മത്സരത്തിലെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് – 7

ചൂര്യയി ചന്ദ്രന്‍

Reported Speech

(Direct and Indirect Speech)

There are two ways of reporting what somebody has said : 1) Direct Speech and

2) Indirect Speech

Direct Speech : In Direct Speech, the words uttered by the speaker is given without any

change. It is given between quotation marks. The speech under quotation marks begins

with a capital letter.

eg: Introducing part

He said to me, “I do not believe you.”

Reporting Part Reported Part

In Reporting Part, there are three elements that help us in changing the Reported Part.

He said to me

⇓ ⇓ ⇓

Reporting Reporting Reporting

S V O

Reporting subject helps us to change the First person pronouns that come in the Reported Part.
Reporting object helps us to change the Second person pronouns in the Reported part.
Third person pronouns have no change at all.
Reporting Verb helps us to changes the tense forms under quotation marks.
If the Reporting Verb is present or future, no changes in tense forms
If the Reporting Verb is past, the present and future tense forms should be changed into their corresponding past forms.

Corresponding Past Forms

is/are/am ………… was / were

has/have ………. Had

will be / shall be – would be / should be

shall bring – should bring

can go – could go

am going – was going

has done – had done

have done – had done

Examples :

He says, “I am not ready”. (Direct)

He says that he is not ready (Indirect)

Reporting verb ‘says’ – Present tense

So the Tense form ‘am not’ has no change

The I Person pronoun ‘I’ —– is to be changed into the person of the Reporting Subject: He (III person)

NB: After the reporting part, there is a comma. In the Reported Speech instead of comma the connector ‘that’ is used.

In the case of questions, instead of that, if or whether is used.

Rani will say, “I am not ready”.

Rani will say that she is not ready.

Reporting Verb, will say is future tense

So, am not has no change of tense. She + is not

I, First person pronoun is changed into the person of the Reporting subject (III person), Rani (ie she)

Jonathan says, “I am busy.”

Jonathan says that he is busy

Sheela says, “I am fine.”

Sheela says that she is fine.

Sheela said, “I am fine.

Sheela said that she was fine.

Jonathan said, “I am busy.”

Jonathan said that he was busy.

The students say, “We had finished our”

The students say that they had finished their work

You said, “I am writing a letter.

You said that you were writing a letter

You said to me, “You are writing a letter”.

Under quotation, the II person you refers to the Reporting object me
So you should be changed into the person of me (I person)

You told me that I was writing a letter.

Said to = told

Radha said to me, “I am right but you are wrong.”

I I person ____ change into Radha’s person (III person)

You II person ____ change into me’s person (I person)

Radha told me that she was right but I was wrong

Special changes in Tense Forms

Simple past past perfect
He said, “I met my old teacher”.

He said that he had met his old teacher.

They said, “we worked hard for them”.

They said that they had worked hard for them.

He said, “ I wrote him”.

He said that he had written him.

Exceptions :

Past tense is not changed if the indirect speech refers to a historical event.

eg: He said, “In ancient India, there lived many rishis or scholars.”

He said that in ancient India there lived many rishis or scholars.

Past tense is not changed if the indirect speech is II type conditional statement.

eg: He said, “If she invited me, I would attend the party.”

He said that if she invited him, he would attend the party.

Past tense is not changed if the Reported part contains two simultaneous actions

eg: He explained, “when caesar entered, people bowed with respect.

He explained that when Caesar entered people bowed with respect.

Reported statements are introduced by the following. Reporting verbs :

Say Inform Maintain

Tell Remark A vow

State Observe Swear

Announce Proclaim Insist

Assert Propose Assure

Affirm Suggest Deny etc.

Reported requests are introduced by the following Reporting verbs :

Request Implore Importune

Pray entreat Beseech etc.

Beg Plead with

Appeal to

Reported orders are introduced by the following Reporting verbs :

Tell Command enjoin

Ask Direct Call upon

Order Bid Instruct etc.

Reported questions are introduced by the following Reporting verbs :

Ask Demand

Inquire Question etc.

Query

I Structural Changes in Exclamatory Sentences

When we change an exclamatory sentence into Reported Speech, we should retain the meaning and feeling of the original sentence.
In changing, we have to adopt 2 steps. The first one is to change the exclamatory sentence into a statement and the second step : changing of the statement into its Reported speech.

eg: 1) He said, “ what a wonderful sunset!”

[I Step : “ it is a very wonder sunset”]

II Step : He exclaimed that it was a very wonderful sunset

2) The giant said, “ How selfish I have been “

[I Step : “ I have been very selfish”]

II Step : The giant exclaimed that he had been very selfish.

3) She said, “ How fine the weather is !”

[ I Step : “ The weather is very fine”]

II Step : She exclaimed that the weather was very fine.

4) The tourist said, “ what a splendid building !”

[I Step : “ It is a splendid building”]

II Step : The tourist exclaimed that it was a splendid building

5) The children said, “How happy we are here!”

[I Step :”We are very happy here.”]

II Step : The children exclaimed with delight that they were very happy there.

Another way of changing
He said, “What a wonderful sunset !”

He exclaimed with wonder what a wonderful sunset it was.

The giant said, ”How selfish I have been!”

The giant cursed himself how selfish he had been.

She said, ”How fine the weather is!”

She exclaimed with wonder how fine the weather was.

The tourist said, ”what a splendid building!”

The tourist exclaimed what a splendid building that was.

The children said, ”How happy we are there!”

The children exclaimed with delight how happy they were there.

II Structural changes in Imperative Sentences

( Requests, orders, advice, invitation, suggestions etc.)

Generally the Reported part is introduced by the Conjunctive that. It is omitted in the Imperative Sentence.
Requests and Orders are changed into Infinitive phrases.

eg: 1) He said to me, “carry my bag”.

He ordered me to carry his bag (Infinitive phrase)

2) She said to him, “please don’t abandon me !”

She requested him not to abandon her. (Infinitive phrase)

3) The teacher said to the students, “Learn this poem by heart”.

The teacher instructed the students to learn the poem by heart.

(Infinitive phrase)

4) He cried, “O god, have mercy on me !”

He prayed god to have mercy on him. (Infinitive phrase)

5) The boy said to the lady, “please give me something to eat.”

The boy begged the lady to give him something to eat. (Infinitive phrase)

He said to her, “Happy birthday !”

He wished her a happy birthday

He said to me, “Congratulations!”

He congratulated me.

He said to me, “thank you !”

He thanked me

He said, “shall we play chess ?” (suggestion)

He suggested that we should play chess.

She said to him, “will you come to the film with me ?” (Invitation)

She invited him to go to the film with her.

He said, “Let her consult a lawyer”. (suggestion)

He suggested her consulting a lawyer

[He suggested that she should consult a lawyer]

III Structural changes in Questions

See the structure of a question (Interrogative Sentence)

1	What	are	you	Looking	for ?
1	Question word	Auxiliary verb	Subject	l main verb
2	Why	did	you	scold	me ?
3	Why	are	you		angry ?
4		Have	you	solved	the problem
5		Did	she	see	him ?
6		Are	you		late ?
7		Are	you	going	to the dinner ?

In a question the subject comes after the verb. Thus we have V + S pattern
This V + S pattern should be changed into S + V pattern in the Reported Speech. It is called the Reported Question.
See the Reported Questions of the above ones.

What you are looking
Why you scolded (did + scold) me.
Why you are angry ;
You have solved the problem
She saw (did + see) him
You are
You are going to the dinner

In the Reported Questions, there is no question mark.

Exercise :

She said to him, “What are you looking for ?”

I step : What you are looking for

II step (Reported speech) : She asked him what he was looking for

He told me, “Why did you scold me ?

I step : Why you scolded me.

II step (Reported speech) : He asked me why I had scolded him.

Hari said to Sari, “Why are you angry ?

I step : Why you are angry.

II step : Hari asked Sari why she was angry.

Sujatha said to his brother, “Have you solved the problem ?”

I step : You have solved the problem

II step : Sujatha asked her brother whether he had solved the problem.

Suresh said to Azeez, “Did she see him” ?

I step: She saw him.

II step : Suresh asked Azeez whether she had seen him

The manager said, “Are you late ?”

I step : You are late.

II step : The manager asked her whether she was late.

My father said, “Are you going to the dinner ?”

I step : You are going to the dinner.

II step : My father asked me whether I was going to the dinner.

Questions beginning with Question words are called wh – Questions.

Questions beginning with auxiliary verbs are called Yes or No Questions.

Yes or No Questions are turned into Noun clauses beginning with whether or if. In wh – Questions there are no connectors like that, whether and if.