Reporting Statements

Before I start this blog I am obliged to say this, English is a language we have been learning since we were young. We use it to communicate, express our thoughts, ideas in various places throughout our day. Without our conscious effort we use grammar every single moment, every single day. So when I say ," You have known Reported speech from atleast 4th grade" Trust me.

The rules down below might seem to go above your head at times, too verbose or plainly put, too crazy, but once you read the examples or try to actually use those rules, you will realise none of it is actually new. It's all the same things we have been using for a very long time now. They just have names, subheadings or serial numbers against them now.

That's it.

Think of it this way, grammar , is usually ,not teaching you anything new , just jogging your memory on previously known knowlegde ( That's a calming thought in this panicky exam season, isn't it?)

So, now that that's cleared up , lets start

What is reported speech?

Expressing the speech of someone else in our own words ( while following the many rules grammar thows in) is called indirect or reported speech

When we report someone's words as soon as they are spoken , or at the place where they are spoken. We should also keep in mind that the reporter is usually different form the actual speaker, hence the reported speech differs from the direct speech in these major certain aspects

Thats it, sound easy, doesn't it?

For easier explanation, let's take a basic sentence

5) An example of 1st, 2nd and 3rd person (in this specific example 2nd person , including possesive pronouns

While converting this into reported speech we need to concentrate on the various parts of this sentence.

In the (colourful) sentence above, we can see

1) Subject

2) Reporting verb

3) Object

3) Punctuations

4) Tense

5) An example of 1st,2nd and 3rd person (in this specific example 2nd person , including possesive pronouns

The first step to reported speech is

1) IDENTIFICATION

< Yup, I am not kidding, Staring at the question paper and reading the sentence is the first step. >

This might be one of the most important step in this entire process. If you do identify all the parts that needs to be converted, your half way to the answer already.

2) THE REPORTING VERB

The reporting verb 'say (said)' may be retained as say (said) or changed to tell ( told), especially when there is an object mentioned. Some other words can also be used to in place of say , like:-

add, admit, assure, explain, promise, remark, remind, point out, answer etc.

3) CONJUNCTION AND PUNCTUATION

* Remove the quotation marks and comma, add a 'that' instead.

It's that simple.

4) CHANGING PRONOUNS

After you have identified who the subject and listener is, it is necessary to change all the pronouns according to their relations to the reporter and his/her hearer, rather than the original speaker

i) The pronouns in first person - I, my ,mine, me , we , us , ours - should be converted according to the subject

ii) The pronouns in second person - you, your, yours - should be changed according to the object

iii) The pronouns in third person - he, him, hers, her, it, its, their , them etc.- goes through no change

Few Examples :-

5) CHANGING TENSE

* If the reporting verb is in the past tense - the tenses in the reported speech are changed to corresponding past tense.

* If the reporting verb is in the present or future - the tenses in the reported speech are unchanged.

The major questions are usually with reporting verbs in past tense. The below list mentions the corresponding changes that must occur:-

Examples :-

Rory said, " I have to return the book 'Wonder' to the library."

Rory said that she had to return the book 'Wonder' to the library.

Rietvald said, "It is raining."

Rietvald said that it was raining.

"The horse died in the night" said GG.

GG said the horse had died in the night.

< EXCEPTIONS :- When the statement is an universal truth or is still relevent, present tense is used

Example :- Ms. Ghafa said "The world revolves around the sun."

Ms. Ghafa said that the world revolves around the sun.>

6) CHANGING EXPRESSION OF TIME AND PLACE

Words denoting nearness of time or place are replaced by corresponding words denoting remoteness or distance, if the reporting verb is in past tense.

Example:-

The speaker said, " We tried to control the prices last year."

The speaker said that they had tried to control the prices the previous year.

Jude said to me," The climate of this city won't suit you."

Jude told me that the climate of that city wouldn't suit me.

Ms. La Rue said , " I will be explaining all these problems next week."

Ms. La Rue said that she would be explaining all those problems the following week.

The entire process of converting direct speech to indirect speech can be achieved by following these 6 simple steps

This is just the topic of Reporting speech . All the topics in english grammar can be broken down into few simple rules and steps.

This blog was mainly written for my dearest 10th graders, who are right now, in midst of their all important board exams. I know, you are stressing out, the people around you are probably panicking more than you are ( Auntyji, Uncleji, please calm down, you are freaking your child too ) and everyone keeps emphasising on how this is the singular most important exam you will write in your life ( yeah , a little too melodramatic ,I know )

This exam is important, am not denying that, but in the end, it's just an exam... Remember, a paper and pen cannot and will not decide your entire future.

Just trust yourself and go for it. An exam is best written with a chill and calm mind

and remember,

(P.S -- Grammar content source - Wren and Martin)