Example Speech

TENSES DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH
(INDIRECT SPEECH)
SIMPLE PRESENT I said,“Donny is busy.” I said Donny was busy.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS I said,“I am walking now.” I said I was walking now.
SIMPLE PAST I said,“Diani was here this afternoon.” - I said Diani was here this afternoon.
- I said Diani had been here this afternoon.
PAST CONTINUOUS I said,“Rio was working all yesterday.” - I said Rio was working all yesterday.
- I said Rio had been working all yesterday.
PRESENT PERFECT I said,“Ryan has worked here for 3 years.” I said Ryan had worked here for 3 years.
PAST PERFECT I said,“Raisya had worked here for 4 years.” I said Raisya had worked here for 4 years.
SIMPLE FUTURE I said,“Rafael will stay here from July.” I said Rafael would stay here from July.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS I said,“We’ll be living here for 2 months.” I said we would be living here for 2 months.

TYPE DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH (INDIRECT SPEECH)
STATEMENT S + P + O
Gary said,“I need the money for the shoes.” S + Reporting Verb + That + S
Gary said that she needed the money for the shoes.
QUESTION WORD Question Word + S + P + O ?
Harry asked,“Why don’t you come to the office?” S + Reporting Verb + Question Word + S + To Be
Harry asked me why I didn’t come to the office.
PROHIBITION
/
COMMAND (To Be – Not) P + Complement
-Patrice told me,“Don’t be late, or you’ll die!”
-Rio told Frederico,“Close the door, please!” S + Reporting Verb + (Not) To + Complement
-Patrice told me not to be late, or I’ll die.
-Rio told Frederico to close the door.
REQUEST … Modal Aux + To Be …
Nicky asked me,“Would you like to come?” S + Reporting Verb + Whether/If + S + …
Nicky asked me whether/if I would like to come.
YES / NO To Be + S + P + O
Jasson asked me,“Do you love me?” S + Reporting Verb + Whether/If + S + …
Jasson asked me whether/if I love her.

Reported Speech

Reported Speech is a sentence which reporting / retelling what had been said by others. Reported speech is usually called as Indirect Speech. Reported speech can be used to report :

1. Statement
2. Request
3. Command
4. Questions

• Tenses

No Backshift

Do not change the tense if the introductory clause is in Simple Present (e. g. He says). Note, however, that you might have to change the form of the present tense verb (3rd person singular).

Example

She says, “I speak Netherland.” – He says that he speaks Netherland.

Backshift

You must change the tense if the introductory clause is in Simple Past (e. g. He said). This is called backshift.

Example

He said, “I am borring.” – He said that he was borring.

 

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
Simple Present	Simple Past
Present Progressive	Past Progressive
Simple Past	Past Perfect Simple
Present Perfect Simple
Past Perfect Simple
Past Progressive	Past Perfect Progressive
Present Perfect Progressive
Past Perfect Progressive
Future I (going to)	was / were going to
Future I (will)	Conditional I (would)
Conditional I (would)

• Place and Time Expressions

In the following table, you will find ways of transforming place and time expressions into reported speech.

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
Today	That day
Now	Then
Yesterday	The day before
Tomorrow	The next day / the following day
… days ago	… days before
Last week	The week before
Next year	The following year
Here	There
This	That
These	Those