Mastering Reported Speech: Tenses, Questions, Orders, and Suggestions

Time and Place Expressions in Reported Speech

When changing from direct speech to reported speech, certain time and place expressions need to be adjusted. Here are some common changes:

• Now becomes then
• Today/tonight becomes that day/that night
• Yesterday becomes the day before or the previous day
• Tomorrow becomes the next/following day or the day after
• Next week/month becomes the following week/month
• Last week/month becomes the previous week/month
• A week/month ago becomes the week/month before
• Here becomes there
• This becomes that
• These becomes those

Tense Changes in Reported Speech

Here's how verb tenses typically change when moving from direct speech to reported speech:

1. Present Simple (She studies English) becomes Past Simple (She studied English)
2. Present Continuous (She's studying English) becomes Past Continuous (She was studying English)
3. Present Perfect Simple (She has studied English) becomes Past Perfect Simple (She had studied English)
4. Present Perfect Continuous (She has been studying English) becomes Past Perfect Continuous (She had been studying English)
5. Past Simple (She studied English) becomes Past Perfect Simple (She had studied English)
6. Past Continuous (She was studying English) becomes Past Perfect Continuous (She had been studying English)
7. Past Perfect Simple (She had studied English) - No change
8. Past Perfect Continuous (She had been studying English) - No change
9. Future Simple (She will study English) becomes Conditional (She would study English)
10. Future Continuous (She will be studying English) becomes Future Past Continuous (She would be studying English)
11. Can (She can study English) becomes Could (She could study English)
12. May (She may study English) becomes Might (She might study English)
13. Must/Have to (She must/has to study English) becomes Must/Had to (She must/had to study English)

Note: Should, could, would, might, ought to, and used to do not change in reported speech.

Reported Questions

There are two types of reported questions: Wh-questions and Yes/No questions. In both cases, use the verb ask followed by if or whether for Yes/No questions.

Yes/No Questions

Example: "Do you like chocolate?" they asked the girl. -> They asked the girl if she liked chocolate.

Wh-Questions

Use the question word + subject + verb. Remove the question marks.

Example: "What's your favorite flavor?" Frank asked. -> Frank asked what my favorite flavor was. (The verb always goes at the end.)

Reported Orders

Change the imperative to an infinitive. Use a verb that expresses a command, such as tell or order, plus the indirect object. For requests, you can also use ask or beg. For invitations, use invite. For warnings, use warn.

Example: "Stop staring at me," the mother told her son. -> The mother ordered her son to stop staring at her.

For negative orders, place not before to.

Example: "Don't tell anybody," she begged us. -> She ordered us not to tell anybody.

Reported Suggestions

Use the subject + suggest or recommend in the past tense, followed by what is suggested.

Example: "Take the shortcut," he recommended. -> He recommended that we take the shortcut.

You can also use a gerund.

Example: "Let's make chocolate biscuits," she suggested. -> She suggested making chocolate biscuits.