Direct speech
We told them that we were working on it
She said she lived in York
Paul claimed that he had been exercising for servel years
He said that at one o'clock he had been having lunch
They replied that they had started on time
Phil said he wanted to be a lawyer
Mary told us she wouldn't be in her office
He claimed that he had always been my friend
Betty told me that she hadn't known about the email I had sent to her
Answers
1. Changes in reporting verb
Affirmative sentences: said, told (object), asserted, replied, assured, informed, responded, whispered, alleged, believed, assumed, thought
Interrogative sentences: asked, inquired, wanted to know, enquired
Imperative sentences: ordered, begged, pleaded, implored, advised, demanded
2. Change of pronouns
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Meeta said, ‘I live in Himachal’.’ Meeta said that he lived in Himachal.
The conjunction that is used to connect the reporting verb with what is said.
A first-person and second-person generally change to third person (depending upon object to reporting verb)
In case the reporting verb is in present, the tense of verb in reported speech continues to remain in the present tense.
3. Change of tenses
When we report something after a certain period of time, and what we are talking about has already happened, we change the tense of the sentence being reported into a corresponding past tense. Read the following table carefully.