Active/Passive & Narration • Topic 3 of 4

Direct to Indirect Speech

To report a statement: remove the quotation marks, add 'that', shift the tense one step back, and change the pronouns to match the speaker. Time/place words shift too.

Back-shift the tense one step

Direct (said)Reported (becomes)
am / is / arewas / were
was / werehad been
simple past (went)past perfect (had gone)
willwould
can / maycould / might

Time & place words shift

now → then · today → that day · tomorrow → the next day · here → there · this → that

Example. He said, "I am busy." → He said that he was busy. (quotes removed, "am" → "was", "I" → "he").

✅ Solved examples

1. Report: He said, "I am busy."
He said that he was busy.
2. Report: She said, "I will come tomorrow."
She said that she would come the next day.
3. Report: They said, "We have finished."
They said that they had finished.
4. Report: He said, "I bought it yesterday."
He said that he had bought it the previous day.

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. Report: She said, "I am tired."
present → past.
—
—
She said that she was tired.
2. Report: He said, "I can swim."
can → could.
—
—
He said that he could swim.
3. Report: They said, "We are leaving now."
now → then.
—
—
They said that they were leaving then.
4. Report: She said, "I saw him here."
saw → had seen; here → there.
—
—
She said that she had seen him there.
5. Report: He said, "I will help you."
will → would.
—
—
He said that he would help me.

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

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