If we report what another person has said, we
usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but reported
(indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech
into reported speech. The structure is a little different depending on whether
you want to transform a statement, question or request.
We use a 'reporting
verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We
just put 'she says' and then the sentence:
- Direct
speech: “I
like ice cream”.
- Reported
speech: She says (that)
she likes ice cream.
We don't need to change
the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she',
for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'.
(As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)
(As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)
But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we
change the tenses in the reported speech:
- Direct
speech: “I
like ice cream”.
- Reported
speech: She said (that)
she liked ice
cream.
|
Tense
|
Direct Speech
|
Reported Speech
|
|
present simple
|
“I like ice cream”
|
She said (that) she
liked ice cream.
|
|
present continuous
|
“I am living in London”
|
She said (that) she
was living in London.
|
|
past simple
|
“I bought a car”
|
She said (that) she
had bought a car OR She said (that) she bought a car.
|
|
past continuous
|
“I was walking along
the street”
|
She said (that) she
had been walking along the street.
|
|
present perfect
|
“I haven't seen Julie”
|
She said (that) she
hadn't seen Julie.
|
|
past perfect*
|
“I had taken English
lessons before”
|
She said (that) she
had taken English lessons before.
|
|
will
|
“I'll see you later”
|
She said (that) she
would see me later.
|
|
would*
|
“I would help, but..”
|
She said (that) she
would help but...
|
|
can
|
“I can speak perfect
English”
|
She said (that) she
could speak perfect English.
|
|
could*
|
“I could swim when I
was four”
|
She said (that) she
could swim when she was four.
|
|
shall
|
“I shall come later”
|
She said (that) she
would come later.
|
|
should*
|
“I should call my
mother”
|
She said (that) she
should call her mother
|
|
might*
|
"I might be
late"
|
She said (that) she
might be late
|
|
must
|
"I must study at
the weekend"
|
She said (that) she
must study at the weekend OR She said she had to study at the weekend
|
* doesn't change.
Occasionally, we don't
need to change the present tense into the past if the information in direct
speech is still true (but this is only for things which are general facts, and
even then usually we like to change the tense):
- Direct
speech: “The
sky is blue”.
- Reported
speech: She said (that) the sky is/was blue.
Sumber : http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/reported-speech.html
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech
