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Time and place references often have to change in reported speech: Now -> Then For example: Direct speech: The children are playing outside now. Reported speech: He said that the children were playing outside then. Today -> That day For example: Direct speech: Ive got a piano lesson today. Reported speech: She said that she had got a piano lesson that…

The Introductory Verb is in the Present, Present Perfect or Future Example: Direct speech: He says, I will come. Reported speech: He says that he will come. Fact or General Truth If the reported sentence deals with a fact or general truth, the present tense is (can be) retained.  Example: Direct speech: Copernicus: The planets revolve around the sun. Indirect speech: Copernicus stated that the planets revolve around the sun. Time Clause The reported sentence…

Both direct and indirect speech are methods to narrate the words spoken by a specific person. The difference between them lies in how they are constructed and in the purpose of using them. Direct Speech In a direct speech, the actual words of the speaker are quoted explicitly. It is often used to relay something being said in…

Direct speech is a way of reporting a spoken text that quotes the exact words of the speaker. It is also called a quoted speech as it literally contains quotation marks that enclose the actual words said. It is typically accompanied by a reporting clause or signal phrase. This type of speech is commonly observed in novels…

There is no change in verb tenses in Indirect Speech when: The introductory verb is in the Present, Present Perfect or Future. If the reported sentence deals with a fact or general truth. The reported sentence contains a time clause. The verb of the sentence is in the unreal past (the second or the third conditional). The subjunctive stays unchanged in the subordinate clause. Had better, could, would, used to, should, might, ought to and mustnt remain unchanged. If the…

Changes in Time and Place in Reported Speech Time and place references often have to change in Indirect Speech Now -> Then Today -> That day Here -> There This -> That Tomorrow -> The following day/ The next day/ The day after Next week -> The following week/ The next week/ The week after Yesterday ->…

When changing from direct to indirect speech, you need to change the grammar in certain ways. In this section, we are going to be looking a little more closely at direct and indirect speech and how they are used.  Verb Tense Changes in Reported Speech Present If the reporting verb is in the present tense, then very little…

Reported speech is simply when we tell somebody what someone else said. You can do this in your writing, or in speech. Reported speech is very different from direct speech, which is when you show what somebody said in the exact way that they said it. In reported speech though, you do not need to quote somebody…

When we use reported speech, we are referring to something that was said either by ourselves or by someone else in the past. An example of this might be he said that he was going shopping. This type of speech is used very frequently during both spoken and written examples of English and it is…