Reported Speech

If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker's exact words (direct speech), but reported or indirec...

If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker's exact words (direct speech), but reported or indirect speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech. The structure is a little different depending on whether you want to transform a statement, question or request.

Statements

When transforming statemens, check whether you have to change pronouns, tenses or place and time expressions.

Pronouns

In reported speech you often have to change the pronoun depending on who says what:

She said, "my mum doesn't have time today".

She said that her mum didn't have time thatday.

Tenses

In reported speech you must change the tense if the introductory clause is in simple past. This is called backshift, that is, a step back in time.

He said, "I'm happy".

He said that he was happy.

Place and time expressions

For place and time expressions you have to check whether place ab`nd time are the same in direct or indirect speech or not. If there are the same there is no change from direct to indirect speech. However, if they are different a change or referent must occur. You will find ways of transforming place or time expressions in the following table:

She said, "I saw Mary here today".

She said that she had seen Mary there that day.

Questions

The same as for statements applies for questions. Also note that you have to transform the questions into an indirect question and use the interrogative pronoun (for wh- questions) or if/whether (for yes/no questions).

He asked, "where does she live?"

He asked where she lived.