\u00a0<b>this\u00a0<\/b>shirt?&#8221; she asked.<\/li>\n<li>She asked if I liked\u00a0<b>that\u00a0<\/b>shirt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rules for the change of tenses When the reporting verb is in the past\u00a0tense, all present tenses within the inverted commas are changed into the corresponding past tenses. Simple present\u00a0will change into\u00a0simple past. She&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[251],"tags":[2482,2479,34,2481,2480,288],"class_list":["post-73722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar","tag-convert-into-indirect-speech","tag-direct-and-indirect-speech","tag-direct-speech","tag-how-to-change-into-reported-speech","tag-indirect-speech","tag-reported-speech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73722"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73723,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73722\/revisions\/73723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}