Indirect Speech / Reported Speech
Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech), doesn't use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn't have to be word for word.
When reporting speech the tense usually changes. This is because when we use reported speech, we are usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too.
In grammar, indirect or reported speech (also indirect discourse) is a way of reporting a statement or question. A reported question is called an indirect question. Unlike direct speech, indirect speech does not phrase the statement or question the way the original speaker did; instead, certain grammatical categories are changed.[1] In addition, indirect speech is not enclosed in quotation marks.
Person is changed when the person speaking and the person quoting the speech are different.
In English, tense is changed. In other languages, mood is altered. Latin switches from indicative to the infinitive (statement) or the subjunctive (question).[2]
For example:
Direct speech | Indirect speech |
"I'm going to the cinema", he said. | He said he was going to the cinema. |
As a rule when you report something someone has said you go back a tense: (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right):
Direct speech | Indirect speech | |
Present simple She said, "It's cold." | › | Past simple She said it was cold. |
Present continuous She said, "I'm teaching English online." | › | Past continuous She said she was teaching English online. |
Present perfect simple She said, "I've been on the web since 1999." | › | Past perfect simple She said she had been on the web since 1999. |
Present perfect continuous She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years." | › | Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching English for seven years. |
Past simple She said, "I taught online yesterday." | › | Past perfect She said she had taught online yesterday. |
Past continuous She said, "I was teaching earlier." | › | Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching earlier. |
Past perfect She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived." | › | Past perfect NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already started when he arrived. |
Past perfect continuous She said, "I'd already been teaching for five minutes." | › | Past perfect continuous NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been teaching for five minutes. |
Modal verb forms also sometimes change:
Direct speech | Indirect speech | |
will She said, "I'll teach English online tomorrow." | › | would She said she would teach English online tomorrow. |
can She said, "I can teach English online." | › | could She said she could teach English online. |
must She said, "I must have a computer to teach English online." | › | had to She said she had to have a computer to teach English online. |
shall She said, "What shall we learn today?" | › | should She asked what we should learn today. |
may She said, "May I open a new browser?" | › | might She asked if she might open a new browser. |
!Note - There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.
Direct speech | Indirect speech |
"I might go to the cinema", he said. | He said he might go to the cinema. |
You can use the present tense in reported speech if you want to say that something is still true i.e. my name has always been and will always be Lynne so:-
Direct speech | Indirect speech |
"My name is Lynne", she said. | She said her name was Lynne. or She said her name is Lynne. |
You can also use the present tense if you are talking about a future event.
Direct speech (exact quote) | Indirect speech (not exact) |
"Next week's lesson is on reported speech ", she said. | She said next week's lesson is on reported speech. |
sumber: http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/reportedspeech.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indirect_speech
