اللغة الإنجليزية – Grammar: Reported Speech (Direct and Indirect) – 3 ثانوي – شعبة آداب – بكالوريا – المنهاج الجزائري

English Grammar: Reported Speech

Reported speech (also called indirect speech) is used to report what someone said without quoting their exact words. When converting direct speech to reported speech, there are changes in tense, pronouns, and time expressions.

Direct vs Reported Speech

• Direct Speech: The exact words of the speaker, enclosed in quotation marks.
  
  Example: He said, “I am tired.”
• Reported Speech: A paraphrase of what the speaker said, without quotation marks.
  
  Example: He said that he was tired.

Tense Changes in Reported Speech

• Present Simple → Past Simple: “I work” → He said he worked.
• Present Continuous → Past Continuous: “I am working” → He said he was working.
• Present Perfect → Past Perfect: “I have worked” → He said he had worked.
• Past Simple → Past Perfect: “I worked” → He said he had worked.
• Will → Would: “I will work” → He said he would work.
• Can → Could: “I can work” → He said he could work.
• Must → Had to: “I must work” → He said he had to work.

Changes in Time and Place Expressions

• Now → Then / At that moment
• Today → That day
• Tomorrow → The next day / The following day
• Yesterday → The day before / The previous day
• Here → There
• This → That

Questions in Reported Speech

• Yes/No questions: Use “if” or “whether”. Example: “Do you like coffee?” → He asked if/whether I liked coffee.
• WH-questions: Keep the question word. Example: “Where do you live?” → He asked where I lived.

Commands and Requests

Use “ask” or “tell” + infinitive. Example: “Please sit down.” → He asked me to sit down.

Exercises

1. Report: She said, “I am studying English.”
2. Report: He asked, “Do you like music?”
3. Report: The teacher said, “Open your books.”
4. Change: “I will call you tomorrow” → He said…

Links

For more grammar, see How to Write an Essay and Vocabulary: Globalization and Cultural Identity.