Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Direct and indirect speech
Turn a spoken statement into reported speech, shifting the tense, the pronoun and the time words.
There are two ways to pass on what somebody said. You can quote them word for word — direct speech, in speech marks. Or you can report it in your own sentence — indirect speech, with no speech marks. The second one needs more work, because you are no longer standing where the speaker stood.
Three things shift
The pronoun, because the speaker is no longer "I" to you. The tense, one step further into the past. And the time and place words, because you are reporting from somewhere else.
The tense shift
Am and is become was. Are becomes were. Ate becomes had eaten. Have finished becomes had finished. Will becomes would. Can becomes could.
The time and place shift
Now becomes then. Today becomes that day. Tomorrow becomes the next day. Yesterday becomes the previous day. Here becomes there. This becomes that.
Worked example
Report this: Anil said, "I am watching a match here today."
The pronoun first. Anil's "I" becomes "he".
You are the one speaking now, so "I" would mean you.
Try it together
Let us report one sentence together, taking the three shifts one at a time.
Ravi said, "I am cleaning my bicycle here today."
1.Start with the pronoun. Ravi is not talking to you about you — he is talking about himself. Write the one word that replaces "I".
Have a go
Report this: Priya said, "I am reading this book now."
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.