Reporting different types of senteneces is one of the essential skills that a student must master. Here is a set of simple instructions that may help students.
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REPORTING
General Rules
1 Pronouns of first and second persons become third person while reporting except when the speaker himself is reporting.
Direct Speech Indirect Speech Direct Speech Indirect Speech
I he/she our their
me him/her ours theirs
my his/her ourselves themselves
mine his/hers you he/she/I/they/we
myself himself/herself your his/her/my/their/our
we they yours his/hers/mine/theirs/ours
us them
2 Changes in tenses. If the reporting verb is a past tense (said, told, asked etc.) the tense of the verb in the direct speech changes as follows.
Direct | Indirect |
Simple present “I like oranges” he said | Simple past He said that he liked oranges |
Present Continuous “I am writing letters”, he said | Past continuous He said that he was writing letters. |
Present perfect “I have passed the exam”, she said. | Past perfect She said that she had passed the exam. |
Present perfect continuous I have been working here for two hours”, he said. | Past perfect continuous He said that he had been working there for two hours. |
Simple past “I wrote a letter yesterday”, he said. | Past perfect He said that he had written a letter the previous day. |
Past continuous “John was coming”, he said. | Past perfect continuous John said that he had been coming. |
Simple future “My father will come next week”, he said. | Future in past He said that his father would come the following week. |
shall will may can must must not has/have am/is/are has been/have been need not | should/would would might could had to/would have to was/(were) not to had was/were had been did not need |
3. If the Reporting verb is a Present or Future tense (say, says, will say etc.) there is no change in the tense of the verb in the Direct speech.
eg. “I am not going to do it”, he says.
He says that he is not going to do it.
4. The words (adjectives/adverbs) expressing nearness are changed into words expressing distance in Indirect Speech.
Direct Speech Indirect Speech Direct Speech Indirect Speech
this that these those
now then at once just then
here there yesterday the day before/the previous day
thus so tomorrow the following day/the next day
next following last week the previous week(month, year..)
ago before next week the following week( ” )
today that day
I Statements
· Statements in the indirect speech are generally introduced by the conjunction ‘that’.
Ex. “I saw this book on your table yesterday”, Mary told George.
Mary told George that she had seen that book on his table the day before.
1 He said to me. “I have never seen such a lazy boy as you are.”
2 “I am going to the town”, Geetha said.
3 “I have come to take the book” , said the boy.
4 My uncle said to me, “I will take you to cinema”.
5 “I must change my wet clothes”, he said.
6 I reminded him, “Your wife may be waiting for you”
7 The teacher said, “Geetha, if you come late again, I will punish you”
II Interrogative Sentences
· A reported question has the word order of a statement, ie verb follows the subject
· Usually the reporting verb ‘asked’ is used (‘wanted to know’, ‘enquired’….)
a) ‘Wh’ questions OR Question-word questions
· The question-word in the question is used as the connective here. (as ‘that’ in statements)
Ex. “When will your examination begin?”, the father said to his daughter.
The father asked his daughter when her examination would begin.
1. The teacher said to me, “What are you doing?”
2. “Where did you go yesterday?”, the man said to his servant.
3. “How far is the railway station from here?”, the old man enquired.
4. “Where can I buy that book?”, the boy said.
5. “When are you leaving for Delhi?”, Mr. Varma asked me.
6. “Why didn’t you call a policeman?”, Hari asked the man.
7. “How do you feel this morning?”, he asked me.
b) Yes OR No Question
· In this type, the conjunction ‘whether’ or ‘if’ is used after the reporting verb.
Ex. “Can you swim?”, the teacher asked Raju.
The teacher asked Raju whether he could swim.
1. “Were you present yesterday?”, the teacher asked Ravi.(was/were - had been)
2. “Was there a public meeting in the hall yesterday?”, my friend asked me.
3. “Have you ever been to London?”, Mr. Rao asked me.
4. “Do you find any difficulty in solving this problem?”, the master asked the girl.
5. The landlord told the servant, “Did you collect my letters from the post office?”
6. “Will you buy my hair?”, Della asked Madam.
7. “May I bring you some more?”, said the woman to her husband.
III Imperative Sentences (Commands, requests etc)
· The reporting verbs usually used for reporting imperative sentences are ordered, commanded, told, asked, requested, advised, begged, warned, urged etc.
· These verbs must be followed by a noun or pronoun showing the person addressed.
· The verb expressing command or request is changed into an infinitive (to + V1). If there is a word ‘Don’t’ in direct speech, ‘not to’ is to be used instead of ‘to’.
· Words like ‘please’,’kindly’ etc. are usually omitted.
Ex.1 The master said to his servant, “Open the door and clean the table at once.”
The master ordered his servant to open the door and clean the table immediately.
2 The teacher said, “Don’t make so much noise, children”
The teacher told the children not to make so much noise.
1. “Type these letters before you leave the office”, the officer told the typist.
2. “Mohan, go to the office and get a map of India”, the teacher said.
3. “Don’t spend all your money on food and clothes”, said the father to his son.
4. “Rani, show me your notebook”, the teacher said.
5. “Father, please don’t beat me”, said the boy.
6. Ramu told his friend, “Please give me a glass of water”.
7. The peon told the headmaster, “Sir, kindly grant me leave for five days because I have to arrange my daughter’s marriage”.
IV Exclamatory Sentences
· The reporting verbs are changed into exclaimed, mourned, shouted for joy etc. according to the sentence
· The exclamation marks and words like alas, hurrah, oh etc are omitted.
· The conjunction that is used
Ex Mary said, “Oh! I am ill”.
Mary mourned that she was very ill.
1. The king said, “Oh! What a powerful man I am”.
2. He told me, “What an intelligent man you are!”
3. “What a beautiful garden1”, said the boys.
4. She cried, “How terribly hot it is!”
5. John said, “How deep the wound is!”
6. They said, “How happy we are here!”
7. He said, “How stupid I am!”
