Reporting Statements

Reporting Statements (Direct vs. Indirect Speech)

🔹 1. What Are Reported Statements?

A reported (indirect) statement conveys what someone said without quoting their exact words. The original sentence is transformed to fit the grammatical and contextual structure of the reporting sentence.

🔹 2. Direct vs. Indirect Statement

Direct Statement	Indirect (Reported) Statement
She said, “I am tired.”	She said (that) she was tired.
He said, “I like jazz music.”	He said (that) he liked jazz music.

The quotation marks are removed.
Tense, pronouns, and time words are usually adjusted.
The conjunction "that" is often used (optional in spoken English).

🔹 3. Rules for Reporting Statements

✅ a. Tense Backshift (when the reporting verb is in the past)

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
“I am happy,” he said.	He said (that) he was happy.
“I have finished,” she said.	She said (that) she had finished.
“I will call you,” he said.	He said (that) he would call me.
“I saw her,” he said.	He said (that) he had seen her.

❗ No tense change if:

The reporting verb is in the present:
“I love books,” she says. → She says (that) she loves books.
The statement is a general truth:
“The sun rises in the east,” he said. → He said the sun rises in the east.

✅ b. Pronoun Changes

Pronouns change based on who reports the sentence:

“I’m ready,” she said. → She said she was ready.
“We will help you,” they said. → They said they would help me.

✅ c. Time and Place Changes

Direct	Indirect
today	that day
yesterday	the day before
tomorrow	the next/following day
now	then
here	there

“I met her yesterday,” he said.
→ He said he had met her the day before.

🔹 4. Use of "That"

“That” introduces the reported clause.

It is optional in spoken and informal writing.

Examples:

She said that she was tired.
She said she was tired. ✅

🔹 5. Summary

To report a statement:

Remove quotation marks.
Shift the verb tense (if needed).
Change pronouns and time expressions.
Use “that” (optional).

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