Sekolah Islam Shafta Surabaya Reported Speech : Turning Direct Quotes into Indirect Narrative

Reported Speech : Turning Direct Quotes into Indirect Narrative

What is Reported Speech?

Reported Speech, also known as Indirect Speech, is used to communicate what someone else said without using their exact words. For example, ‘She said, “I am tired.”‘ becomes ‘She said that she was tired.’

Tense Changes: The ‘One Step Back’ Rule

When the reporting verb is in the past, the main verb moves one step into the past.
Present Simple shifts to Past Simple (eat ate).
Present Continuous shifts to Past Continuous (is eating was eating).
Present Perfect shifts to Past Perfect (has eaten had eaten).
Past Simple shifts to Past Perfect (ate had eaten).
Will changes to Would, and Can changes to Could.

Using ‘Said’ vs. ‘Told’ and Other Verbs

Use ‘said’ when the listener is not mentioned (e.g., He said he was hungry).
Use ‘told’ when the listener is mentioned (e.g., He told me he was hungry).
Other common reporting verbs include suggested, claimed, explained, admitted, and complained.
Pro Tip: The word ‘that’ can often be omitted in reported speech (He said [that] he was late).

Shifting Context: Time and Place Expressions