On Direct and
Reported Speech
Transformations
He said, “I live in Parañaque.”
“I will give Jack a call,” he said.
“Where is the supermarket?” he
asked.
• Put “he said,” etc. before, in the middle, or after the
quote.
• Place commas, periods, question marks, and
exclamation points before the closing quotation mark.
Present Tense
answer
declare
Past Tense
answered
declared
reply
say
state
replied
said
stated
tell [+ direct object]
utter
told [+ direct object]
uttered
He said, “I live in Parañaque.”
He said that he lived in Parañaque.
• Depending on the context of the sentence, we
change “I” to “he” or “she,” “we” to “them,” etc.
• We usually change first-person personal pronouns (I,
we) to third person (he, she, they).
He said, “I live in Parañaque.”
He said that he lived in Parañaque.
He said, “I am cooking dinner.”
He said that he was cooking dinner.
• If your verb is in the past tense (“he said”), you
must change the present tense verbs inside the
quote to past tense.
• For known facts (such as, “The sun is round”), you always
use the present tense.
He said, “I went to Tagaytay last
week.”
He said that he had gone to
Tagaytay the weekend before.
• If your verb is in the past tense (as in, “he said”),
you must change the simple past tense verbs inside
the quote to past perfect tense, since you are talking
about an event which had happened before another past
action (“said”).
He said, “I went to Tagaytay last
week.”
He said that he had gone to
Tagaytay the weekend before.
• If your verb is in the past tense (as in, “he said”),
you must change the simple past tense verbs inside
the quote to past perfect tense, since you are talking
about an event which had happened before another past
action (“said”).
He said, “I may buy a new car.”
He said that he might buy a new
car.
When there is a modal inside a quote...
•
•
•
•
•
will becomes would
shall becomes should
can becomes could
must becomes had to
may becomes might
“I need to finish this movie,” he said.
He said that he needed to finish the
movie he was watching.
• If there are demonstrative pronouns (such as
this, that, these and those) in a quote, and you
want to change direct to indirect speech, make
sure your reader still understands what your
speaker is referring to.
“I’m going to school tomorrow,” he
said.
He said that he was going to
school the next day.
• If there are time elements in a quote, you
must change it to fit the time of the
reporting.
Time Expressions Use in Indirect
for Quoted Speech Speech
this evening
today/now
these days
(a week) ago
last weekend
that evening
then, …
those days
(a week) before
the previous
weekend
next (week) the following (week)
tomorrow the next/following
day
“What time is it?” he asked.
He asked what time it was.
•
When reporting questions, instead of that,
use where, what, when, which, how to
indicate a question asked.
“Have you eaten?” he asked the
girl.
He asked the girl if she had eaten.
• Use if or whether to indicate a question
answerable by yes or no.
He asked the girl if she had eaten.
“Have you eaten?” he asked the girl.
REMEMBER!
The order of the pronoun
and the verb in a quoted
question interchanges when
changed to reported speech!
“Practice CLAYGO,” he reminded
the students.
He reminded the students to
practice CLAYGO.
•
When reporting commands or requests,
instead of using that, use the infinitive to+verb
instead.
 word that introduces the reported
quote (that, where, why, if, whether,
to+verb, etc.)
 change in verb tense
 change in pronouns
 change in modals
 change in demonstrative pronouns
(this, that, those, these, etc.)
 change in time signifiers
Direct Speech
Indirect Speech
“When I grow up, I’m going to be
phenomenally rich! I’m going to be
the richest man alive!” (1)_________.
Calvin said that when (5)____ grows up, he
(6)_____ to be the richest man alive.
“But I won’t let wealth change
me!” Calvin continued.
His dad replied, (2)_____________
Calvin went on to say that he (7)_____ let
wealth change (8)_____, to which his dad
replied that it (9)______ (10)_____ last hope.
Calvin (3)_____ “You’re going to
be pretty lonely in the nursing
home.”
(4) ________ said his dad.
Calvin replied that (11)_______ (12)_____
to be pretty lonely in the nursing home.
His dad said that maybe by then,
(13)____ (14)_____ finish (15)______ book.
Exercise 2. Calvin and Hobbes
Direct Speech
Indirect Speech