( 5) INDIRECT SPEECH
We can report what another person says in two ways:
§ By using
the exact words of the speaker.
Example:
– He said to me, “Be
careful!” This is the Direct Speech. We repeat the exact words used
by the speaker and keep the exact words within quotation marks.
§ By using
our own words to repeat what the speaker said.
Example – Direct: He said to me,
“Be careful!” Indirect: He told me to be careful. This is the Indirect or
Reported Speech. Notice that the past tense is used when the main
verb ‘said’ is in the past tense. Here we do not use the quotation marks. We
use an infinitive and we repeat the pronoun.
When we change Direct Speech into Indirect Speech, it is
sometimes necessary to:
¨ Change all
Present and Future Tenses in the Direct Speech into the Past Tenses in the
Indirect Speech when the main verb ‘said’ is in the Past Tense.
Example – Direct: “Write
carefully!” he said to me. Indirect: He told me to write
carefully.
¨ Change a
pronoun or a possessive adjective, and the tense of the verb to Past Tense.
Example – Direct: “Don’t drive
so fast when you pass my school,” he said to me. Indirect: He asked me not
to drive so fast when I passed his school.
¨ Use more than
one “speech” verb if the Direct Speech contains more than one sentence.
Example – Direct: “Don’t quarrel
with your sister,” my mother said. “Get on with your school homework.
”Indirect: My mother told me not to quarrel with my sister. She told/asked
me to get on with my school homework.
In most cases, we do not change the tense of the verbs in Direct
Speech when:
¨ The reporting
verb is in the Simple Present tense (he says), the Present Perfect tense (she
has told us) or the Simple Future tense (I will tell him).
Examples:
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Direct:
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Indirect:
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“I’m tired,” he says
every evening.
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Every evening he
says (that) he is tired.
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“They are late,” she
has already told us.
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She has already told
us (that) they are late.
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“I will tell him,
“The shop is shut.”
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I will tell him
(that) the shop is shut.
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¨ We
do not change the tense of verbs in Direct Speech if they make a statement
which is always true or if the action is still continuing and a change of tense
would give the wrong meaning.
Examples:
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Direct:
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Indirect:
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He told us, “The
world is round.”
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He told us that the
world is round.
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“My brother is
living in Australia.”
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She said that her
brother is living in Australia.
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The following changes are also made:
1.
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shall to should
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will to would
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may to might
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can to could
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has to had
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2.
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Pronouns and
Possessive AdjectivesThe pronoun is changed in person from first and second
to third.
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I
becomes he or she We becomes
they You becomes he, him, her or them
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3.
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Adjectives and
Adverbs:
We change:
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this
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to
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that
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these
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to
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those
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now
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to
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then
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today
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to
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that day
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last night
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to
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on the previous
night or the night before
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tomorrow
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to
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the next day or the
day after
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here
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to
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there
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yesterday
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to
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the previous day or
the day before
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thus
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to
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so; (in) that way
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