Indirect speech or Reported speech is just a way of expressing your intent in questions, statements or other phrases, without essentially quoting them outrightly as the way it is done in indirect speech.
Reported Speech Rules
To understand Reported Speech Grammar and Reported Verbs, you need to first understand reported speech rules and how it works. Here are some types of reported speech:
Reported Statements
Reported speech is used when someone says a sentence, like, “I’m going to the movie tonight”. Later, we want to tell a 3rd person what the first person is doing.
It works like this:
We use a reporting verb i.e ‘say’ or ‘tell’. In the present tense, just put in ‘he says.
Direct Speech: I like burgers.
Reported Speech: He says (that) he likes burgers.
You don’t need to change the tense, but you do need to switch the ‘person’ from ‘I’ to ‘he’. You also need to change words like ‘my’ and ‘your’.
But, in case the reporting verb is in the past tense, then change the tenses in the reported speech itself.
Reported Questions
Reported questions to go like
Direct Speech: Where do you reside?
We make the change to reported speech by-
It is similar to reported statements. The tense changes are exact, and we keep the question’s word. But we need to change the grammar of that normal sentence into positive. For eg:
Direct Speech: Where do you reside?
Reported Speech: He asked me where I resided.
The direct speech question is in the present simple tense. We make a present simple question with ‘do’ or ‘does’. For that, I need to take that away. Then change the verb to the past simple.
Direct Speech: Where is Jolly?
Reported Speech: He asked me where Jolly was.
The direct question is the present simple of ‘be’. We change the question form of the present simple of being by changing the position of the subject and the verb. So, change them back before putting the verb into the past simple.
Here Are Some More Examples
Reported Requests
The reported speech goes a long way. What if a person asks you to do something politely or make a request? It’s called a reported request. For example
Direct Speech: Close the door, please / Could you close the door please? / Would you mind closing the door, please?
All these requests mean the same, so we don’t need to report every word there when we tell a 3rd person about it.
We can simply use ‘ask me + to + infinitive’:
Reported Speech: They asked me to close the door.
Direct Speech: Please be punctual.
Reported Speech: They asked us to be punctual.
Reported Orders
And lastly, how about when someone doesn’t ask that politely? This is known as an ‘order’ in English, which is when someone tells you to do something pretty much directly. This is called a reported order. For example
Direct Speech: Stand up right now!
We make this into a reported speech in the same way as that for a request. Just use ‘tell’ rather than ‘ask’:
Reported Speech: She told me to stand up right now.
Direct Order |
Reported Order |
Go to sleep! |
He told the child to go to sleep |
Stop worrying! |
He told her to stop worrying |
Be punctual! |
He told me to be punctual. |
Don’t move! |
He told us not to move. |
Time Expressions within the Ambit of Reported Speech
Sometimes when we want to change the direct speech into reported speech, we will have to change the time expressions too. We don’t necessarily always have to do that. However, It depends on when we heard the speech in indirect form and when we said the speech in reported form.
For Example,
It’s Sunday. Kiran Ma’am says “I’m leaving today”.
If You tell someone on Sunday, You will say “Kiran Ma’am said she was leaving today”.
If you tell someone on Tuesday, You will say “Kiran Ma’am said she was leaving yesterday”.
If you tell someone on Friday, you will say “Kiran Ma’am said she was leaving on Sunday “.
If you tell someone a month later, you will say “Kiran Ma’am said she was leaving that day”.
So, technically there’s no easy way to convert. You need to put in real effort and have to think about it when the direct speech is said.
Here’s a Table of How Some Conversions can be Made
now can be converted to then / at that time
today can be converted to yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27th of June
yesterday can be converted to the day before yesterday / the day before / Wednesday / the 5th of December
last night can be converted to the night before, Thursday night
last week can be converted to the week before / the previous week
tomorrow can be converted to today / the next day / the following day / Friday
Now Let us Check our Understanding Through this Table
Tense |
Direct Speech |
Reported Speech |
present simple |
I like Burger |
She said (that) she liked Burger |
present continuous |
I am living in Australia |
She said (that) she was living in Australia |
past simple |
I bought a new house |
She said (that) she had bought a new house OR She said (that) she bought a new house |
past continuous |
My mom was watching a movie |
She said (that) her mom had been watching a movie |
present perfect |
I haven’t seen Ram |
She said (that) she hadn’t seen Ram. |
will |
I will travel to Delhi |
She said (that) she would travel to Delhi. |
would* |
I would suggest, but..” |
She said (that) she would suggest but… |
can |
I can play cricket. |
She said (that) she could play cricket |
could* |
I could go the wedding |
She said (that) she could go to the wedding |
shall |
I shall come later |
She said (that) she would come later. |
should* |
I should talk to her |
She said (that) she should talk to her |
might* |
I might be coming late |
She said (that) she might be coming late |
must |
I must attend the party |
She said (that) she must attend the party She said she had to attend the party |
This is all about reported speech. English grammar is a tricky thing given both the rules and practice. Reading these rules solely will not help you to get a strong grasp of them. You also have to practice reported speech sentences in practical life to know how and when they can be used.