Reported Speech

When we report someone’s words we can do it in two ways. We can use direct speech with quotation marks or reported speech.

DIRECT SPEECH(நேர்க்கூற்று)

If we report the words of a speaker in his own words, it is called as direct speech.

பேசுபவரின் கூற்றை அவர் கூறியவாறு குறிப்பிடுவது நேர்க்கூற்று எனப்படும்.

EX:

He said ,” I am very happy”.

அவன் சொன்னான்,”நான் மிகவும் சந்தோசமாக இருக்கிறேன்”.

INDIRECT SPEECH (அயற்கூற்று)

If we report the words of a speaker without saying his own words and in our own words, it is known as indirect speech.

பேசுபவரின் கூற்றை அவர் கூறியவாறு குறிப்பிடாமல் நமது சொந்த வார்த்தைகளில் குறிப்பிடுவது அயற்கூற்று ஆகும்.

EX:

He told that he was very happy.

அவன் தான் மகிழ்ச்சியாக இருப்பதாக கூறினான்.

Reported Speech

Introductory and subordinate clause

Nimal said, ”He always helps poor.”

Introductory        Subordinate clause

Clause

Underline the introductory clause 

1.       She says, “My mother is very kind.”

2.       He said to them, “I shall settle the loans tomorrow.”

3.       “I will help you with your work,” he said to his brother. 

4.       “You are teaching her,” he said to me, “all dirty habits.” 

5.       Ram thinks, ”The ghost will kill him.”

Reporting verb- say, tell, think, promise, advise, mention, inform etc.

When transforming sentences into reported, check whether you have to change following:

1. Commas and quotation must be changed.

குறியீடுகளை நீக்குவது.

EX:

Direct   :  He said ,” I am very happy now”.

Indirect : He said  I am very happy now.

2. Change in pronoun.

பிரதிபெயர் சொற்களை மாற்றுவது.

EXAM:

He said ,” I am very happy now”.

He told that he is very happy now.

3. Changes of a tense forms

வினைசொல்லின் காலமாற்றம்.

EX:

He said ,” I am very happy now”.

He told  that he  was  very happy now.

4. CHANGE IN TIME ADVERBIALS.

கால வினை உரிமாற்றங்கள்.

He said ,” I am very happy now”.

He said  that  he  was  very happy then.

Pronoun

Direct Speech → Sujatha said, “I work in an office.”

Reported Speech → Sujatha said (that)* she worked in an office.

“That” is optional in reported speech.

Direct	Indirect
I	He , She
We	They
Us	Them
Our	Their
Ours	Theirs
Ourselves	Themselves
Myself	Himself , Herself
Me	Him , Her
My	His , Her
Mine	His , Hers

Change the following sentences into indirect speech. Don’t bother about tenses

1.     He said, “John is my friend.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2.     "I always drink coffee", she said

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3.     He said “ II arrived on Saturday.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

4.     They complained, "We have been waiting for hours".

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5.     Brintha: "I will have to borrow your pencil."

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6.     Manal: "My father is a Kandian.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Tenses and reported speech

When we change direct speech sentence into indirect speech, tense of subordinate clause might be changed. We can tabulate those changes as following

Direct Speech	Reported Speech/Indirect Speech
Simple Present He said, "I am happy" He said, "I like Apple"	Simple Past He said that he was happy He said that he liked apple
Present Continuous He said, “I’m looking for my keys"	Past Continuous He said that he was looking for his keys
Simple Past He said, "I visited Jaffna last year"	Past Perfect Simple He said that he had visited Jaffna the previous year.
Present Perfect  He said: " I've lived here for a long time "	Past Perfect  He said that he had lived there for a long time
Past Perfect  He said, "They had finished the work when I arrived"	Past Perfect  He said that they had finished the work when he had arrived"
Past Continuous He said, "I was playing football	Past Perfect Continuous He said that he had been playing football
Present Perfect Continuous He said, “I have been playing football for two hours."	Past Perfect Continuous He said that he had been playing football for two hours
Past Perfect Continuous He said, "I had been reading a newspaper when the light went off"	Past Perfect Continuous He said that he had been reading a newspaper when the light had gone off
Future Simple (will+verb) He said, "We will open the door."	Conditional (would+verb) He said that they would open the door.
Future Simple (shall+verb) He said,"I shall open the door."	Conditional (would+verb) He said that he would open the door.
Conditional (would+verb) He said, "I wouldn’t buy a blue sapphire  if I were rich"	Conditional (would+verb) He said that he wouldn’t  buy a blue sapphire  if he had been rich"
Modals
Can Malen said, "I can do it."	Could Malen said he could do it.
May Nirmala said, “I may buy a new bicycle.”	Might Nirmala said that she might buy a new bicycle.
Must The principal said, "She must apply for the job."	Must/had to The principal said that she must/had to apply for the job.

Helping verb

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Am/is	Was
Are	were
Was/were	Had been
Has been
Had been

காலத்தை மாற்ற தேவையில்லாத சந்தர்பங்கள் No change in tense –/No backshift of tense

1. அறிமுக  சொற்தொடர்(introductory clause) Simple Present tense, future or other present forms இல் இருந்தால்.ஆனால் இங்கு வினை சொல்லினை மாற்றவேண்டும்

Example:

He says, “I speak English.”             He says that he speaks English.

2. பொது உணமையினை தெரிவிக்கும் போது

Example:

Teacher said, “The sun rises in the east.”             Teacher said the sun rises in the east

3. When statements are still true. Here Backshift of tenses is optional.

Example:

Ramesh: “My brother is at Peradiya University.”                Ramesh said that his brother was at Peradeniya University. 

Or

Ramesh said that his brother is at Peradeniya University. 

Place and time expressions

Direct- "I saw him today", she said.

Indirect- She said that she had seen him that day.

Direct- Kim said to his sister, “I like this shirt.”

Indirect- Kim told his sister that he liked that shirt.  

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Time Expressions
today	that day
now	then
yesterday	the day before
… days ago	… days before
last week	the week before/  the previous week
next year	the following year
tomorrow	the next day / the following day
…………………..	………………………………………
…………………..	………………………………………..
Place
here	there
there	there
Demonstratives
this	that
these	those

Question and imperative sentence

Direct-    The little girl said to him, “Do you know my father?”      

Indirect- The little girl asked him if he knew her father. 

Direct- Dinu said to me, ”Where is the Post Office?”

Indirect-He asked me where the Post Office was.

Direct -John said to me, “Give me your pen!”

Indirect-  John ordered me to give him my pen. 

Direct-Jameel said to her, “Open the window for me now, please.”   

Indirect-  Jameel requested her to open the window for him then.

Activity

Match the pronouns in column A with the pronouns in column B.

A-Direct                                      B-Indirect

I                                                      they We                                                 he/she my                                                 his/her your                                              their our                                                them me                                                 him/her us                                                   my

Change the sentence into indirect speech

1. She said, "I am reading."

   She said that she was reading.
2. They said, "We are busy."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3.Kajan said, "I know a better restaurant."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
4.She said, "I woke up early."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5.He said, "I will ring her."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6.They said, "We arrived."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
7.He said, "I will clean the car."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
8. Maria said, "I did not say that."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
9.Geetha said, "I don't know  where my shoes are."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
10.Deniel said: "I won't tell anyone."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

11.They said, "This is our book."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

12.Manjula said, "I went to the cinema yesterday."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

13.He said, "I am writing a test tomorrow."

     …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

14.You said, "I will do this for him."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

15.She said, "I am not hungry now."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

16.The judges said, "We have never been here before."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

17. They said, "We were in Polonnaruwa last week.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

18. "Where is my umbrella?" she asked.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

19. Rimas asked, "Do I have to do it?"

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

20. "Stop talking, Risa," the teacher said.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

These people have gone to the doctor. Write what they are saying in reported speech. First one is done for you.

I get pains in my leg.(Women)

She says that she gets pains in her leg

I have a headache all the time(A Boy) ………………………………………………………………

I’ve hurt my back(Women)

 ……………………………………………………………..  

A dog bit my leg(an Old Man) ……………………………………………………………..

I fell down and hurt myself(Young Boy)

……………………………………………………………..   I can't sleep.(Female) ………………………………………………………………

Given below is a conversation Pubudu had with Udara. Complete the extract from a letter Pubudu wrote to another friend a few weeks later mentioning about this conversation. The first one is done for you.

Pubudu : Hi, Udara! Where are you going?

Udara : Hi! I’m on my way to the book fair to buy a dictionary.

Pubudu : Really! My uncle gave me one recently.

Udara : Do you know how to use it?

Pubudu : Yes. My sister is helping me.

Udara : By the way, would you like to come with me?

Pubudu : I’m sorry, I can’t. I have volleyball practices.

Udara : Then it’s OK. I’ll bring my new dictionary to school tomorrow.

Pubudu : I’ll bring mine too. See you!

I met Udara a few weeks ago. He said that (1) he was on his way to the book fair to buy dictionary

I told him that my uncle (2) ……………………………… recently. Udara asked me if I knew how

to use it and I told him that my sister (3) …………………………….. . Then he invited me to join him

to go to the book fair but I said I couldn’t because (4) ………………………………………….....…… .

He said that (5) …………………………………………………………… . I said that (6) ……........……

………………………………………… too.