The topic is indirect speech in English. Indirect speech in English: rules, examples and exceptions in various tense forms

While learning English, each of us inevitably encounters reading literature. Most often, the main difficulty lies precisely in retelling what has been read, when you need to turn direct speech into indirect speech (reported/indirect speech).
We have already talked about how to convey direct speech when writing using quotation marks, and now we will look at the oral nuances of its presentation.
You can often hear the question: “What did he answer you?” You start: “He said that...” Indeed, what next?
How to correctly coordinate all grammatical aspects, choose the right tense, word order, and reflect the nature of the question or narrative sentence? Today we will look at and give examples of these interesting questions.

So let's decide:

Direct speech- a literal introduction into the author’s speech of any remarks. Syntactic structures are used in accordance with the speaker's personality.

He says, " I will come."/ He says: “I will come.”

Indirect speech- a way of introducing someone else's speech into your speech. In this case, sentences are constructed in the third person.

He says that he will come./ He says he will come.

When talking about the transition from direct to indirect speech, two important factors should be taken into account: the organization of syntax and punctuation (that is, the coordination and organization of words, the abandonment of quotation marks, the introduction of auxiliary conjunctions, word order) and the coordination of tenses within the new sentence.

Syntax and punctuation of indirect speech

In the case of a sentence transitioning from direct speech to indirect speech, the “loss” of quotation marks should be taken into account. By and large, from two equivalent independent sentences we get a complex sentence with a main and dependent part. Usually in English such sentences are united by the conjunction that, although its absence does not in any way disrupt the order:

She told me, "I like black coffee."/ direct speech

She told me that she liked black coffee./ reported speech
She told me she liked black coffee./ reported speech

Please note that not only the punctuation changes, but also the pronouns. We will coordinate the information by analogy with the Russian language. There is a 100% coincidence here, because we are talking more about the logic of presenting information.

Mary asks me"Will you come?"
Mary asks me, if I will come.

From this example it is clear that the pronoun you changes to I, since we are talking about me, accordingly, in the presentation, as well as in the Russian language, pronouns will be agreed upon by person.

This example is also interesting because in direct speech the sentence is a question. In English, there is a certain principle of agreeing on word order when translating questions from direct speech to indirect speech. Let us list the main features of the organization of such proposals:

Firstly, the question mark disappears and is replaced by a simple dot.

Secondly, in indirect speech, sentences again acquire direct word order. This can be explained very simply - there is a period at the end.

General question introduced by unions if or whether, which translates as " whether"in Russian languages ​​are not related to subjunctive conjunctions:

Brian asked me, "Will you marry me?"
Brian asked me if I would marry him.

Special questions are introduced with question words:

"Why do you love me?" she said.
She said why I loved her.

We restore direct word order and omit the auxiliary verb in indirect speech.

Sentences in the imperative mood combined in indirect speech through a particle to. Punctuation marks (quotation marks and exclamation mark, if any) disappear:

Matthew asked me, "Play the piano, please."
Matthew asked me to play the piano.

Negative imperative sentences With don't are introduced into indirect speech through not to:

Bobby said, "Don't smoke, Laura!"
Bobby told Laura not to smoke.

Agreement of tenses in indirect speech

Coordination of tenses can cause difficulties when the predicate of the main sentence (directly the words of the author) is used in one of the past tense forms. If predicate the main clause is expressed by a verb in present time, then the sentence in indirect speech retains verb forms in all parts of the sentence:

Dan says, "You look so fine!"
Dan says I look great.

Julia askes, "When do did you come back?"
Julia asks me when I come back.

Agreement with the predicate in the past tense


The principle applies here - the predicate of the subordinate clause (the one that was in quotation marks) will be introduced into indirect speech in time one step earlier, that is:

Present will go to Past
Future will go to Past
Past will go to Past Perfect

1. The action of the subordinate clause occurs simultaneously with the main action or expressed by a verb in the future tense. In this case, Past Simple or Past Continuous is used:

He said, "I love my wife."
He said he loved his wife.

He asked, "What are are you doing?"
He asked what I was doing.

Mike was told, "They will arrive tomorrow."
Mike was told that they would arrive the next day.

2. The action of direct speech happened before. In this case, Perfect tenses are used:

Alex asked, " Did you go to the party yesterday?"
Alex asked if I had gone to the party the day before.

Please take into account changing circumstances of the time. Yesterday, for example, according to the rules of English grammar, can never be used with perfect tenses. We replaced it with the day before, preserving the essence of the concept itself " yesterday", A tomorrow in the first paragraph on the next day.

You can’t do without indirect speech exceptions. The tenses will not agree, but will remain in both sentences if there is a specific date or a well-known fact is being discussed:

He said, "The tower was built in 1255 ."
He said that the tower was built in 1255 .

We wish you interesting practice and success in coordination!

Victoria Tetkina

Very often in speech we need to convey someone’s words (someone said something), and often we do this in our own words, avoiding direct speech. How do we do this? Very simply, we turn it into a subordinate clause.

John said, "I want to get a new job." – John said, “I want a new job.”
John said (that) he wanted to get a new job. – John said that he wants to get a new job.

We will talk further about how to do this correctly.

The English language has a number of features that should be taken into account when changing direct speech V indirect.

In order to convert direct speech into indirect speech, you need to omit the comma after the words introducing direct speech and the quotation marks. Often indirect speech in English is introduced by the conjunction that, which, however, can be omitted (that’s why we put the word that in brackets in the example above).

You should have noticed that our time category has changed ( I want on I wanted), a similar phenomenon in English is called coordination of times(this is the dependence of the tense of the verb in the subordinate clause on the tense of the verb in the main one).

In the table below you can see all cases of such transformations.

If the predicate of the main sentence is in present or future time, then the predicate of the subordinate clause will stand in the same tense that was in direct speech.

The situation is a little more complicated if the predicate of the main sentence is in past time, this is where the same rules come into force coordination of times.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Present Simple	Past Simple
He said, "I go to bed" – He says: "I'm going to bed."	He said (that) he went to bed. – He said he was going to bed.
Present Continuous	Past Continuous
Mark said, "I am doing my homework". – Mark says: "I'm doing my homework."	Mark said (that) he was doing his homework. – Mark said he was doing his homework.
Past Simple	Past Perfect
She said, "I made a cake.” – She said, “I made a cake.”	She said (that) she had made a cake. – She said she made a cake.
Present Perfect	Past Perfect
Alex said, "I have been to London". – Alex said: "I was in London."	Alex said (that) he had been to London. – Alex said he was in London.
Past Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
They said, "We were playing football". – They said: "We played football."	They said (that) they had been playing football. – They said they were playing football.
Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
She said, "I have been watching this film for 2 hours". – She said: "I watched this movie for two hours."	She said (that) she had been watching that film for 2 hours. – She said she watched that movie for two hours.
Future Simple	Future Simple in the Past
He said, "I will"buy a car". – He said: "I'll buy a car."	He said (that) he would buy a car. – He said he would buy a car.
Past Perfect	DOES NOT CHANGE
James said, "I had built my house." – James said, “I built a house.”	James said (that) he had built his house. – James said he built the house.
Past Perfect Continuous	DOES NOT CHANGE
She said, "I had been reading for 3 hours". – She said, “I read for three hours.”	She said (that) she had been reading for 3 hours. – She said she read for three hours.

It is also important to remember that in addition to the verbs themselves, when agreeing tenses, we need to take into account changes in adverbs and pronouns.

Personal and possessive pronouns

Olga said, " I will give you back your book". – Olga said: “I will give you your book.”
Olga said (that) she would give me back my book. – Olga said that she would give me my book.

You you can not say:

you back your book. – Olga told me that she would give you yours book.

and, as in Russian, you will say:

Olga said that she would give me back my book. – Olga will give it back me my book.

Demonstrative pronouns and adverbs of time and place

Direct speech	Indirect speech
this (this)	that (that, this)
these (these)	those (those, these)
now (now)	then (then)
here (here)	there (there)
today (today)	that day (on that day)
tomorrow (tomorrow)	the next day (the next day)
the day after tomorrow (the day after tomorrow)	two days later (in two days)
yesterday (yesterday)	the day before (the day before)
the day before yesterday (the day before yesterday)	two days before (two days earlier)
ago (back)	before (before)
next year (next year)	the next year, the following year (next year)
last night (last night, last night)	the previous night (previous evening, night)

That is, when translating our phrase into indirect speech:

Richard said, “I went to my parents yesterday». – Richard said: “I went to see my parents yesterday.”

We will get:

Richard said (that) he had gone to his parents the day before. – Richard said he went to see his parents yesterday.

Another example:

She said, "I saw this film last night». – She said, “I saw this movie last night.”
She said (that) she had seen that film the previous night. – She said she had seen that movie the previous night.

Modal verbs

You will also need information about how modal verbs behave when moving from direct to indirect speech.

Mike said, "I can cook this dish.” – Mike said, “I can make this dish.”
Mike said (that) he could cook that dish. – Mike said he could cook that dish.

She said, "I could go to school." – She said, “I could go to school.”
She said (that) she could go to school. – She said she could go to school.

Conditional sentences

Sometimes we also need to change conditional sentences into indirect speech.

Type I conditional sentence changes according to the rules coordination of times.

If the weather is fine, I will go outside. – If the weather is good, I will go outside.
He said if the weather was fine, he would go outside. – He said that if the weather was good, he would go outside.

Conditional sentences Types II and III do not change their shape.

Type II:

If the weather were fine, I would go outside. – If the weather was good, I would go outside.
I said if the weather were fine, I would go outside. – I said that if the weather was good, I would go outside.

III type:

If the weather had been fine yesterday, I would have gone outside. – If the weather had been good yesterday, I would have gone outside.
I said if the weather had been fine, I would have gone outside. – I said that if the weather had been good yesterday, I would have gone outside.

Question in direct speech

Now such a moment, let’s say you have question in direct speech, which needs to be transferred to indirect speech.

Unlike a question in direct speech, where in most cases there is a reverse word order (except for questions to the subject) - the subject is preceded by the predicate or part of it,

questions in indirect speech have the structure of a narrative sentence, i.e. direct word order(subject followed by predicate)

There is no question mark at the end of such a sentence, an auxiliary verb to do V Present And Past Indefinite not used.

She asked me, “When did you see me?” – She asked me: “When did you see me?”
She asked me when I had seen her. – She asked me when I saw her.

He asked me, “Who showed you my notes?” – He asked me: “Who showed you my notes?”
He asked me who had shown me his notes. – He asked me about who showed me his notes.

Here we see a question to the subject, and there is no auxiliary verb at all.

General issues are replaced by a subordinate clause, which is attached to the main one using conjunctions if And whether meaning particles whether. There is no comma.

She asked me, “Do you know my husband?” – She asked me: “Do you know my husband?”
She asked if (whether) I knew her husband. – She asked me if I knew her husband.

Imperative mood

And the last case that you may encounter in this topic is the transformation of the imperative mood. In indirect speech, the imperative mood is replaced infinitive.

He said to me, “Open the window.” – He told me: “Open the window.”
He asked me to open the window. – He asked to open the window.

If direct speech expresses order, then we replace the verb to say(say) on to tell (command, say) or to order(to order). If direct speech expresses a request, then the verb to say we replace with to ask(ask)

She said to me, “Give me a pen.” – She said, "Give me a pen."
She told me to give her a pen. – She told me to give her a pen.

As for the negative form, in indirect speech in the imperative mood the negation is replaced infinitive with a particle not.

James said to her, “Don't go.” – James told her: “Don’t go.”
James asked her not to go. – James asked her not to leave.

Direct speech and indirect speech (Reported speech) is one of the most complex grammatical topics in the English language. The difficulty lies in the fact that in this section for each type of speech there are a large number of rules, nuances and subtleties that must be learned for a normal understanding of this language.

But don’t despair right away! Better be patient and start learning speech.

Table of direct and indirect speech

The peculiarity of translating direct speech into indirect speech is that it is not the formula that changes, but the time itself. That is, if we want to translate the first type of speech into the second, we need to take a “step back”.

Examples:

When translating into Russian, this is not noticeable, but in English, when transmitting someone else’s statement, time is necessarily set back one step. This is a mandatory rule for constructing indirect speech, which can only be violated in very rare cases.

Conversion table:

Direct speech	Indirect speech
Present Continuous	Past Continuous
Present Perfect
Past Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
	He had been/they had been
	Future in the Past

Examples:

• I go to the school. – Tom said he went to the school. I am going to school. Tom said that he goes to school.
• Mary is listening to the music right now. – Mary said that she was listening to the music right away. Mary is listening to music right now. Mary said that she listens to music.
• My sister has lived since the childhood in our father’s house. – I said that my sister had lived since the childhood in our father`s house. My sister has lived in our father's house since childhood. “I said that my sister has lived in our father’s house since childhood.
• I went to the cinema yesterday evening. – Peter said that he had gone to the cinema the day before. Yesterday evening I went to the cinema. Peter said that he went to the cinema yesterday.
• Parents were making a birthday cake for my little brother. – My granny said that my parents had been making a birthday cake for my little brother. My parents made a birthday cake for my little brother. – Grandma said that my parents made a birthday cake for my little brother.
• Alice will do this exercise tomorrow. – The teacher said that Alice would do this exercise the following day. Alice will do this exercise tomorrow. – The teacher said that Alice will do this exercise tomorrow.

Note! The connecting conjunction that serves to combine sentences in indirect speech; it can be omitted, which is often done in colloquial speech, but it can also be used (this is a more formal style).

Difference between say and tell

It can be very difficult to catch the difference between these two verbs in speech, but it still exists. They both refer to the action of speaking orally. But the difference lies in how and with whom to talk.

To say means simply to speak (or to say something without indicating a person); to tell is used when something is reported to a specific person.

Examples:

Examples:

• Peter said that he was a good musician. Peter said that he is a good musician.
• Mila told her parents that she would study in the university.– Mila told her parents that she would study at the university.

Features of the use of some verbs in direct and indirect speech

Some verbs (mostly modal) have their own characteristics when constructing indirect speech, which you need to know and be able to distinguish. Below they are given with examples.

Will -> Would

Will is a modal verb that is used to construct the future tense. When translating direct speech into indirect speech, it changes and turns into Would.

Examples:

• I will be a doctor. – Her daughter said that she would be a doctor. I will be a doctor. – Her daughter said that she would be a doctor.
• I will go to the library tomorrow. – Mikel said that he would go to the library the following day. I'll go to the library tomorrow. Michael said that he will go to the library tomorrow.
• I will not (won`t) do this for me. – He said that he would not (wouldn`t) do this for me. I won't do this for you. “He said he wouldn’t do this for me.”

Can -> Could

This modal verb denotes the physical ability to be able to do something.

Example:

• I can swim. I can swim.
• I can bake cakes and different kinds of biscuits. I can bake cakes and different types of cookies.

When direct speech changes to indirect, it is modified into a verb Could.

Examples:

May -> Might

This modal verb also denotes the ability to be able to do something, but not physically. They are often used in both types of speech.

Example:

• May I come in? Can I come in?
• May I borrow your pen?-Can I borrow your pen?

When translating sentences from direct speech to indirect speech, this verb undergoes changes and turns into Might.

Examples:

• May I come in? – She asked if she might come in. Can I come in? – She asked if she could come in.

If you are tired of learning English for years?

Those who attend even 1 lesson will learn more than in several years! Surprised?

No homework. No cramming. No textbooks

From the course “ENGLISH BEFORE AUTOMATION” you:

• Learn to write competent sentences in English without memorizing grammar
• Learn the secret of a progressive approach, thanks to which you can reduce English learning from 3 years to 15 weeks
• You will check your answers instantly+ get a thorough analysis of each task
• Download the dictionary in PDF and MP3 formats, educational tables and audio recordings of all phrases

Shall -> Should

The verb Shall, like Will, is used to construct the future tense, but it sounds very outdated, so it is rarely used in speech, especially colloquial. But sometimes, when translating direct speech into indirect speech, it can be used and in this case it is transformed into Should.

Examples:

• What shall we give him when we come to his party? – They wondered what they should give him when they come to his party. What will we give him when he comes to his party? – They asked what they would give to their friend when they come to his house for a party.

Shall -> Would

Since this verb has the same functions as the verb Will, it can sometimes be converted into a modal verb Would and use with the future tense of indirect speech.

Examples:

• My mother said “I shall go to the shop tomorrow.” – My mother said that she would go to the shop the following day. Mom said: “I’ll go to the store tomorrow.” Mom said that she will go to the store tomorrow.

Changing time and place indicators

In addition to time, when translating direct speech into indirect speech, various indicators of time and place that define a given time also change. Learning how they change is simply necessary. Otherwise, when using pointers that refer to indirect speech in direct speech, or vice versa, you will look very stupid, since you have composed a grammatically incorrect sentence.

Example:

Changing time and place indicators:

Here – there / here – there;

This – that / this – that;

These – those / these – those;

Today – that day / today – on that day;

Yesterday – the previous day; the day before / tomorrow - on the previous day; the day before;

Tomorrow – the next day; the following day / tomorrow - the next day;

Now – then; right away; at that moment / now – then, at that moment;

Tonight – that night / tonight – that night;

Last night – the previous night / last night – the previous night;

A year ago - a year before / a year ago - for the year of this.

Examples:

Cases when tenses remain unchanged

The tenses do not always change when translating direct speech into indirect speech. Some of them may remain in their original form in someone else’s speech, then the construction of direct and indirect speech coincides.

Interrogative sentences

Interrogative sentences when translating direct speech into indirect speech also take place. Their design is a little complicated, but if you understand this topic, then there should be no problems.

General issues

General issues- this is the easiest type of question, which is constructed using an auxiliary verb or a modal verb, if we are talking about direct speech. But when direct speech changes to indirect, some changes occur.

For example, the order of speech remains affirmative, but if and whether particles are added, that connect two parts of a sentence. They have the same meaning and denote the interrogative particle “whether”. The question mark is not used in indirect speech.

Formula:

Main clause + if (whether) + secondary clause (speech order unchanged).

Examples:

• Mother asked “Is the weather nice today?” – Mother asked If (whether) the weather was nice that day. Mom asked: “Is the weather good today?” – Mom asked if the weather was good today.
• Molly asked me “Will you go to the party tomorrow?” – Molly asked me if (whether) I would go to the party the following day. Molly asked "Are you going to the party tomorrow?" – Molly asked if I was going to the party tomorrow.
• The teacher asked us “Have you done your homework?” – The teacher asked us if (whether) we had done our homework. The teacher asked us “Have you done your homework?” – The teacher asked us if we had done our homework.
• Tom asked his friend “Do you receive these letters every month?” – Tom asked his friend if (whether) he received those letters every month. Tom asked his friend, “Do you receive these letters every month?” Tom asked his friend if he receives letters every month.
• She asked “Can I go with you?” – She asked if (whether) she could go with us. She asked "Can I come with you?" “She asked if she could come with us.”

Special questions

Special questions– these are questions that involve the use of special words, thanks to which you can learn about something in more detail. When translating a special question from direct speech to indirect speech, the order of the sentence remains affirmative, and the question word will serve as a connecting conjunction. There is also no question mark in this type of speech.

Formula:

Main clause + question word + subordinate clause.

Examples:

• Granny asked “What is your favorite subject at school?” – Granny asked what my favorite subject at school was. Grandma asked, “What is your favorite subject at school?” Grandma asked what my favorite subject at school was.
• Mother asked her son “Where did you go?” – Mother asked her son where he had gone. Mom asked her son, “Where did you go?” – Mom asked her son where he went.
• The teacher asked the pupils “When did you come?” – The teacher asked pupils when they had gone. The teacher asked the students, “When did you arrive?” – The teacher asked the students when they arrived.
• My little brother Tom asked our mother “When do the stars fall?” – My little brother Tim asked our mother when the stars fall. My little brother Tom asked our mother: “When do the stars fall?” – My little brother Tom asked our mother when the stars fall.

Imperative mood in indirect speech

The imperative mood in indirect speech also cannot be classified as an easy topic, because here each sentence has its own special rule.

But the general changes are:

Examples:

• Mother said “Do not (don`t) do this!” – Mother told me to stop doing that. Mom said, “Stop doing that!” “Mom told me to stop doing this.”
• Molly said "Tell me the truth about you." – Molly asked me to tell the truth about me. Molly said, “Tell me the whole truth about yourself.” – Molly asked me to tell the whole truth about me.
• She said: “Stop laughing at my friend.” – She asked me not to laugh at her friend. She said "Stop laughing at my friend." “She asked me not to laugh at her friend.”

Replacing pronouns and adverbs

In addition to indicators of time and place, when translating direct speech into indirect speech, other parts of speech such as pronouns and adverbs also change.

Replacing pronouns:

I – he, she – I – he, she;

We – they – we – they;

You – she, he – you – she, he;

Me – him, her – me – his, her;

Them – us – their – us;

You – her, him – you – her, him;

Your – his, her – yours – his, her;

My – his. her - mine - his, her;

Our – their – our – theirs.

Examples:

• I am a very good pupil. – She said that she was a very good pupil. I'm a very good student. – She said that she was a very good student.
• We are drawing this for the competition. – They said that they were drawing that for the competition. We are drawing this for a competition. “They said they were drawing it for a competition.”
• I cannot (can`t) find my books. – I knew that he could not (couldn`t) find his books. I can't find my books. “I know he can’t find his books.”

Bypassing indirect clauses

Sometimes, when translating direct speech into indirect speech, you can cheat a little and bypass indirect sentences, replacing them with similar ones in meaning. For this, there are a large number of synonymous words that can be used in this type of speech.

Examples:

• Polly said “I will not (won`t) do this work.” – Polly refused to do this work. Polly said, "I won't do this work." Polly refused to do this work.
• They said "Yes, we do." - They agreed. They said: "Yes." - They agreed.

Conclusion

Mastering the topic of translating direct speech into indirect speech is a very important point in learning English grammar. This part is quite difficult, and to master it well, you will need to devote more than one hour of work to it. But believe me, it's worth it.

And in the future, in order to avoid gross or stupid mistakes and inaccuracies, you need to learn all the rules given in this article and practice translating sentences at least a couple of times a day. Don't be lazy!

In order to quickly master the construction of speech: direct and indirect, you need to practice as much as possible and not give up halfway. Only this will help you overcome this difficult section of grammar.

Good luck in learning English!

To understand what indirect speech is in English grammar, you first need to understand what direct speech is.

Direct speech is a phrase of a subject, it sounds directly from the mouth and is written in quotation marks

Direct speech is a separate sentence, so after we open the quotation marks, we write the first word with a capital letter. In English, words indicating who is speaking are followed by a comma. While in Russian we put a colon:

• He said, “I will return your book tomorrow.”

He said, “I will return your book tomorrow.”

Indirect speech is a way of transmitting words spoken by another person, while the transmitter transforms other people's words grammatically and in meaning so that it is clear who they belong to, while maintaining the general content of what was said.

• He said he would return my book the next day.

He said that he would return my book the next day.
Secrets of English indirect speech

In narrative sentences of the English language, a number of changes occur when direct speech turns into indirect:

1. After words that introduce the author's phrase, a comma is no longer placed
2. After the introductory words there is a conjunction that(what), sometimes you can do without it
3. If the introductory words contain a verb to say(say) it is replaced by to tell(say) if it is followed by an addition indicating to whom the phrase is addressed

The following table with visual examples will help you understand the rules listed above.

Main clauses are precisely those introductory words, such as “Luke said,” “she claims,” “the parents answered,” etc. They retain their tense form:

• Present Indefinite(Present Simple)
• Present Perfect(Present perfect)
• Future Indefinite(Future Simple), even as part of indirect speech

The table with examples will again help you understand this rule.

Gradually we came to an important point in grammar, which must be analyzed in order to understand how indirect speech is formed in the English language. I mean the rules for agreeing tenses in English in indirect speech. The following table conveys the principle of the transition of tenses (in the top column - the time that is used in direct speech, in the bottom column - the time that should be used in indirect speech).

Using examples, let's look at how time can change when converting speech.

1. Present Simple(Present simple) -> Past Simple(Past Simple)
   • Nick said, "I learn English." - Nick said: “I’m learning English.”
   • Nick said that he learned English. — Nick said that he is learning English
2. Present Progressive(Present Continuous) -> Past Progressive(Past Continuous)
   • Leonardo said, "I am reading the book now." — Leonardo said: “I am reading a book now.”
   • Leonardo said that he was reading the book then. — Leonardo said that he is reading a book now
3. Present Perfect(Present Perfect) -> Past Perfect(Past Perfect)
   • Angelina said, “I have seen him this morning.” - Angelina said: “I saw him this morning.”
   • Angelina said that she had seen him that morning. — Angelina said she saw him this morning
4. Past Progressive(Past Continuous) -> Past Progressive/ Past Perfect Progressive(Past Perfect Continuous)
   • Robert said, "I was swimming." - Robert said: “I was swimming.”
   • Robert said that he was swimming. — Robert said that he was swimming.
   • Robert said that he had been swimming. — Robert said that he swam
5. Past Simple(Past Simple) -> Past Perfect(Past Perfect)
   • Nina said, "I wrote the letters." — Nina said: “I wrote letters.”
   • Nina said that she had written the letters. — Nina said that she wrote letters
6. Future Simple(Future Simple) -> Future in the Past(Future in the Past)
   • Kate said, “I will find the solution of this problem.” - Kate said, “I will find the solution to this problem.”
   • Kate said that she would find the solution of this problem. —Kate said she would find a solution to this problem

English grammar strictly regulates the use of tense forms necessary in a particular case. The fact is that each of them has its own characteristics, through which information about the period of the action is obvious. When translated into Russian, these subtleties are not so noticeable, due to the fact that Russian grammar is different from English.

Necessary modifications in interrogative and imperative sentences

1. An indirect question differs from a regular question:
   • Has direct word order, that is, a structure similar to a declarative sentence
   • Doesn't require a question mark
   • Doesn't need Present Simple And Past Simple in an auxiliary verb to do, which is replaced by if(whether)
     • Daniel said, “Do you want to walk?”
     • Daniel asked if I want to walk. — Daniil asked if I wanted to go for a walk
   • The rules for coordinating tenses between the main and subordinate clauses remain the same as in narrative sentences
   • Special question words still remain in indirect speech, helping to create a connection between the main and subordinate clauses.
     • Bob asked me, “When did you meet her?” - Bob asked: “When did you see her?”
     • Bob asked me when I had met her. — Bob asked when I saw her
2. Indirect requests and orders:
   • The following introductory verbs are used
     For inquiries:
     • to ask - to ask
     • to beg - to ask
     • to implore - to beg

     For orders:

     • to tell - to say, command, order
     • to order - to order
     • to allow - allow
   • After the introductory part there is an infinitive construction
     To + verb
     Request:
     • Lisa says, “Be attentive, please!” — Lisa says: “Be careful, please!”
     • Lisa asks to be attentive. — Lisa will ask you to be careful.

     Order:

     • Jack says, “Learn English!” - Jack says: “Learn English!”
     • Jack tells to learn English. — Jack tells me to learn English.
   • If you need a negative form of the imperative mood, you should put the particle before the infinitive construction -not
     • Kim says, “Don't talk so loudly!” - Kim says: “Don’t talk so loud!”
     • Kim orders not to talk so loudly. — Kim orders you not to speak so loudly

Test exercises

Everyone has probably heard about direct and indirect speech in Russian lessons. In the English language it also exists, and if so, then there are rules. If you've forgotten a little what it is:

Direct speech is a person’s words, without any changes, written in quotation marks. Pay attention to the format of direct speech in English:

‘I want to buy a new car', said my friend. ( Look, after direct speech, here the predicate comes first, and then the subject: this happens when direct speech precedes the words of the author).

or

My friend said, ' I want to buy a new car’. (Here, as you can see, the author’s word order is normal)

By the way, read about word order in English sentences. Now let’s move on to the theory with clear examples and explanations.

Content:

Indirect speech in English is also someone’s words, but not spoken personally, but conveyed by another person (by the way, this is how rumors are born, someone said something, someone misunderstood, and off we go...:- )). To prevent this from happening to you, you need to follow certain rules, especially when it comes to times. But more on that later. Read carefully.

Sonya always asks me to help her...

In indirect speech we often use the words: answer, reply, tell, suggest, mention, ask, promise and others. The most commonly used are say and tell. It is with these two verbs that confusion often occurs.

When to choose tell, and when say ?

• In direct speech it is used say(to smb.).

I always say (to him), ‘ Be careful!’

• And in indirect speech, when we mention the person we are addressing, we take tell . For example,

My teacher told me (that) I could finish the work later.

Note: word that in the English version you can calmly release, and the proposal will also be correct. When translated into Russian, this word is still more often present.

• Also tell used in fixed expressions such as: tellastory,tellthetruth,tella lie.
• Say used when we do not name the person to whom direct speech was addressed. For example:

The teacher said I could finish the work later.

Replacing words

When translating direct speech into indirect speech, we replace the following words:

I ⇒ he/she(depending on context)

My ⇒ his/her(depending on the context)

Here ⇒ there

This ⇒ that

These ⇒ those

Now ⇒ then, at that time

Today ⇒ that day

Yesterday ⇒ the day before, the previous day

The day before yesterday ⇒ two days before

Tomorrow ⇒ the next/following day

The day after tomorrow ⇒ two days later

Next year ⇒ the following year

This week ⇒ that week

Last week ⇒ the week before, the previous week

An hour ago ⇒ an hour before / earlier

Bob said: ' I"d prefer these cards’⇒ Bob said that he"d prefer those cards.

But we must remember that all replacements occur within the meaning of the phrase or sentence. Here it would be a good idea to turn to the Russian translation of the sentence in order to correctly change the necessary words.

How to translate direct speech into indirect speech, or the rule of tense agreement

To convey the meaning of what another person said, we add introductory part, For example, he (say) said, What... or she (ask) asked about so-and-so... etc., i.e. We seem to distance ourselves from the words of the other person, and then we retell what we heard.

If this the introductory part is in the present tense, then from time to time everything is simple: as it was in direct speech, we leave it in indirect speech.

BUT when we use past tense, i.e. said / told and other verbs, then it begins to act tense agreement rule , i.e. We replace the tense (and therefore the verb) from direct speech with another. The table below lists the tenses of direct speech and their analogues in indirect speech:

Present Simple ⇒ Past Simple	‘I am happy’ ⇒ He said he was happy.
Present Continuous ⇒ Past Continuous	‘I am reading’ ⇒ He said he was reading.
Present Perfect ⇒ Past Perfect	‘I have written’ ⇒ He said he had written.
Past Simple ⇒ Past Perfect	‘I went to the theatre’ ⇒ He said he had gone to the theater.
Past Perfect ⇒ Past Perfect ( does not change)	‘I had gone home’ ⇒ He said he had gone home.
Future Simple ⇒ Future in the Past	‘I will go home’ ⇒ He said he would go home.

Modal verbs are also subject to change:

Can ⇒ could	'I can do it' ⇒ He said he could do it.
May ⇒ might	'You may leave' ⇒ He said she might leave.
Must ⇒ had to	‘I must go home’ ⇒ Sue said she had to go home.

If the modal verbs were already in the form could, ought to, should, would, then they remain in this form.

‘I couldn't know anything about it’ ⇒ He said he couldn’t know anything about it.

Translating questions from direct speech to indirect speech

Any questions in English are translated into indirect speech using verbs askwanttoknowwonder...

• Translating questions from question words, Question words are retained. And here the rule of timing also applies.

‘Why is she crying?’ ⇒ He asked why she was crying.

• When transferring general questions in indirect speech, we must add words such as: if /whether (=whether). Don't be confused whether And weather !

‘Can you help me?’ ⇒ She asked me if /whether I could help her.

Word order

• When we translate question into indirect speech, it ceases to be a question, therefore word order also changes, no auxiliary verbs required(note that exactly auxiliary, for example, did, and those that are originally part of the predicate, they, of course, are preserved).

‘When did you come home?’ ⇒ His mother wanted to know when he had come . (We see that after the question word, the word order changes to normal, as in a sentence, and of course, an auxiliary verb is no longer required. In addition, we also observe here the coordination of times)

• Incentive offers are also easily transformed into indirect speech, namely by turning a verb into an infinitive with the particle to. Wherein tell means "command", ask - « ask". Verbs are also possible order, forbid, allow and etc.

‘Be careful!’ ⇒ Her mother told the child to be careful.

The negative form is formed through not.

‘Please don’t call me late’ ⇒ She asked him not to call her late.

Here is such a theory, which at first glance seems sophisticated and incomprehensible. But I think after doing a couple of exercises everything will fall into place. Therefore, I suggest you start practicing right now!