Reported Speech: Direct and Indirect Speech – BAC Literary Stream

Reported Speech: Direct and Indirect Speech – BAC Literary Stream

Reported speech (also called indirect speech) is used to report what someone said without quoting them directly. It is an essential grammar topic for the BAC exam.

1. Direct vs Reported Speech

Direct Speech: She said, “I am happy.” (exact words in quotation marks)

Reported Speech: She said that she was happy. (reported without quotation marks)

2. Changes in Reported Speech

Pronoun changes:

• I → he/she
• You → he/she/they
• We → they
• My → his/her

Time and place changes:

• Now → then
• Today → that day
• Yesterday → the day before / the previous day
• Tomorrow → the next day / the following day
• Here → there
• This → that
• These → those

3. Backshift of Tenses

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Present Simple (play)	Past Simple (played)
Present Continuous (is playing)	Past Continuous (was playing)
Past Simple (played)	Past Perfect (had played)
Present Perfect (has played)	Past Perfect (had played)
Will (will play)	Would (would play)
Can (can play)	Could (could play)
Must (must play)	Had to (had to play)

4. Questions in Reported Speech

Yes/No questions: Use “if” or “whether”.

Direct: He asked, “Do you like coffee?”

Reported: He asked if I liked coffee.

Wh- questions: Keep the question word.

Direct: She asked, “Where do you live?”

Reported: She asked where I lived.

5. Commands in Reported Speech

Use “tell + to + infinitive” or “ask + to + infinitive”.

Direct: He said, “Close the door.”

Reported: He told me to close the door.

6. BAC Examples

Example 1 (BAC 2022): Rewrite: “I will visit my grandmother,” she said. Answer: She said that she would visit her grandmother.

Example 2 (BAC 2021): Rewrite: He asked, “Did you finish your homework?” Answer: He asked if I had finished my homework.

For more English lessons, check English Grammar and BAC Preparation.