Reported Speech / Indirect speech is a language pattern used to report to someone of what another person has said or thought.
In reported speech, we do not do direct quoting. Our major concern here is to convey the intended message to a third party.
Direct speech is the language pattern in which we always report the original and exact words of the speaker within quotation marks. Therefore, it can be often seen in written language.
We see that Direct Speech is very much used in recording conversations in books or plays.
The following are from the short story; “The Old Man at the Bridge” by Earnest Hemingway.
On the other hand, indirect speech is reporting what someone said without quoting his exact words. So we don’t use quotation marks there. What is important here is conveying the meaning to the listener.
Indirect speech is often used when you report verbally in conversations. Check this comment made by Larry’s friend in a conversation with Larry.
Indirect Speech is also often used when you write newspaper articles / reports.
Let’s discuss with an example.
There are instances where you do not change the tense of the original sentence.
Let’s understand with an example.
Marry says, “I’m trying to call my mother right now.”
Situation 01- Reported Speech – (When you are reporting at the same time)
You probably will have to change the tense if you are reporting the words of a speaker at a later time.
Marry said, “I’m trying to call my mother right now.”
Situation 02- Reported Speech – (When you are reporting at a later time)
This process is subject to certain rules.
What are the accepted patterns in changing the tense of the original sentence of the speaker when we report?
| Tense of the original sentence | Change to (tense) |
|---|---|
| Simple Present Tense | Simple Past Tense |
| Present Continuous Tense | Past Continuous Tense |
| Present Perfect Tense | Past Perfect Tense |
| Present Perfect Continuous Tense | Past Perfect Continuous Tense |
| Simple Past Tense | Past Perfect Tense |
| Past Continuous Tense | Past Perfect Continuous Tense |
| Future “Will” | Conditional “Would” |
| Future “going to” | was /were going to |
| Future Continuous Tense | Conditional Continuous Tense |
However, in practice there are certain exceptions like we usually do not change Past Continuous Tense when you report.
Let’s check the change of verb according to the tense as detailed above.
| verb of the original sentence | Change to (verb) |
|---|---|
| am is |
was |
| are | were |
| Action verbs :- | |
| write | wrote |
| is writing | was writing |
| has written | had written |
| has been writing | had been writing |
| Verb “be” “:- | |
| was were |
had been |
| Action verbs :- | |
| wrote | had written |
| was writing | had been writing |
| Verb “be” “:- | |
| will be | would be |
| Action verbs :- | |
| will write | would write |
| will be writing | would be writing |
Mala says, “I’m trying to call him” (Reporting at the same time)
Mala says she is trying to call him. (Tense does not change)
“I want to go home” she said. (Simple Present Tense)
She said that she wanted to go home. (Simple Past Tense)
She said, “I am thinking about it”. (Present Continuous Tense)
She said that she was thinking about it. (Past Continuous Tense)
“I have learnt it before,” I explained. (Present Perfect Tense)
I explained that I had learnt it before. (Past Perfect Tense)
He said, “I have been teaching English for many years” (Present perfect Continuous Tense)
He said that he had been teaching English for many years. (Past perfect Continuous Tense)
He said, “I was reading a book when it started raining”. (Past Continuous Tense & Simple Past Tense)
He said that he had been reading a book when it had started raining. (Past Perfect Continuous Tense & Past perfect Tense)
He said, “I will be there tomorrow”. (Simple Future Tense)
He said that he would be there tomorrow. (Conditional Future)
She said, “I’m going to complete the book by next week.” (Future– going to)
She said that she was going to complete the book by the following week. (was/were + going to)
He informed, “Ro will be doing the presentation on the 7th” (Future Continuous Tense)
He informed that Ro would be doing the presentation on the 7th. (Conditional Continuous Tense)
You may choose the most suitable verb according to the situation.
The most popular reporting verbs are “said’ and ‘told”
When we don’t know to whom it was told (Indirect object), we may use the verb “say / said”
When we know to whom it was told (Indirect object), we may use the verb “tell/ told”
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