Different Tenses in Reported Speech

We shall see how to change different tenses from Direct Speech to Indirect Speech.

First, let’s recap the rules ( Direct to Indirect ):

1. We remove comma and quotation marks, and replace them with ‘that’

2. The reported verb takes its past form.

3. The pronouns are changed according to the subject and the situation.

Now, look at how to change the sentences in different tenses, from Direct to Indirect.

Simple Present:

Nitya said, “ I am happy” ( Direct Speech )

Nitya said that she was happy. ( Indirect )

Present Continuous:

He said, “ I am doing homework” ( Direct )

He said that he was doing homework. ( Indirect )

Present Perfect:

Pradeep said,“ I have finished my project work.” ( Direct )

Pradeep said that he had finished his project work. ( Indirect )

Present Perfect Continuous:

Keerthi said, “I have been playing badminton since morning”.(Direct)

Keerthi said that she had been playing badminton since morning.(Indirect)

Simple Past:

Guru said, “I was sad yesterday”. ( Direct )

Guru said that he was sad the previous day. ( Indirect )

Past Continuous:

Laxmi said, “I was sleeping at that time” ( Direct )

Laxmi said she had been sleeping at that time. ( Indirect )

will:

He said,"I will finish dinner as early as possible". (Direct)

He said that he would finish dinner as early as possible. (Indirect)

may:

Farid said, “I may go to Guntur”. ( Direct )

Farid said that he might go to Guntur. ( Indirect )

can:

Mounika said, “I can remove the colours” ( Direct )

Mounika said that she could remove the colours. ( Indirect )

shall:

Dinesh said, “I shall bring some apples from the market”. ( Direct )

Dinesh said that he would bring some apples from the market. ( Indirect )

Practice

Change the following sentences into indirect speech

1. Ramya said,"I am not well".

2. Tagore said,"It may rain".

3. Rajesh said,"My father is going to Vijayawada".

4. He said to me,"I will meet your father".

5. Fatima said,"I have met your brother somewhere".

Prepositions of Agency, Possession, and Reason

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Phrase

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What is a 'clause'?

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The verb 'take'

We are now going to learn how to use the verb ‘ take ’ in different situations. Take : to get into one’s hands or possession. Example: Rashi took the mangoes and kept them in the fridge . There are many more shades of meanings to the word ‘take’. They are: 1. grip 2. to receive something into one’s body. 3. eat 4. to obtain for use. 5. assume ( There are at least twenty different meanings to the word ‘take’ ) Now, let’s see how to use the verb with different prepositions, i.e., Phrasal Verbs 1. take after : to be similar to someone in appearance. Example: Kris is a jovial person. He takes after his father. 2. take away: to remove something. Example: Komala took the knife away from the child. 3. take down: to write down some information. Example: Reema took down the important points of the lecture give by the guest. 4. take for : to believe something wrongly. Example: She took him for an idiot, but he is a gentleman. 5. take in : to allow someone to stay in your house. ...

Article: The

Let’s learn how to use the definite article ‘ the ’. Usage of the definite article ( ‘the’ ) : 1. Observe the following paragraph: One day, I saw a rat in my house. I thought there were many rats living in our house. So, I brought a cat from my friend’s house. I gave the cat all the food it required. It ate well and moved around the house. But a month after bringing the cat, to my surprise, one day I found the cat playing with the same rat. Now, they have become good buddies. You learn from the above paragraph that when we used ‘rat’ or ‘cat’ and ‘house’ for the first time, we used ‘a’ before them. But, when we used the words for the second or third time, we kept ‘the’ before them. So, the definite article ‘the’ is used before the persons or things that we already know beforehand. 2. ‘The’ is used with a noun whose identity is clear to the listener and the speaker from the context. Our classroom is on the second floor. ( the second floor of our school building ) What is the...

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