Indirect Speech

simple past
He said (that) he went to school every day.
past perfect
He said (that) he had gone to school every day.
past progressive
He said (that) he was going to school every day.
perfect progressive
He said (that) he had been going to school every day,
would + verb name
He said (that) he would go to school every day.
present progressive
He said (that) he is going to school every day.
past progressive
He said (that) he was going to school every day
simple past
He asked me if I went to school every day.*
He asked me where I went to school.
The situation changes if instead of the common said another part of the very to
say is used. In that case the verb tenses usually remain the same. Some examples
of this situation are given below.

simple present + simple present
He says (that) he goes to school every day.
present perfect + simple present
He has said (that) he goes to school every day.
past progressive + simple past
He was saying (that) he went to school every day.
past progressive + past perfect
He was saying (that) he had gone to school every day.
future + simple present
He will say (that) he goes to school every day.
Another situation is the one in which modal constructions are used. If the
verb said is used, then the form of the modal, or another modal that has a past
meaning is used.

could
He said (that) he could go to school every day.
might
He said (that) he might go to school every day.

had to
He said (that) he had to go to school every day.

should
He said (that) he should go to school every day.
ought to
He said (that) he ought to go to school every day.

Questions

General questions
Indirect Questions
Are you watching TV?
Do you play chess?
Does she go to school?
Are you listening to me?
Have you done your
homework?
Did you skate last
winter?
Will you see your friend
tomorrow?
if, whether
I was watching TV.
I played chess.
she went to school.
I was listening to him.
I had done my
homework.
I had skated the winter
before.
I should see my friend
the next day.
This is sometimes called REPORTED SPEECH.
When we use indirect speech in our writing:
We dont use speech marks.
We usually have to change pronouns and verb
tenses.
We dont have to start a new line when we report a
new speakers words.
Here are some examples
of indirect speech.
Use the correct punctuation to report what
was said.
Ive caught
three fish.
The train will
leave in ten
minutes!
Do you
know
what
type of
angle
this is?
I love ice
cream.
I am a
clever
girl.



He said hed caught three fish.


shouted (that) the train would leave in ten minutes!


She said she was a clever girl.


He said he loved ice cream.


She asked if I knew what type of angle this was?
















QUESTIONS








We asked the girl if her father was still in Sabah.





I wanted to know when he had fallen ill.
Is your
father still in
Sabah?
When did
you fall ill?