Narration (Direct & Indirect Speech)

Turning direct speech into indirect speech changes exactly four things: the reporting verb, the pronouns, the tense, and the words of time and place. Work through them in that order.

1. Statements. said to becomes told; add that; shift the tense one step back (is → was, was → had been, will → would, can → could, may → might). Pronouns follow the SON rule: the Subject of the reporting verb governs the first person, the Object governs the second person, and the third person is Not changed.
2. Questions. The reporting verb becomes asked or enquired; for a yes-no question add if or whether; for a wh-question keep the question word. The question mark and the inversion both disappear.
3. Orders and requests. Use ordered, requested, advised, forbade + to + V1: "He said to me, 'Shut the door'" → "He ordered me to shut the door."
4. Exclamations and wishes. "What a beautiful sight!" → "He exclaimed with joy that it was a very beautiful sight."

Time and place words shift with the tense: now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the previous day, here → there, this → that, ago → before.

There is one standing exception: a universal truth or a habitual fact does not shift back — "The teacher said that the earth revolves round the sun."

The single most common mistake is keeping the question's word order — "He asked me where was I going." Once reported, a question becomes a statement in shape, so the subject comes before the verb: "He asked me where I was going." How to spot it: look at the reported part alone; if it still reads like a question, it is wrong.

said to → told · add that / if-whether / to + V1 · tense one step back (is → was, will → would, can → could) · pronouns by SON · now → then, today → that day, here → there · reported question takes statement order · universal truth does not shift

Change to indirect speech: He said to me, "Where are you going now?" → The reporting verb becomes "asked"; "you" becomes "I" because it matches the object "me"; "are going" shifts back to "was going"; "now" becomes "then"; and the question takes statement order. Result: "He asked me where I was going then." Sanity check: there is no question mark, the subject "I" stands before the verb "was", and nothing in the reported part still looks like a question.