Examples of Tense Changes in Reported Speech

This page provides concrete examples of how different tenses change when converting direct speech to reported speech. Understanding these transformations is crucial for mastering mowa zależna angielski (reported speech in English).

1. Present Simple to Past Simple:

   • Direct: Ann said, "I wake up at 7 o'clock every day."
   • Reported: Ann said (that) she woke up at 7 o'clock every day.

2. Present Continuous to Past Continuous:

   • Direct: My uncle said, "My wife is preparing breakfast at this moment."
   • Reported: My uncle said his wife was preparing breakfast at that moment.

3. Past Simple to Past Perfect:

   • Direct: He said, "We were in the cinema yesterday."
   • Reported: He said they had been in the cinema the day before.

4. Past Continuous to Past Perfect Continuous:

   • Direct: Mark said, "I was watching TV last evening."
   • Reported: Mark said he had been watching TV the previous evening.

5. Future Simple to Future Simple in the Past:

   • Direct: Our Dad said, "I will buy this vacuum for us."
   • Reported: Our Dad said he would buy that vacuum for us.

Example: These transformations show how the tense shifts back in time when reporting speech. For instance, "I wake up" becomes "she woke up" in reported speech.

Understanding these tense changes is essential for accurately conveying information in reported speech. It helps maintain the original time reference while adapting it to the new context of the report.

Understanding Reported Speech: Usage and Construction

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is a crucial aspect of English grammar used to convey someone's words without direct quotation. This page explains the fundamental principles of reported speech and its construction.

The primary use of reported speech is to relay information indirectly. When employing reported speech, we observe a sequence of tenses, shifting the original tense one step back in time relative to the tense used in direct speech.

Definition: Reported speech is the method of conveying someone's words indirectly, without using their exact words as in a direct quote.

Several changes occur when converting direct speech to reported speech:

1. Time expressions change:

   • "now" becomes "then"
   • "ago" changes to "before"
   • "next" transforms to "the following" or "the next"
   • "today" becomes "that day"
   • "tonight" changes to "that night"
   • "tomorrow" becomes "the next day" or "the following day"
   • "this week" changes to "that week"
   • "next month" becomes "the month after" or "the following month"
   • "yesterday" changes to "the day before" or "the previous day"
   • "three days ago" becomes "three days before"
   • "last week" changes to "the week before" or "the previous week"

2. Demonstrative pronouns also change:

   • "this" becomes "that"
   • "these" changes to "those"
   • "here" becomes "there"

Highlight: The key to mastering reported speech is understanding and applying these changes consistently in your English communication.

These transformations ensure that the reported speech accurately reflects the original statement's time frame and perspective, maintaining the intended meaning while adapting it to the new context of indirect reporting.