Direct and Indirect Speech: Conversion Rules
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Understanding the Basics
When converting direct speech to indirect speech (also known as reported speech), several changes typically occur in verb tenses, pronouns, and time expressions. The following tables provide a comprehensive look at these transformations.
Tense Changes
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
Simple Present Bob said: “I love Mary.” | Simple Past Bob said that he loved Mary. |
Present Continuous Bob said: “I am writing a letter.” | Past Continuous Bob said that he was writing a letter. |
Simple Past Bob said: “I wrote a letter.” | Past Perfect Bob said that he had written a letter. |
Pronoun and Adverb Changes
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
This (este) Bob said: “This is my car.” | That (aquele) Bob said that that was his car. (The second "that" can be omitted.) |
These (estes) Bob said: “These tickets are too expensive.” | Those (aqueles) Bob said that those tickets were too expensive. |
Today (hoje) Bob said: “There is a great movie on TV today.” | That day (aquele dia) Bob said that there was a great movie on TV that day. |
Tomorrow (amanhã) Bob said: “It will rain tomorrow.” | The next day / The following day Bob said that it was going to rain on the following day. |
I (eu) Bob said: “I am hungry.” | He/She (ele/ela) Bob said that he was hungry. |
We (nós) Bob said: “We have to work.” | They (eles/elas) Bob said that they had to work. |
Additional Examples and Verb Tense Shifts
Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
He said | He said (that)* |
“She works with me.” | She worked with him. |
(Simple Present) | (Simple Past) |
“She is working with me.” | She was working with him. |
(Present Continuous) | (Past Continuous) |
“She was working with me.” | She had been working with him. |
(Past Continuous) | (Past Perfect Continuous) |
“She will work with me.” | She would work with him. |
(Simple Future) | (Conditional Simple) |
“She can/may work with me.” | She could/might work with him. |
*that – can be omitted |
Note: The word "that" is often optional in indirect speech and can be omitted, especially in informal contexts.