Page 84 - Carvaan Grmmar-7

Rule 2

Change of Tense

· If the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, the tense of the verb in the

reported speech is not changed but the person and other changes will go as per rules.

Examples : (i) You will say, “I am hungry”. (Direct speech)

You will say that you are hungry. (Indirect speech)

(ii) He says, “I am taking my food”. (Direct speech)

He says that he is taking his food. (Indirect speech)

· If the reporting verb is in the past tense. The tense of the verb in the direct (reported)

speech is also changed into its corresponding past tense.

Thus :

· The simple present tense is changed into the simple past tense .

Example : Reeta said, “I play very well”. (Direct speech)

Reeta said that she played very well. (Indirect speech)

· The present continuous tense is changed into the past continuous tense .

Example : He said, “I am watching T.V.”. (Direct speech)

He said that he was watching T.V. (Indirect speech)

· The present perfect tense is changed into the past perfect tense .

Example : Rohit said, “I have done my work”. (Direct speech)

Rohit said that he had done his work. (Indirect speech)

· The simple past tense is changed into the past perfect tense .

Example : He said, “Rohan stole my book”. (Direct speech)

He said that Rohan had stolen his book. (Indirect speech)

To work out this rule smoothly, note the following special rules :

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