Changes in Reporting verb in case of Assertive sentences

We make any change in the reporting verb and in the sentence structure of direct speech depending on the kind of sentence used under inverted commas.

There may be five kinds of sentences in the inverted commas:

• Assertive
• Interrogative
• Imperative
• Exclamatory
• Optative

In this article, we will cover the transformation in case of Assertive sentences.

Changing the Reporting verb in Assertive sentences

Concept 1

Direct Speech: He said to me, “I am lazy”. (I am lazy – assertive sentence)
Indirect Speech: He told me that he was lazy. (told – reporting verb)

Concept 2

If the object of reporting verb is not given, then we prefer the use of say/said.
However, if the object of reporting verb is given, then we prefer the use of tell/told.
(or in other words, we can say that, say/said remains unchanged in indirect speech. But ‘say to‘ is changed to ‘tell’ and ‘said to’ is changed to ‘told’.)

Compare the following pair of sentences:

Direct Speech: He said, “I am careless”. (said – reporting verb; no object of reporting verb)
Indirect Speech: He said that he was careless. (said – reporting verb)

Direct Speech: He said to me, “I am careless”. (said – reporting verb; me - object of reporting verb)
Indirect Speech: He told me that he was careless. (told – reporting verb)

Concept 3

In case of “Sir / Madam” in direct narration, we remove them in indirect narration and use respectfully / politely after the reporting verb.

My assistant said to me, “Sir your team is not as good as it used to be.”
My assistant told me respectfully that my team is not as good as it used to be.

Concept 4

In case of “okay”, “you know”, “well” …etc. in direct narration, we simply remove them and follow the required rules.

Nicole said to Tim, “Well, Well, Well, truce is not possible between you and me.”
Nicole told Tim that truce was not possible between him and her.

Heather said, “Okay, I will come again tomorrow.”
Heather said that she would come again the next day.

Concept 5

In case of greetings, e.g. “Good morning”, “ Good bye” ……. etc., we use the following reporting verbs.

Robert said to me, “Good morning, I am very happy to meet you.”
Robert wished me good morning and told me that he was very happy to meet me again.

Annie said, “Hello, I am here.”
Annie greeted and said that she was there.

Concept 6

In case of “Noun or Noun phrase” used as a term of address in direct narration, we treat that “noun or noun phrase” as the object of reporting verb and then change the reported speech into indirect narration.

My father said “Alka, you can’t marry Hitler.”
My father told Alka that she could not marry Hitler.

My teacher said “Madhu, you have come late today.”
My teacher told Madhu that she had come late that day.

Concept 7

In case of terms of address (T.O.A.) such as “sisters and brothers“ / “ladies and gentleman” / “my countryman”, we have a couple of ways to structure the indirect speech.

Structure of Indirect Speech 1: Subject + address + Object + as + T.O.A. + and says.. + that + Subject + Verb …

Structure of Indirect Speech 2: Addressing + Object + as + T.O.A. + Subject + says + …… + that + Subject + Verb …

Direct Speech: Mr. Bond said, “ladies and gentleman, it is highly dangerous to trust a person like me.”
Indirect Speech 1: Mr. Bond addressed the public/people as ladies and gentlemen and said that it was highly dangerous to trust a person like him.
Indirect Speech 2: Addressing the people as ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Bond said that it was highly dangerous to trust a person like him.

Extra Books and Tools

If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.