Rules for the use of indirect speech
It is right to first make the distinction between direct /Direct/ and indirect speech /Indirect / Reported Speech/. The speech is directly written by each one of the authors. The direct is one that is not reproduced verbatimly, but only in the context of the author's speech. I mean, every time you want to give someone else's speech or your words said earlier, or re-explain some text, you use an indirect speech. By indirect speech you can rephrase, for example, a politician's statement in a conversation where you discuss some public topic. You can re-show a request or an insistence on a friend or a relative as a motive for your actions and so forth. How the indirect speech is formed grammatically - here are some simple rules:Consistency of Times
It is easier to remember that when you transform some statement into indirect speech, you take back time one step further.- Present Simple → Past Simple: I live in … → I lived in ...
- Present Continuous → Past Continuous: I am living → I was living
- Present Perfect → Past Perfect: I have lived → I had lived
- Present Perfect Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous: I have been living → I had been living
- Past Simple → Past Simple/Past Perfect: I lived → I had lived
- Past Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous: I was living → I had been living
- Past Perfect → Past Perfect: I had lived → I had lived
- Past Perfect Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous: I had been living → I had been living
- Future Simple → Future in the Past: I will live → I would live
- Future Continuous → Future Continuous in the Past: I will be living → I would be living
- Future Perfect → Future Perfect in the Past: I will have lived → I would have lived
- Future Perfect Continuous → Future Perfect Continuous in the Past: I will have been living → I would have been living
Modular verbs
The fashion verbs most often participate in questioning sentences, polite questions and requests. but it is important to remember the way they are transformed when turning these sentences into Indirect Speech.- Will, Would, Shall → Would
- Can, Could → Could
- Should → Should
- May, Might → Might
- Must → Must/Had to
- Have to → Had to
Time and place
It is quite a small detail how time and spatial markers are transformed when switching from Direct to Indirect Speech. Here are some examples:- today → that day
- yesterday → the day before
- the day before yesterday → two days before
- tomorrow → the next/following day
- the day after tomorrow → in two days time/ two days later
- next week/month/year → the following week/month/year
- Last week/month/year → the previous/week/month/year
- ago → before
- this (for time) → that
- this/that (adjectives) → the
- here → there
Types of sentences and questions
Now that you know how times and modal verbs are coordinated, let's see some other features in the transformation of different types of sentences.- Story Speeches
To convey someone's words, a statement of communication, except to transform time and enter the sentence with the union that /that/. For example:
- She says to me: "I am leaving tomorrow"
- She said, that she was leaving the next day.
- General
These are the questions that arise with an auxiliary verb at the appropriate time. Most often, they can only be answered with a yes or no. When we transform such a speech into an indirect speech, the issue is introduced with the Union . .if . or .whether .
- “Are you free tonight?”, he asked
- He asked me if I was free that night.
- “Did you go to the cinema yesterday?”, she asked
- She asked if I went to the cinema the previous day.
- Special questions
That is, those where we use a questionword and require a specific answer. Here the question is introduced by the question mark, after which the word is turned to a straight one, for example:
- “Where do you live?”, my colleague asked me
- My colleague asked me where I lived.
- “Which is your favourite colour?”, my friend asked
- My friend asked me which my favourite colour was.
- Obligatory, Commanding Speeches
In indirect speech they are introduced with an infinitative structure:
- He says: "Will you open the window?"
- He tells me to open the window.