Should, ought to, used to, would, might, could in indirect statement

Ought to and should : ought to/should for obligation or assumption remains unchanged:

Direct – Father said to me, “We ought to maintain peace in society.”

Indirect – Father told me that we ought to maintain peace in society.

Direct – Mother said to me, “You should obey your elders.”

Indirect – Mother told me that I should obey my elders.

Used to: used to doesn’t change:

Direct – He explained, “I know the place well because I used to live here.”

Indirect – He explained that he knew the place well because he used to live there.

Would: would in indirect speech doesn’t change:

Direct – He said to me, “I would be grateful if you help me.”

Indirect – He told me that he would be grateful if I helped him.

Might: might remains unchanged:

Direct – He said, “It might rain today.”

Indirect – He said that it might rain today. 

Could: could in indirect speech doesn’t change:

Direct – He said to me, “I could help the man.”

Indirect – He said to me that I could help the man.

Unreal past tense in indirect speech

Rule 1: Unreal past tense after wish, would rather/sooner and it is time do not change:

Direct – The children said, “We wish we didn’t have to take exams.”

Indirect – The children said they wished didn’t have to take exams.

Direct – He said, “I would rather die than take any bribe.”

Indirect – He said that he would rather die than take any bribe.

Direct – John said, “Bill wants to go alone but I’d rather he went with a group.”

Indirect – John said that Bill wanted to go alone but that she’d rather he went with a group.

Direct – He said, “It’s time we began planning our holidays.”

Indirect – He said that it was time began planning their holidays.

Rule 2:  I/he/she/we/they had better remains unchanged, you had better can remain unchanged or be reported by advise + object + infinitive.

Direct –John said, “The children had better go to bed early.”

Indirect – John said that the children had better go to bed early.

Direct – Father said to me, “We shall die today or tomorrow.”

Indirect – Father told me that we shall die today or tomorrow.

Direct – She said, “you’d better not drink the water.”

Indirect – She advised us not to drink the water.

Past tense sometimes remain unchanged in indirect speech

Rule 1: The past tense changes to the past perfect, but in spoken English it is often left unchanged, provided this can be done without causing confusion about the relative times of the actions.

For example;

Direct- He said, “I loved her”

Indirect – He said he had loved her

Direct – John said, “I went to the library and read a story book.”

Indirect – John said that he went to the library and read a story book.

As otherwise there would be a change of meaning. But

Direct – He said, “Ann arrived on Monday”

Indirect – He said Ann had arrived on Monday.

Rule 2: The past continuous tense in theory changes to the past perfect.

Continuous but in practice usually remains unchanged except when it refers to a competed action.

Direct – She said, “We were thinking of selling the house but we have decided not to.”

Indirect – She said that they had been thinking of selling the house but had decided not to.

Direct – He said, “When I saw them they were playing tennis.”

Indirect – He said that when he saw them they were playing tennis.

Rule 3: In written English past tenses usually do change to past perfect but there are the following exception:

a)   Past/Past continuous tenses in time clauses do not normally change:

Direct – He said, “When we were living in Paris.”

Indirect – He said that when they were living in Paris.

The main verb of such sentences can either remain unchanged or become the past perfect:

Direct- He said, “When we were living/lived in Paris we often saw Paul”

Indirect – He said that when they were living/lived in Paris they often saw/had often seen Paul.

b)   A past tense used to describe a state of affairs which still exist when the speech is reported remains unchanged:

Direct – She said, “I decided not to by the house because it was on main road.”

Indirect- She said that he had decided not to by the house because it was on a main road.

Rules of Changing tense to statement in indirect speech

Rule 1: Indirect speech can be introduced by a verb in a present tense:

 Father says that it is cold weather

Here,

• Reporting a conversation that is still going on 
• Reading a letter and reporting what it says 
• Reading instructions and reporting them 
• Reporting a statement that someone makes a very often

e.g. Tom says that he’ll never get married.

Rule 2: But indirect speech is usually introduced by a verb in the past tense.

Verbs in the direct speech have than to be changed into a corresponding past tense.

The changes are shown in the following:

Direct Speech                                                        Indirect Speech        

Present Indefinite Tense                                     Past Indefinite Tense        

‘I never eat meat’ he explained                               He explained that the never ate meat.

Present Continuous Tense                                  Past Continuous Tense      

He said to me, ”I am writing a letter”                    He told me that he was writing a letter.

You said to me, “You are doing the work”            You told me that I was doing the work.

Present Perfect Tense                                        Past Perfect Tense            

I said to me, “I have done the work”                     I told him that I had done the work.

You said to me, “You have told me about this”     You told me that I had told me about this.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense                    Past Perfect Continuous Tense     

He said to me, “ We have been working there”     He told me that we had been working there.

I said to me, “I have been waiting for you”            I told  him that I had been waiting for him.

Past Indefinite  Tense                                        Past Perfect Tense         

He said to me, “Father called you.”                      He told me that father had called me.

I said to her, “Mother gave you a pan.”                 I told her that mother had given her a pen

Past Continuous Tense                                      Past Perfect Continuous Tense       

He said to me, “I was writing a report.”               He told me that he had been writing a report.

They said to me, “We were sowing seeds”           They told me that they had been sowing seeds.

Rule 3: Note on I/we shall/should:

‘I/we  shall’ normally becomes he/she/they would in indirect speech:

Direct – Bill said, “I shall be 21 tomorrow.”

Indirect – Bill said he would be 21 the following day.

But if the sentence is reported is reported by the original speaker, ‘I/we shall’ can become either I/we should or I/we would. Would is the more common.

Similarly ‘I/we should’ usually becomes he/she/they would in Indirect speech:

Direct – Bill said, “If I had the instruction manual I should/would know what to do.”

Indirect – Bill said that if he had the instructions he would know what to do.

But if the sentence is reported by the original speaker ‘I/we should’ can either remain unchanged or be reported by would.

Rules of changing Direct speech to Indirect speech

Rule 1: Rules of changing the personal pronoun:

         Direct Speech                                  Indirect Speech            

You (Case of Nominative)              I/you/he/she/they/it

You (Case of Objective)                  me/him/her/them/it

Your (Case of Possessive)             my/his/her/them/its

I (Case of Nominative)                   I/you/her/she/them/it

Me (Case of objective)                   me/him/her/them/it

My (Case of Possessive)                my/his/her/them/its

He                                                          he

They                                                     they

It                                                             it

We                                                         we

Rule 2: Personal pronouns in different cases

          Nominative       Objective           Possessive          Double Possessive

I                              me                         my                         mine

We                         us                           our                         ours

You                        your                      your                      yours

He                          him                        his                          his/hers

She                         her                         her                         hers

They                     them                     their                      theirs

It                             it                             its                           its

Rule 3: Changing of Direct Speech to Indirect Speech

          Direct Speech                 Indirect Speech

Now                                    Then

Here                                    There

Today                                  That day

Tomorrow                         The next day/the following day

Yesterday                           The previous day/the day before

Last week                           The previous day/the week before

Last month                        The previous month/the month before

Last year                             The previous year/the year before

Last night                            The previous night/the night before

Next week                          The following week

Next month                       The following month

Next year                            The following year

Come                                    go

Ago                                        before

Thus                                      so

Hence                                   thence

Hither                                   thither

This                                       that

These                                    those

This week                           that week

This month                        that month

This year                             that year

This house                          the house

This office                          the office

This pen                              the pen

This computer                 the computer

Tonight                                that night

Rule 4: Changing tense

          Direct Speech                                              Indirect Speech

Present Indefinite Tense                             Past Indefinite Tense

Present Continuous Tense                          Past Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Tense                                Past Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense              Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Indefinite  Tense                                 Past Perfect Tense

Past Continuous Tense                               Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Rule 5: Changing Can, May, Will, Shall

        Direct Speech                   Indirect Speech

Can                                        Could

May                                       Might

Will                                       Would

Shall                                      Should

Introduction to Direct and indirect speech or reported

There are two ways of relating what a person has said: direct and indirect.

In direct speech we repeat the original speaker’s exact words:

• I said to you, “I go to my native village.” 
• I said to you. “you are conscious of your duty”

Remarks thus repeated are placed between inverted commas, and a comma or colon is placed immediately before the remark. Direct speech is fund in conversations in books, in plays, and in quotations.

In indirect speech we give the exact meaning of a remark of a speech, without necessarily using the speaker’s exact words:

• I told you that I want to my native village. 
• I told you that you were conscious of your duty.

There is no comma after say in indirect speech. That can usually be omitted after say and tell + object. But it should be kept after other verbs: complain, explain, object, point out, protest etc. Indirect speech is normally used when conversation is reported verbally, though direct speech is sometimes employed here to give here to give a more dramatic effect.

When we turn direct speech into indirect, some changes are usually necessary. These are most easily studied by considering statements, questions, and commends separately.