REPORTED SPEECH

Grade 9

What do you understand by the term reporting?

Can you think of some situations where you have

reported about something or someone?

Give examples of certain social structures

which rely on reporting.
Reported speech is when we tell someone what another
person said.

To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.

Direct speech:
1.'I work in a bank,' said Daniel.
2. Priya said, “I am very busy now.”
These sentences give the exact words of the speaker and are called Direct Speech.

Indirect speech:
1. Daniel said that he worked in a bank.
2. Priya said that she was very busy then.

These sentences give a report (by someone other than the speaker) and are
called Indirect or Reported Speech.
 Structure:
They Said, “We are going to the cinema.”
They said that they were going to the
cinema.
• Direct Speech: • Indirect Speech:
 The exact words of the speaker have been  In the Indirect speech, no inverted commas are
used. used.
 The words quoted have been put within  The conjunctions that, if, whether, are generally
Quotation Marks or Inverted Commas. used after the reporting verb.
 The first letter of the quotation begins  The first word of the reported speech begins
with a capital letter. with a capital letter.
 There is always a comma or a colon after  The tense of the reporting verb is never
'said’ that introduces the spoken words. changed.
 The reporting verb changes according to sense:
it may be told, asked, inquired, etc.
Identify the following statements as Direct speech
or Reported speech:
i. We lived in China for five years. ------------------

ii. The teacher said that the First World War started in 1914. ----------------

iii. Maya said to Deepti, “Have you ever been to Agra?”----------------------

iv. Paul said that he had tried everything without success, but the new medicine was
great. ----------------------

v. She said “God is omnipresent.” -----------------------

vi. She told me she was planning to complete the design that day. -----------------
Rules for changing Direct Speech to Indirect Speech:
1.Change in Tenses
a. If the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, the tense of the
reported speech is not changed.
Example: Renu says, “I am flying a kite.”
Renu says that she is flying a kite.

Satish will say, “I want a glass of milk.”

Satish will say that he wants a glass of milk.
b. If the reporting verb is in past tense, then the tense of the reported speech
will change as follows:

Phrase in Direct Speech Equivalent in Indirect Speech

Simple Present Simple Past

She said, “I always drink coffee.” She said that she always drank coffee.

Present Continuous Past Continuous

He explained, “I am reading a book.” He explained that he was reading a book.

Present Perfect Past Perfect

He said, “I have passed the exam.” He said that he had passed the exam.

Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous

He said, “I have been standing here for He said that he had been standing there for
hours.” hours.
 Phrase in Direct Speech Equivalent in Indirect Speech
Simple Past Past Perfect
Karen said, “Bill arrived on Sunday.” Karen said that Bill had arrived on Sunday.
Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
They told me, “We were living in Paris.” They told me that they had been living in Paris.
Past Perfect Past Perfect (No change)
“I had just turned out the light,” he explained. He explained that he had just turned out the
light.
Past Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous (No change)

They complained, “We had been waiting for They complained that they had been waiting
hours.” for hours.
Future Simple Present Conditional
“I will be in Rome on Monday,” he said. He said that he would be in Rome on Monday.
Future Continuous Conditional Continuous
She said, “I’ll be using the car tomorrow.” She said that she would be using the car the
next day.
c. The modal verbs (might, could, would, should, ought to) do not
change in reported speech:

We explained, "It could be difficult to find our house."

We explained that it could be difficult to find our house.

She said, "I might bring a friend to the party."

She said that she might bring a friend to the party.

d. For universal truths expressed in indirect statements, the tense

remains unchanged.

The teacher said to us, “The earth revolves around the sun.”
The teacher told us that the earth revolves around the sun.
 2. Rules for change in Person/Pronouns:

a. The first person pronouns (I, me, my, we, us, our) in the reported speech
change according to the subject of the reporting verb. Pronouns of the first
person in the Direct Speech are changed to the same person as the subject of
the reporting verb.
He said, “I am faithful.” He said that he was faithful.

He said to me, “I liked the article on inner peace in the magazine.”

He told me that he had liked the article on inner peace in the magazine.
b. The pronouns of the second person (you, your, yourself) in the reported speech
change according to the object of the reporting verb.
She said to him, “You are intelligent.”
She said to him that he was intelligent.

Riya said to me, “You are late for the party.”

Riya said to me that I was late for the party.

c. The pronouns of the third person do not change.

They said, “He will come. They said that he would come.

You said, “They are waiting for the bus.”

You said that they were waiting for the bus.
Change of Words
Words indicating nearness of time or place in the Direct Speech are changed into
those indicating distance when converted into Indirect Speech.
Direct Speech Indirect/Reported Speech Direct Speech Reported Speech
now then can could
here there may might
ago before shall Would/should
thus so will would
today that day
tomorrow the next day
yesterday the day before
last night the night before
this that
these those
hence thence
hither thither
just then
Rules for changing Interrogative (questions) from Direct Speech to Indirect Speech:
1. The Reporting verb say is changed into ‘ask’ or ‘inquire.’
I said to him, “Where are you going?”
I asked him where he was going.

2. The interrogative sentence is changed into a statement by placing the subject

before the verb.
Firoz said to Diya, “When are you leaving?”
Firoz asked Diya when she was leaving.

He said to me, “How is your father?”

He asked me how my father was.
3. There are two types of questions that we can report-
i.) Questions that have a yes/no response
ii.) Questions that begin with a question word like, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘who’, etc.

i.) When we report a yes/no question, if or whether is used as a conjunction:

She said, “Do they live here?” She asked if they lived there.

Sam said to Dev, “Have you ever been to Agra?”

Sam asked Dev if he had ever been to Agra.

ii.) For questions starting with question words like ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’,
‘who’, etc., we report the question using the question word but change the
interrogative form to the affirmative form.
Neena said to me, “Where do they live?”
Neena asked me where they lived.

He said to Niyati, “Where are you going?”

He asked Niyati where she was going.
4. The auxiliaries like do, does, did in a question are dropped and the
conjunction ‘that’ is not used after the reporting clause.

I said to him, “Did you enjoy the movie?”

I asked him if he had enjoyed the movie.
Rules for changing Imperative Statements from direct to indirect speech:

1. Reporting Orders or Commands:

i.) To report an order we use tell, order, command, allow as the reporting verb and the
infinitive of the verb. In case of negative sentences, the auxiliary ‘do’ is dropped and ‘to’ is
placed after ‘not’, followed by the infinitive form of verb.
Examples:
 Father said to me, “Go home at once.”
Father ordered me to go home at once.
 The teacher said “Students, don’t close your books.”
The teacher told the students not to close their books
 The policeman said “Don’t move your car.”
The policeman commanded us not to move our car.
Note: The base form of the verb is called infinitive. It’s the form of verb without(s, es, ies, ed
and d). Such verbs may be used in conjunction to ‘to’ or without to.
Examples: Watch, see, swim, write, teach, play, pray, fix etc.
2. Reporting Requests:
When you make a request, you normally use words like ‘can’, ‘could’, or ‘will’. To report a
request, we use the verb request or ‘to ask’ and the infinitive form of the verb. For
reporting advice or suggestion, we use the reporting verb ‘advised’ or ‘suggested’. In case
of negative sentences, ‘to’ is placed after ‘not’, followed by the infinitive form of verb.
Examples:
 He said to his teacher, “Sir, kindly excuse me now.”
He requested his teacher to excuse him then.
 Sam said to me. “Lend me your pen.”
Sam requested me to lend him my pen.
 She said, “Can you not do that please?”
She asked us not to do that.
 I said to him, “Respect those who respect you.”
I advised him to respect those who respect him.
 She said to her daughters, “Live to serve your country.”
She advised her daughters to live to serve their country.
Thoroughly revise the concept of Reported Speech and revisit the rules for
transformation.

Assess your understanding of the concept by completing the assigned

worksheets.
Quick Revision:

Alex said, “My parents are very well.”

Her father said, “I am living in Texas now.”

He said, “I arrived before you.”

He said, “I’ll be there at 2 pm.”

She says, “I will learn the language.”

Alex said, “My parents are very well.”
Alex said that his parents were very well.

Her father said, “I am living in Texas now.”

Her father said that he was living in Texas then.

He said, “I arrived before you.”

He said that he had arrived before you.

He said, “I’ll be there at 2 pm.”

He said that he would be there at 2 pm.

She says, “I will learn the language.”

She says that she will learn the language.