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What a person says is called direct speech. If we report what another person has said that is reported speech. We can not use the speaker's exact words (direct speech), but we must use indirect speech or reported 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.
Statements
When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:
- pronouns
- present tense verbs (3rd person singular)
- place and time expressions
- tenses (backshift)
A: My car is blue in colour.
B: A says that his car is blue in colour.
A: I came to office by car.
B: A said that he had come to office by car
Questions
When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:
- pronouns
- present tense verbs (3rd person singular)
- place and time expressions
- tenses (backshift)
Also note that you have to:
- transform the question into an indirect question
- use the interrogative or if / whether
A: Will you come with me?
B: A asked be if I would go with him.
A: Can I borrow your book from Prakash?
B: A asked me he could borrow my book from Prakash.
Requests
When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:
- pronouns
- place and time expressions
A: Please come with me for lunch tomorrow.
B: A requested me to go with him for lunch the next day.
A: Kindly post this letter for me.
B: A requested me to post the letter for him.
Some more
Apart from the above mentioned basic rules, there are further aspects that you should keep in mind, for example:
- main clauses connected with and / but
- tense of the introductory clause
- reported speech for difficult tenses
- exeptions for backshift
- requests with must, should, ought to and let's
