Indirect Speech for all Tenses
TENSE CHANGES- INTO - INDIRECT SPEECH
Present simple tense into Past simple
Present Continuous tense into Past continuous
Present Perfect tense into Pas perfect
Present Perfect Continuous into Past perfect continuous
Past simple into Past Perfect
Past Continuous into Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect into Past Perfect
Future simple, will into would
Future Continuous will be into would be
Future Perfect will have into would have
Examples:
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
| PRESENT TENSE | |
| PRESENT SIMPLE changes into PAST SIMPLE | |
| He said, “I write a book”. She said, “he goes to the office daily”. They said, “we love football”. He said, “he does not like pizza”. |
He said that he wrote a book. He said that he did not like pizza. |
| PRESENT CONTINUOUS changes into PAST CONTINUOUS | |
| He said, “he is watching the movie”. She said, “I am washing my dishes”. They said, “we are enjoying the drama”. She said, “I am not arguing”. |
He said that he was watching movie. She said that she was washing her dishes. They said that they were not enjoying the drama. She said that she was not arguing. |
| PRESENT PERFECT changes into PAST PERFECT | |
| She said, “he has done his job". He said, “I have written a book”. I said, “she has passed the exams”. They said, “we have never been to China". |
She said that he had done his job. They said that they had never been to China. |
| PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS changes into PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS | |
| He said, “I have been playing since 3 O’clock”. She said, “It has been raining for three days”. I said, “He has been working since 2008”. |
He said that he had been playing since 3 O’clock. She said that it been raining for three days. I said that she had been working since 2008. |
| PAST TENSE | |
| PAST SIMPLE changes into PAST PERFECT | |
|
He said to me, “you behaved well”. She said, “I didn’t waste time”. |
He said to me that I had behaved well. She said that she hadn't wasted time. |
| PAST CONTINUOUS changes into PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS | |
|
They said, “we were enjoying the drama”. She said, “I was not smiling”. |
They said that they had been enjoying the drama. We said that it had been raining. |
| PAST PERFECT changes into PAST PERFECT (tense does not change) | |
| She said, “She had consulted a doctor”. He said, “I had started a campaign”. I said, “she had she have passed the exams” They said, “we had not gone to China. |
She said that she had consulted a doctor. He said that he had started a campaign. I said that she had she have passed the exams. They said they had not gone to China. |
| FUTURE TENSE | |
| FUTURE SIMPLE TENSE WILL changes into WOULD |
|
| He said, “I will study very hard”. He said, “I will buy a mobile”. They said to me, “we will surprise you”. I said, “I will not take any risk”. |
He said that he would study very hard. They said to me that they would surprise you. I said that I would not take any risk. |
| FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE WILL BE changes into WOULD BE |
|
| I said to him, “ I will be writing to him”. She said,” I will be singing a song”. He said, “I will be working well”. He said, “he will be respecting elders”. |
I said to him that I would be writing to him. She said that she would be singing a song. He said that he would be working well. She said that he would be respecting elders. |
| FUTURE PERFECT TENSE WILL HAVE changes into WOULD HAVE |
|
| He said, “I will have completed the work”. She said, “they will have achieved the target”. He said, “I will have won the match”. |
He said that he would have completed the work. She said that they would have achieved the target. He said that he would have won the match. |
See also
English grammar direct and indirect speech
Indirect speech for interrogative sentence
Indirect speech for modals
Indirect speech for exclamatory and imperatice sentence
Change of pronoun in indirect speech