Reported Speech: The Transformation of Tense, Pronouns, and Time
Imagine Direct Speech as a fresh news report and Indirect Speech as a historical account. As time passes and the story is retold, certain elements shift and change. This lesson will guide you through those transformations.
Tense Shift (Backshift):
The general rule is to move the verb tense one step back in time. Here’s how:
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
| Present Simple | Past Simple |
| Present Continuous | Past Continuous |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect |
| Past Simple | Past Perfect |
| Future Simple (will) | Would |
Examples:
- Direct: “I am happy.” -> Indirect: She said that she was happy.
- Direct: “We are going to the party.” -> Indirect: They said they were going to the party.
- Direct: “I have finished my work.” -> Indirect: He said that he had finished his work.
Pronoun Changes:
Pronouns often change to reflect the perspective of the person reporting the speech.
- First-person pronouns: (I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours) usually change to third-person pronouns (he, him, his, she, her, hers, they, them, their, theirs) or to the appropriate pronoun based on the context.
- Second-person pronouns: (you, your, yours) usually change to the appropriate pronoun based on the context.
Examples:
- Direct: “I am tired.” -> Indirect: She said that she was tired.
- Direct: “We are going home.” -> Indirect: They said that they were going home.
Time Word Changes:
Time words often shift to reflect the time when the speech is being reported.
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
| Today | That day |
| Yesterday | The day before/the previous day |
| Tomorrow | The next day/the following day |
| Now | Then |
| Here | There |
| This | That |
| These | Those |
Examples:
- Direct: “I will see you tomorrow.” -> Indirect: He said he would see me the next day.
- Direct: “I saw her here yesterday.” -> Indirect: He said he had seen her there the day before.
Let’s Practice!
Change to Indirect Speech: Convert the following sentences into indirect speech.
- “I love ice cream,” she said.
- “We are studying for the test,” they told me.
- “Have you been to Paris?” he asked.
- “I will visit you next week,” she promised.
Correct the Errors: Identify and correct the errors in the following indirect speech sentences.
- He said me he was hungry.
- She told that she would call me tomorrow.
- They asked if I was going to the party yesterday.
Remember:
Practice is key to mastering the changes in tense, pronouns, and time words when converting direct speech to indirect speech. The more you practice, the more natural it will become!
