Introduction
Direct speech quotes someone's exact words ("She said, 'I am tired.'"); Indirect (reported) speech
reports what was said without quotation marks ("She said that she was tired."). Converting between them
requires three coordinated changes: tense, pronouns, and time/place words.
Tense Backshift Rule (When Reporting Verb Is Past Tense)
| Direct Speech Tense | Indirect Speech Tense |
|---|
| Present Simple | Past Simple |
| Present Continuous | Past Continuous |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect |
| Past Simple | Past Perfect |
| Will | Would |
| Can | Could |
| May | Might |
💡 Exception: If the reported statement is a universal truth or habitual fact, the tense does NOT shift back — e.g., "He said the Earth revolves around the Sun" (not "revolved").
Q. Convert to indirect speech: She said, "I am reading a book."
Present Continuous → Past Continuous; "I" → "she" (pronoun match)
She said that she was reading a book.
Pronoun Changes
| Rule |
|---|
| 1st person pronoun in direct speech → changes to match the SUBJECT of the reporting verb |
| 2nd person pronoun in direct speech → changes to match the OBJECT of the reporting verb |
| 3rd person pronoun → usually stays unchanged |
Time and Place Word Changes
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|
| now | then |
| today | that day |
| tomorrow | the next day / the following day |
| yesterday | the previous day / the day before |
| here | there |
| this | that |
| these | those |
| ago | before |
| next week | the following week |
Reporting Verb Selection by Sentence Type
| Direct Speech Type | Indirect Speech Structure |
|---|
| Statement (assertive) | said/said to → told + that |
| Yes/No Question | asked + if/whether (no question mark, statement word order) |
| Wh- Question | asked + wh-word (no question mark, statement word order) |
| Command/Request | ordered/requested + to + V1 |
| Exclamation | exclaimed with joy/sorrow that... |
Q. Convert to indirect speech: He said to me, "Where do you live?"
Wh-question → "asked" + wh-word + statement word order (no "do")
He asked me where I lived.
Q. Convert to indirect speech: The teacher said, "Close the door."
Command → ordered + to + V1
The teacher ordered (them) to close the door.
Q. Convert to indirect speech: She said, "Alas! I have failed."
Exclamation of sorrow → exclaimed with sorrow that
She exclaimed with sorrow that she had failed.
✅ Practice Focus: Full tense-backshift table · Universal-truth exception (no backshift) · Pronoun changes matched to reporting verb's subject/object · Time/place word conversion table · Reporting verb selection by sentence type (statement/question/command/exclamation).