3. The Rules of Changing Direct Into Indirect Speech
There are some changes in indirect speech such as tenses, pronouns, possessive adjective, adverb, and adverbial phrases of time. Normally, these
changes are in the statements, commandrequest, and question. The following are the sequence changes or formulations of indirect
speech; a.
Change all pronouns to agree with the new sentence. All pronouns are changed to show the correct relationship between
the original information and the reported information. Usually, the first pronoun is changed into the third pronoun. Third person pronouns must
show clearly whom they refer to
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. Example;
Mary said, “I watch TV every day.” Direct Mary said that she watched TV every day. Indirect
Word I is changed by she, because the speaker is Mary
b. Change the verb tenses if the reporting verbs are in the past.
When the verb in the main clause is in the past, the verb in the noun clause is often shifted to one of the past tenses
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. We don’t normally
use the same tenses as someone’s original speech, because we are not talking in the same time as the speaker was.
Table 2.1 The changes of tenses
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Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Simple present „I never eat meat,‟ he explained.
Simple past He explained that he never ate meat.
Present continuous „I‟m waiting for Ann,‟ he said.
Past continuous He said that he was waiting for Ann.
Present perfect Past perfect
13
Stone, Cambridge Proficiency …, p. 131.
14
Werner, Mosaic 2 …, p. 212.
15
Thomson, A Practical English …, p. 270.
„I have found a flat,‟ he said He said that he had found a flat.
Present perfect continuous He said, „I‟ve been waiting for ages.‟
Past perfect continuous He said he had been waiting for ages.
Simple past „I took it home with me,‟ she said.
Past perfect She said she had taken it home with
her. Future
He said, „I willshall be in Paris on Monday.‟
Conditional He said he would be in Paris on
Monday. Future continuous
„I willshall be using the car myself on the 24
th
,‟ she said Conditional continuous
She said she‟d be using the car herself on the 24
th
. But note, Conditional
I said, „I wouldshould like to see it.‟ Conditional
I said I wouldshould like to see it. no tense change
If you are reporting something and you fell that it is true, you do not need to change tense of the verb.
Tom said, “New York is bigger than London.” Direct Tom said that New York is or was bigger than London. Indirect
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If the reporting verbs of direct speech are in the present, present per
fect, and future tense, it doesn’t make any changes in noun clause, or the tense used are usually same as the speaker’s exact words. When the
reporting verb is simple present, present perfect, or future, the noun clause verb is not changed
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. She says, “I watch TV every day.” Direct
She says that she watches TV every day. Indirect
16
Raymond Murphy, English Grammar In Use: A Self-study Reference and Practice Book for Intermediate Students, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986, with answers
ed., p. 96.
17
Azar, Understanding …, p. 254.
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