Communication is typically a direct conversation between two people . . . but what happens when part of this conversation includes talking about a conversation with a third person? In this situation, we use Indirect Speech (also called Reported Speech). Students are often confused with how to translate Direct Speech to Indirect Speech, but follow these simple rules and you will be just fine!
Examples of Reported (Indirect) Speech
- “I am Swiss.”
- She said (that) she was Swiss.
- “I am living in San Francisco.”
- She said (that) she was living in San Francisco.
- “I went wine tasting in Napa.”
- She said (that) she has gone wine tasting in Napa.
- “I have been to Lake Tahoe.”
- She said (that) she had been to Lake Tahoe.”
General Rules of Indirect Speech
1. Remember that we often use “say” and “tell” to report what a person said.Â
Jake: “I am living in San Diego. I am studying English at CISL.”
Jake said he was living in San Diego and was studying English at CISL.
Jake told me he was living in San Diego and was studying English at CISL.
2. Identify the verb tenses used in the original sentence.
Jake: “I am living in San Diego. I am studying English at CISL.”
In these sentences, we have the Present Continuous.
3. Change the verb tense “back” on tense.
This means that you make Simple Present tenses into Simple Past tenses, Present Perfect tenses into Past Perfect tenses, etc. (More on this later.)
With the example used above, we must make the Present Continuous tense into the Past Continuous.
Jake: “I am living in San Diego. I am studying English at CISL.”
Jake said he was living in San Diego and was studying English at CISL.
4. Remove quotation marks
Notice how we also remove the quotation marks. These words are no longer Jake’s words: they are yours! Therefore, the quotation marks are not needed since you are not quoting anyone.
Changing Direct Speech Tenses
Follow these general rules for changing the tense of the Direct Speech to Indirect (Reported) Speech.
Present Simple –> Past Simple
Present Continuous –> Past Continuous
Present Perfect Simple –> Past Perfect Simple
Present Perfect Continuous –> Past Perfect Continuous
Past Simple –> Past Perfect
Past Continuous –> Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect  –> NO CHANGE
Past Perfect Continuous  –> NO CHANGE
Important Rule to Remember
Once true, always true: if the original sentence is something that is a general truth (and, therefore, probably a Simple Present tense) then we often keep the tense of the Reported Speech as Simple Present. For example, take a look at the first example used in this post:
- “I am Swiss.”
- She said (that) she was Swiss.
This could also (and probably more appropriately) be said as:
- “I am Swiss.”
- She said (that) she is Swiss.
The original speaker obviously doesn’t stop becoming Swiss!
Remember that we use Reported Speech when we are telling someone about a conversation we had with a third person; therefore, any time you are reporting about something you were told, you use this grammar point. Obviously, we often report on what others have told us, so Reported Speech is a very useful English skill to have!