Mastering Reported Speech: Tense, Modals & More
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Reported Speech: Mastering the Rules
Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, involves changes to verb tenses, modal verbs, possessive adjectives, and expressions of time and place. These changes primarily occur in declarative and interrogative sentences (statements and questions).
Tense Changes in Reported Speech
| Tense | Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | John said: “I'm exhausted” | John said that he was exhausted. |
| Present Continuous | John said: “I’m working too hard” | John said that he was working too hard. |
| Past Simple | John said: “I worked too hard” | John said he had worked too hard. |
| Past Continuous | John said: “I was working too hard” | John said he had been working too hard. |
| Present Perfect | John said: “I’ve worked too hard” | John said he had worked too hard. |
| Present Perfect Continuous | John said: “I’ve been working too hard” | John said he had been working too hard. |
| Past Perfect | John said: “I had worked too hard” | John said he had worked too hard. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | John said: “I had been working too hard” | John said he had been working too hard. |
| Future with Will | John said: “I will work too hard” | John said he would work too hard. |
| Future Continuous (Progressive Future) | John said: “I will be working too hard” | John said he would be working hard. |
| Future Perfect | John said: “I will have worked too hard at night” | John said he would have worked hard that night. |
| Future be going to | John said: “I am going to work hard.” | John said that he was going to work hard. |
| Conditional Simple: WOULD | John said: “I would go to the cinema” | - NO CAMBIA- |
| Conditional Continuous | John said: “I would be working too hard” | - NO CAMBIA- |
| Conditional Perfect | John said: “I would have worked too hard” | - NO CAMBIA- |
Modal Verb Changes
Changes also occur with modal verbs when converting direct speech to reported speech.
| Modal Verb | Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|---|
| CAN | Mary said: “I can’t study more” | Mary said she couldn’t study more. |
| MUST/HAVE TO | Peter said: “I must admit the new situation” Peter said: “I have to admit the new situation” | Peter said that he had to admit the new situation. |
| MAY | Ann mentioned: “It may rain” | Ann mentioned that it might rain. |
| SHALL | Tracey wondered: Shall I go to the party? | Tracey wondered if she should go to the party. |
| Could, Might, Should, Ought to | NO CAMBIAN | NO CAMBIAN |
Possessive Adjective Changes
| Possessive Adjectives | Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|---|
| My, your, his, her, its, our, your, their | Mary ordered: “Give me my car’s keys.” | Mary ordered me to give her her car’s keys. |
| Object Pronouns | ||
| Me, you, him, her, it, Us, you, them | John said: “Give us our keys” | John ordered to give them their keys. |
Changes in Expressions of Place and Time
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| Here | There |
| There | There |
| Now | Then |
| Today | That day |
| Tonight | That night |
| Tomorrow | The next day / The following day / The day after |
| Yesterday | The previous day / The last day / The day before |
| The day before yesterday | Two days before |
| The day after tomorrow | Two days later |
| This week, month… | That week, month… |
| Next week, month… | The following …, The … after |
| Last week, month… | The…before / The previous….….ago ….before |
| Now | Then/ In, At that moment |
Changes in Demonstratives
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| This | That |
| These | Those |
Subject + Introductory Verb + That Clause