Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is used to report what someone else has said or written. In reported speech, the speaker usually changes the tense and/or pronouns to reflect the new speaker, as well as the time and place of the original statement. Here are some examples of reported speech in different tenses:
- Simple Present Tense
Direct speech: "I love playing soccer," said John.
Reported speech: John said that he loved playing soccer.
In the reported speech, the tense of the verb "love" changes from simple present to simple past, and the pronoun "I" changes to "he."
- Simple Past Tense
Direct speech: "I went to the store yesterday," said Mary.
Reported speech: Mary said that she had gone to the store the day before.
In the reported speech, the past tense "went" changes to "had gone," to indicate that the action occurred before the time of reporting.
- Present Continuous Tense
Direct speech: "I am studying for my exam," said Sarah.
Reported speech: Sarah said that she was studying for her exam.
In the reported speech, the present continuous tense "am studying" changes to "was studying," to indicate that the action was in progress at the time of the original statement.
- Past Continuous Tense
Direct speech: "I was watching TV when she called," said Jack.
Reported speech: Jack said that he had been watching TV when she called.
In the reported speech, the past continuous tense "was watching" changes to "had been watching," to indicate that the action was in progress before another past action.
- Present Perfect Tense
Direct speech: "I have visited France twice," said Susan.
Reported speech: Susan said that she had visited France twice.
In the reported speech, the present perfect tense "have visited" changes to "had visited," to indicate that the action was completed before the time of reporting.
- Past Perfect Tense
Direct speech: "I had already eaten dinner when she arrived," said Tom.
Reported speech: Tom said that he had already eaten dinner when she arrived.
In the reported speech, the past perfect tense "had eaten" remains the same, since it refers to an action completed before another past action.
- Future Tense
Direct speech: "I will meet you at the park tomorrow," said Jane.
Reported speech: Jane said that she would meet me at the park the following day.
In the reported speech, the future tense "will meet" changes to "would meet," to indicate that the action was in the future at the time of the original statement.
- Modals
Direct speech: "I can speak French fluently," said David.
Reported speech: David said that he could speak French fluently.
In the reported speech, the modal verb "can" changes to "could," to reflect the change in speaker and time.
Note: It's important to note that when we report speech, we often need to change the pronouns, time expressions, and tenses to make the sentence grammatically correct. It's also important to pay attention to the changes in meaning that can occur when we report speech, as sometimes the meaning of the original statement can be lost or changed in the reporting process.
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