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

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

  * 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 sad.” – He said that he was sad.

   

  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