Reported Speech

Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct speech: actual spoken words written between speech marks he says/
tells/asks.
Indirect Speech: it is a speech reported by another person, it is introduced by a verb called
the reporting verb such as: tell, say, ask, answeretc. Example: John said that he was tired.
1/ AFFIRMATIVE FORM:

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH RULE

I write the lesson, he said.
I wrote the lesson, he said
I have written the lesson, he said.
I had written the lesson, he said
I have been writing the lesson, he said.
I am writing the lesson he said.
I was writing the lesson, he said.
I will write the lesson, he said.
I will have written the lesson, he said.
Write the lesson, he said.
I must write the lesson, he said.
He said that he wrote the lesson
He said that he had written the lesson.
He said that he had written his lesson.
He said that he had written his lesson.
He said that he had been writing the lesson.
He said that he was writing the lesson.
He said that he had been writing the lesson.
He said that he would write the lesson.
He said that he would have written the
lesson.
He asked me to write the lesson.
He said that he had to write the lesson.
Present simple : past simple
Past simple: past perfect
Present perfect: past perfect
Past perfect: past perfect
Present perfect continuous:
past perfect continuous
Present continuous: past
continuous
Past continuous: past perfect
continuous
Future simple: conditional
(would + stem)
Future perfect: conditional
perfect (would + have+ pp)
Imperative: infinitive ( to +
stem)
Modals:
Shall: should
Must/have to: had to
May: might
Can: could

Remark: Adverbs of Time and Place As Well As Other Changes:

Today: That Day
Yesterday: The Day Before/ The Previous Day
Tomorrow: The Day After/ The Following Day
Last Week: The Week Before/ The Previous Week
Next Week: The Week After/ The Following Week
Ago: Before
Now: At That Time/ At That Moment/ Then
Here: There
This: That
These: Those
 2/ NEGATIVE FORM:
DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH RULES
I am not happy, he said. He said that he was not happy. Do/does+ not+ stem: did +not
I was not happy, he said. He said that he had not been happy. +stem.

I do not write the lesson, he said. He said that he did not write the lesson. Did+ not+ stem: had+ not+
I did not write the lesson, he said. He said that he had not written the lesson. past participle

Do not write the lesson, he said. He told me not to write the lesson. Can+ not+ stem: could+ not+
I cannot write the lesson, he said. He said that he could not write the lesson. stem

3/ INTERROGATIVE FORM:
A/ YES/NO QUESTIONS:
DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH
Are you a pupil? he asked me. He asked me if I was a pupil.
Do you write the lesson? he asked me. He asked me if I wrote the lesson.
Did you write the lesson? he asked me. He asked me if I had written the lesson.
Are you writing the lesson? he asked me. Ha asked me whether I was writing the lesson.
Have you written the lesson? he asked me. He asked me whether I had written the lesson.
Can you write the lesson? the teacher asked me. The teacher asked me if I could write the lesson.
Remark: the reported clause for yes/ no questions is introduced by: if or whether
instead of that
B/ W-H QUESTIONS:
DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH RULES
Where is your book? he asked me. He asked me where my book was. Wh word + verb+ subject+..
How are you? he asked me. He asked me how I was. Reporting verb+ Wh word+ s+ v+
What do you say? he asked me. He asked me what I said.
What did you say? he asked me. He asked me what I had said.
What are you saying? he asked me. He asked me what I was saying.
What can you say? he asked me. He asked me what I could say.

Remark:

1) Reporting verbs: asked, ordered, said, wanted to know, answered.etc

2) If the reporting verb of the direct speech is in the present simple tense or the future
tense, the tenses of the verbs does not change from direct to indirect speech.
Example: I am sorry he says: he says that he is sorry.
OTHER NECESSARY CHANGES
I : he/ she Me: him/ her My: his/her Mine: his/hers
You: I/ we You: me/ us Your: my/our Yours: mine/ours
He/ she: he/ she Him/her: him/her His/her: his/her His/hers: his/hers
We: they Us: them Our: their Ours: theirs
They: they Them: them Their: their Theirs: theirs
 Practice Name:

Class:

Exercise 01: Report the followings:

1- I have seen a film, john said.

John said ..
2- My father has read the newspaper, she told me.
She told me..
3- I am listening to music now, Peter told her.
Peter told her.
4- We are working very hard they said.
They said..
5- You are tired today, the teacher told me.
The teacher told me.
6- Open your book and read this text, he ordered me.
He ordered me ..
7- I played football yesterday, he told us.
He told us..
8- I must finish the work today, Jane said.
Jane said..
9- Everybody is here, he said.
He said.
10- I was watching TV when she called me, he said.
He said.
11- Stop smoking, she ordered me.
She ordered me..
12- I may go to Canada one day, he said.
He said..
13- I visited London last year, Betty said.
Betty said.

Exercise 02: report the followings:

1- I cannot work today he said.

He said..
2- I will not stay here she told us.
She told us.
3- You did not revise your lessons this is why you have bad marks the teacher told me.
The teacher told me..
4- I did not travel last week he said.
He said..
5- Do not do it she asked her.
She asked her .
6- I am not ready to go out Ann says.
Ann says
7- I have not understood this lesson the pupil said.
The pupil said
8- Do you say the truth? john asked him.
John asked him..
9- Can Algeria solve its problems? the journalist asked.
The journalist asked..
10- Did you hear this noise? she asked him.
She asked him.
11- Is it raining heavily? she wanted to know.
She wanted to know..
12- Where shall we meet? he asked her.
He asked her
13- Which book did you read? she asked them.
She asked them..

Exercise03: change the following conversation into a prose passage:

One Sunday evening two men met in London pub. One of them looked very sad and
bored. He said: life is terrible; everything in the world is really boring. The other
man told him: do not say that, life is marvelous and the world is so exiting, you
should travel to new places. The bored man replied: I traveled to many places and
I did not enjoy anything.

One Sunday evening two men met in London pub. One of them looked very sad and
bored. He said ...