REPORTED SPEECH

Reported speech is a common grammatical concept that is often used in everyday conversations and writing. It is a way of reporting or repeating what someone else has said, without using their exact words.

Reported Speech

• Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is a way of relaying information that was previously said by someone else.
• It is used to report what someone else has said, without using their exact words.
• This is often used in news articles, interviews, and even in our daily conversations.
• For example, instead of saying 'I am hungry', you can use reported speech and say 'She said she was hungry'.

Say Vs Tell

• Say and tell are two common verbs used in reported speech. They both mean to communicate information, but they are used in different contexts.
• 'Say' is used to report the actual words that were spoken, while 'tell' is used to report the information that was conveyed.
• For example, 'She said, 'I am going to the store'' (using 'say' to report the exact words) and 'She told me she was going to the store' (using 'tell' to report the information).

Changes in tense

• When using reported speech, there are often changes in tense that need to be made. This is because the reported speech is usually in the past tense, while the original speech may have been in the present or future tense.
• For example, if someone says 'I am going to the store', in reported speech it would be changed to 'She said she was going to the store'. This change in tense is important to accurately report the information.

Changes in Pronouns And Possessive Adjectives

• Another important aspect of reported speech is the change in pronouns and possessive adjectives.
• In direct speech, we use the pronouns and possessive adjectives that refer to the person speaking.
• However, in reported speech, we use the pronouns and possessive adjectives that refer to the person being reported.
• For example, if someone says 'I love this book', in reported speech it would be changed to 'She said she loved that book'.
• Similarly, possessive adjectives like 'my', 'your', 'our' etc. would change to 'her', 'his', 'their' etc.

Changes In Adverbs And Adverbial Phrases

• Adverbs and adverbial phrases are words or phrases that modify or describe a verb, adjective, or other adverb.
• When using reported speech, changes may need to be made to these words and phrases as well.
• For example, if someone says 'I will go to the store tomorrow', in reported speech it would be changed to 'She said she would go to the store the next day'.
• The adverb 'tomorrow' is changed to 'the next day' to accurately report the information in the past tense.