Change in the tense of the reported speech, Narration

 

Rule No. 3.

 Change in the tense of the reported speech:

A change is made in the tense of reported speech to change a direct speech into an indirect speech. Rules for tense change are given below:

Change in Tenses:

1. PRESENT.

Direct speech.	Indirect speech.
PRESENT INDEFINATE.	PAST INDEFINATE.
PRESENT CONTINOUS.	PAST CONTINOUS.
PRESENT PERFECT	PRESENT PAST
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS	PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

 

         Present Simple Tense into Past Simple Tense

         Present Progressive Tense into Past Progressive Tense

         Present Perfect Tense into Past Perfect Tense

         Present Perfect Progressive Tense into Past Perfect Tense

1. PRESENT TENSE

·      Example:

 

PRESENT SIMPLE	PAST SIMPLE
She said, “I work in a hospital”.	She said that she worked in a hospital.
They said, “We play Football”.	They said that they played Football.
He said, “I love my parents”.	He said that he loved his parents.
She said, “I don’t waste time”.	She said that she didn’t waste time.
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE	PAST PROGRESSIVE
He said, “I am waiting for someone”.	He said that he was waiting for someone.
I said, “She is driving a car”.	I said that she was driving a car.
She said, “They are enjoying the music”.	She said that they were enjoying the music.
Ali said, “I am not going to College”.	Ali said that he was not going to college.
PRESENT PERFECT	PAST PERFECT
She said, “I have completed the work”	She said that she had completed the work.
Ali said, “I have won a prize”.	Ali said that he had won a prize.
He said, “She has washed the shirts”	He said that she had washed the shirts
Ali said, “I have not met her”.	Ali said that he had not met her.
PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE	PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
She said, “I have worked in a factory for two years.	She said that she had been working in a factory for two years.
Ali said, “he has been waiting for his brother for three hours”	Ali said that he had been waiting for his brother for three hours.
They said, “We have been living in America since 2013”.	They said that they had been living in America since 2013.

 

2. PAST.

PAST INDEFINITE	PAST PERFECT
PAST CONTINOUS.	PAST PERFECT CONTINUES.
PAST PERFECT	NO CHANGE
PAST PERFECT CONTINOUS.	NO CHANGE

 

Past Simple Tense into Past Perfect Tense

Past Progressive Tense into Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Tense (The tense remains unchanged)

Past Perfect Progressive Tense (The tense remains unchanged)

2. PAST TENSE.

Example:

PAST SIMPLE	PAST PERFECT
He said, “I started a Job”.	He said that he had started a job.
She said, “I bought a new car”.	She said that she had bought a new car.
They said, “We went to a market”	They said that they had gone to a market.
He said to me, “You didn’t help me”	He said to me that I had not helped him.
PAST PROGRESSIVE	PAST PERFECT
They said, “We had won the game”	No change in tense verb.
He said, “I had gone home”.	No change in tense verb.
David said, “I had passed the exam”.	No change in tense verb.
She said, “I had not received the letter”.	No change in tense verb.

 

3. FUTURE TENSE

3. FUTURE.

WILL	WOULD
WILL BE	WOULD BE
WILL HAVE	WOULD HAVE

 

Future Simple Tense (e.g. will) into “would”

Future Progressive Tense (e.g. will be) into “would be”

Future Perfect Tense (e.g. will have) into “would have”

Future Perfect Progressive Tense (e.g. will have been) into “would have been”

Example:

WILL	WOULD
She said, “I will go to London”.	She said that she would go to London.
He said, “I will start a new job”.	He said that he would start a new job.
They said to me, “We will help you”.	They said to me that they would help me.
She said, “I will not waste time”.	She said that she would not waste time.
WILL BE	WOULD BE
He said to me, “I will be waiting for you”.	He said to me that he would be waiting for me. David said that he would be making tea. She said that she would be feeding her kids. They said that they would not be driving a car.
David said, “I will be making tea”.
She said, “I will be feeding my kids”.
They said, “We will not be driving a car”.
WILL HAVE	WOULD HAVE
She said, “I will have cooked the food”. He said, “I will have cleaned the room”. David said, “I will have to call a Doctor”.	She said that she would have cooked the food. He said that he would have cleaned the room. David said that he would have called a Doctor.
Will Have Been	Would Have Been

 

Modal VERBS.

Examples:

WILL	WOULD
CAN	COULD
MAY	MIGHT
SHOULD	NO CHANGE
COULD	NO CHANGE
MIGHT	NO CHANGE

 

 Example:

• 1.    You must leave this room.
• 2.    You ought to take medicine.
• 3.    We should help them.
• 4.    You can’t do it perfectly.
• 5.    I might arrive late.