Grammar - Reported Speech

    

  

Reported speech

When we speak with others we come across many instances  that we have to say what other people have said, that we have to convey what somebody  have said to us or  somebody else.

At such instances we use reported speech.

What is reported speech?

Reported speech is away which we can say what a person has said without using the exact words used by the speaker.

 This is also called

 Indirect speech

Look at what Samanali has said.

                         

I am very happy now

We can report what Samanali said in two different ways.

We can use the exact words she used and say:

Smanali said, “I am very happy now”

This is called direct speech 

Here we quote what she actually said in her own words.

When writing we write her actual words within inverted commas (“….”)

We can also report it without using her exact words but in our own words and say:

Smanali said that she was very happy then.

Here we do not use Samanali’s actual words or what she directly said to us. 

This type of reporting is also called indirect speech .

Now look at again how samanali’s utterance is reported using direct speech and indirect speech and note the difference.

Smanali said, “I am very happy”.

Smanali said that she was very happy then.

As you can see there are certain changes in the indirect speech statement.

Next we are going to learn the way the reported speech statements are structured.

 

In the reported speech statement we find two clauses.

Smanali said that she was very happy then.

                           Reporting clause            Reported clause 

Reporting clause has a reporting verb it is usually in the past form because we usually report what someone has already said.

Example

Samanali said

Other than said we can use the words:

told ,remarked,  declared, whispered etc.

When the reporting verb is in the past tense the verb in the reported clause is changed in to a corresponding past tense.

 

Smanali said, “I am very happy now”.

Smanali said that she was very happy then.

 

Not only the verb but also the pronoun and the possessive adjectives are changed.

 

 They are usually changed from the first or second person to the third person.

Smanali said, “I am very happy now”.

Smanali said that she was very happy then.

Smanali said, “My sister is very happy now”.

Smanali said that her sister was very happy then.

 But if the speaker himself or herself is reporting: 

Kurulu said, “You are very happy, Samanali”.

If Samanali herself is reporting;

Kurulu said, “I was very happy.

 

Here the pronoun is changed from the second person to first person.

   

But when the speaker is reporting his or her own words or when the reference is to the person addressed it remains unchanged.

 

When the speaker is reporting his own words:

 I said, “I am very happy now”.

I said that I was very happy then.

 

When the reference is to the person addressed.

I told you, “You are very happy now”.

I told you that you were very happy then.

 

The time adverbials are also changed.

 

Smanali said, “I am very happy now”.

Smanali said that she was very happy then.

 

There is also a punctuation change. The comma is replaced by “that” and the inverted commas are dropped in the indirect statement.

 

Smanali said, “I am very happy now”.

Smanali said that she was very happy then.

 

Study how the verb is changed.

 

Direct speech                               Indirect speech

Present Simple                                Past Simple

Present Continuous                        Past Continuous

Present Perfect                                Past Perfect        

Present Perfect Continuous          Past Perfect Continuous

Past Simple                                      Past Perfect

Past Continuous                              Past Perfect Continuous

will                                                    would

can                                                    could

may                                                   might

must                                                 must/ had to

ought to                                           ought to

should                                              should

 

 

When the reporting verb is in the present, present perfect or future tense we can report the statement without changing the tense or the reported verb

Present Tense

Smanali says, “I am very happy now”.

Smanali says that she is very happy then.

 

Present Perfect Tense

Smanali has said, “I am the happiest person in the world”.

Smanali has said that she is the happiest person in the world.

 

Future Tense

Smanali will say, “I am a very lucky person”.

Smanali will say that she is a very lucky person.

 

 

 

Following changes are made to the Demonstrative Pronouns and Adverbials

 

Direct speech                     Indirect speech

now                                           then

here                                          there

today                                        that day

to night                                    that night 

yesterday                                 the day before/the previous day

tomorrow                                the next day /the following day

day before yesterday             two days before

the day after tomorrow        in two days’ time

next week/month/year        the following week/month

last week/month                   the previous week/ month

ago                                            before

a year ago                                a year before

this                                            that

these                                         those

 

Let’s look at some more examples how the changes are made

Here is what Kurulu said to you.

 

“My friends are very happy.”

“I am going to meet them today.”

 “I want to buy some gifts for them.”

“Pavan has lot of interesting books.”

“I can’t wait anymore to meet my friends.”

“I may have a party tonight.”

“I don’t have much time to spend with them,”

 “I will meet you when I get back.”

 

 Later you tell somebody else what Kurulu said

You use reported speech:

 

Kurulu said that her friends were very happy.

Kurulu said that she was going to meet them that day.

Kurulu said that she wanted to buy some gifts for them.

Kurulu said that Pavan had lot of interesting books.

Kurulu said that she couldn’t wait anymore to meet her friends.

Kurulu said that she might have a party that night.”

Kurulu said that she didn’t have much time to spend with them.

Kurulu said that she would meet me when she got back.

 

 

Let’s learn how these changes are made in different tenses with more examples

Present Tense verb is changed to Past Tense verb

Pahan said “I come to school by bus.”

Pahan said that he came to school by bus.”

Pahan said “my brother doesn’t come to school by bus.”

Pahan said that his brother didn’t come to school by bus.”

 

Here is how the verbs change

 

am              was                                                 

is                was

are             were

do              did

does          did

has            had

have          had

can            could

may           might

run            ran

walk          walked

Do the following activities 

Activity 1

Turn the following sentences in to Past Tense

I am hungry.
He is at school.
They are happy.
He does exercises.
The students do their homework.
The teacher has beautiful sarees.

Those girls have long hair.
He can sing well.
It may rain.
The dog run after him.
She walks to school.
The teachers mark the registers.
He looks at me.

Activity 2

Turn the following sentences in to Reported speech

Pahan said, “I am hungry.”
Samanali said, “He is at school.”
My friend said, “They are happy.”
 Vihanga said, “He does exercises.”
Teacher said, “The students do their homework.”
My friend said, “The teacher has beautiful sarees.”

 My sister said, “My friends have long hair.”
Tharuka said, “I can sing well.”
They said, “It may rain.”
The man said, “The dog run after him.”
My father said, “This girl walks to school.”
The principal said, “My teachers mark the registers.”
Kurulu said,“He looks at me.”

  Present Continuous  Tense verb is changed to Past  Continuous Tense verb

Pahan said “I am coming to school by bus.”

Pahan said that he was coming to school by bus.

Pahan said “My brother  is coming to school by bus.”

Pahan said that his brother was coming to school by bus.

 

Pahan said “My friends  are coming to school by bus.”

Pahan said that his friends  were coming to school by bus.

 

Here is how the verbs change

 

am  verb +ing              was  verb + ing                                

 is   verb + ing              was  verb + ing

are verb+ ing             were  verb + ing

Do the following activities 

Activity 3

Turn the following sentences in to Past continuous Tense

I am going to a movie.
He is waiting at the school.
They are playing happily.
He is doing exercises.
The students are dingo their homework.
The teacher is wearing a  beautiful saree.

These girls are having their lunch.
He is singing the song well.
It is raining.
The dog is running after him.
She is walking to school.
The teachers are marking the registers.
He is looking at me.

Activity 4

Turn the following sentences in to Reported speech

Pahan said, “I am going to a movie .”
Samanali said, “He is waiting  at the  school now.”
My friend said, “They are playing happily.”
 Vihanga said, “He is doing exercises.”
Teacher said, “The students are doing their homework.”
My friend said, “The teacher is wearing a beautiful saree.”

 My sister said, " these girls are having their lunch.”
Tharuka said, “He is  singing the song well.”
They said, “It is raining at this moment .”
The man said, “The dog is  running after him.”
My father said, “This girl is walking to school today .”
The principal said, “My teachers are marking the registers.”
Kurulu said,“He is looking at me.”

              

     

Present Perfect Tense verb is changed to Past Perfect Tense verb

Pahan said “I have come to school by bus.”

Pahan said that he had come to school by bus.

Pahan said “My brother has come to school by bus.”

Pahan said that his brother had come to school by bus.

Pahan said “These students have come to school by bus.”

Pahan said that those students had come to school by bus.

Pahan said “The students have been late to school.”

Pahan said that the students had been late to school.

Pahan said “It has been a rainy day.”

Pahan said that that had been a rainy day.

 

Here is how the verbs change

has     + verb (past participle)           had+ verb+(past participle)                                          

have   + verb+ (past participle)        had+ verb+(past participle)

 

has been                                           had been

 

have been                                         had been

 

Activity 5

Turn the following sentences in to Past perfect Tense

I have read a book.
He has studied at school.
They have played happy.
He has done exercises.
The students have done their homework.
The teacher has worn a beautiful saree.

The movie has been very entertaining

 

Those girls have had lunch.
He has sung well.
It has been raining heavily.
The dog has run after him.
She has walked to school.
The teachers have marked the registers.
He has been looking at me.

Activity 6

Turn the following sentences in to Reported speech

Pahan said, “I have waited for the bus.”
Samanali said, “He has studied with me.”
My friend said, “They have spent the day happily.”
 Vihanga said, “He has done exercises.”
Teacher said, “The students have done their homework.”
My friend said, “The teacher has worn a beautiful saree.”

 My sister said, “My friends have had their lunch.”
Tharuka said, “I have sung this song before.”
They said, “It has been raining.”
The man said, “The dog has bitten him.”
My father said, “This girl has walked to school.”
The principal said, “My teachers have  finished marking the registers.”
Kurulu said, “He has been looking at me.”

 Past Tense verb is changed to Past Perfect Tense verb

Pahan said “I came to school by bus.”

Pahan said that he had come to school by bus.

Pahan said “My brother did not come to school by bus.”

Pahan said that his brother had not come to school by bus.

Pahan said “These students were early to school.”

Pahan said that those students had been early to school.

Pahan said “It was a rainy day.”

Pahan said that that had been a rainy day.

 

Here is how the verbs change

was            had been                                                

were          had been

ran            had run

walked     had walked

taught      had taught

cut             had cut

did not     had not   

 Activity 7

       Turn the following sentences in to Past perfect Tense

I read a book.
He studied at school.
They played happy.
He did exercises.
The students completed their homework.
The teacher wore a beautiful saree.

The movie was very entertaining

 

Those girls had lunch.
He sang the song well.
It was raining heavily.
The dog ran after him.
She walked to school.
The teachers marked the registers.
He looked at me.

Activity 8

Turn the following sentences in to Reported speech

Pahan said, “I waited for the bus.”
Samanali said, “He studied with me.”
My friend said, “They spent the day happily.”
 Vihanga said, “He did exercises.”
Teacher said, “The students completed their homework.”
My friend said, “The teacher wore a beautiful saree.”

 My sister said, “My friends had their lunch.”
Tharuka said, “I sang this song for the last concert.”
They said, “It was raining.”
The man said, “The dog bit him.”
My father said, “This girl walked to school.”
The principal said, “My teachers finished marking the registers.”
Kurulu said, “He looked at me inquiringly.”