RULES FOR CHANGING DIRECT INTO INDIRECT SPEECH

RULES FOR CHANGING DIRECT INTO INDIRECT SPEECH

RULE ONE:-If in direct speech you find say/says or will say then DO NOT CHANGE THE TENSE that you can find within the quotation marks

EXAMPLES-RULE ONE

She says,”I will be more experienced then.”
She says she will be more experienced then.

I will say,”He loves cricket.”
I will say he loves cricket.

She will say,”He was in the land of nod then.”
She will say he was in the land of nod then.

They will say,”We will achieve greatness.”
They will say we will achieve greatness.

RULE TWO

• If in direct speech the words within the quotation marks talk of a universal truth or habitual action then RULE ONE is followed or in other words the tense inside the quotation marks is not changed at all.. For e.g.
• The teacher said,”The sun rises in the east.”
The teacher said the sun rises in the east.

RULE THREE
* If there is 'said' in the direct speech then the tense of the words inside quotation marks is changed to the past tense.
* I said,” I am suffering from fever.”
* I said I was suffering from fever.

Help List one
o Words indicating nearness are changed into words showing distance
o Here-there tomorrow-the next/following day
o This-that yesterday-the previous day
o These-those the next week-the following week
o Today-that day now-then
o Tonight-that night

Help List Two
o The following changes in the tense need to be considered
o Is/am - was
o Are - were
o Is (sleeping) - was (sleeping)
o Are (sleeping) - were (sleeping)
o Has/have killed - had killed
o Was/were laughing - had been laughing
o Can - could; will - would; shall - should; may - might
o Did - had done

Rule 3 --Some examples

She said,“I am reading a book now.”
She said she was reading a book then.

We said,”They have done their job.”
We said they had done their job.

She said,”We were all laughing uncontrollably.”
She said they had been all laughing uncontrollably.

He said,” I can do it.”
He said he could do it.

She said to me,”You may need help.”
She told me I might need help.

He said,”She will do this task quickly.”
He said she would do that task quickly.