Calvin and HobbesOn Direct and

Reported Speech

Transformations

• Put “he said,” etc. before, in the middle, or after the quote.

• Place commas, periods, question marks, and exclamation points before the closing quotation mark.

He said, “I live in Parañaque.”

“I will give Jack a call,” he said.

“Where is the supermarket?” he asked.

Form and Punctuation of Direct Speech

Other verbs you may use to quote statements

(Use them wisely!)

Present Tense Past Tense

answer answered

declare declared

reply replied

say said

state stated

tell [+ direct object]

told [+ direct object]

utter uttered

• Depending on the context of the sentence, we change “I” to “he” or “she,” “we” to “them,” etc.

• We usually change first-person personal pronouns (I, we) to third person (he, she, they).

He said, “I live in Parañaque.”

Direct-Indirect Pronoun Change

He said that he lived in Parañaque.

• If your verb is in the past tense (“he said”), you must change the present tense verbs inside the quote to past tense.

• For known facts (such as, “The sun is round”), you always use the present tense.

Direct-Indirect Tense Change

He said, “I live in Parañaque.”

He said that he lived in Parañaque.He said, “I am cooking dinner.”He said that he was cooking dinner.

• If your verb is in the past tense (as in, “he said”), you must change the simple past tense verbs inside the quote to past perfect tense, since you are talking about an event which had happened before another past action (“said”).

Direct-Indirect Tense Change

He said, “I went to Tagaytay last week.”

He said that he had gone to Tagaytay the weekend before.

• If your verb is in the past tense (as in, “he said”), you must change the simple past tense verbs inside the quote to past perfect tense, since you are talking about an event which had happened before another past action (“said”).

Direct-Indirect Tense Change

He said, “I went to Tagaytay last week.”

He said that he had gone to Tagaytay the weekend before.

When there is a modal inside a quote...• will becomes would• shall becomes should• can becomes could• must becomes had to• may becomes might

Direct-Indirect Modal Change

He said, “I may buy a new car.”

He said that he might buy a new car.

• If there are demonstrative pronouns (such as this, that, these and those) in a quote, and you want to change direct to indirect speech, make sure your reader still understands what your speaker is referring to.

Direct-Indirect Pronoun Change

“I need to finish this movie,” he said.He said that he needed to finish the movie he was watching.

• If there are time elements in a quote, you must change it to fit the time of the reporting.

“I’m going to school tomorrow,” he said.

Direct-Indirect Time Signifier Change

He said that he was going to school the next day.

Time Signifier Change

Time Expressions for Quoted Speech

Use in Indirect Speech

this evening that eveningtoday/now then, …these days those days

(a week) ago (a week) beforelast weekend the previous

weekendnext (week) the following

(week)tomorrow the next/following

day

• When reporting questions, instead of that, use where, what, when, which, how to indicate a question asked.

Reported Questions

“What time is it?” he asked.

He asked what time it was.

• Use if or whether to indicate a question answerable by yes or no.

Reported Questions

“Have you eaten?” he asked the girl.

He asked the girl if she had eaten.

Reported Questions

REMEMBER!The order of the pronoun

and the verb in a quoted question interchanges when changed to reported speech!

“Have you eaten?” he asked the girl.

He asked the girl if she had eaten.

• When reporting commands or requests, instead of using that, use the infinitive to+verb instead.

Reported Commands and Requests

“Practice CLAYGO,” he reminded the students.

He reminded the students to practice CLAYGO.

Your checklist for direct to reported speech transformation (and vice

versa) word that introduces the reported

quote (that, where, why, if, whether, to+verb, etc.)

change in verb tense change in pronouns change in modals change in demonstrative pronouns

(this, that, those, these, etc.) change in time signifiers

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

“When I grow up, I’m going to be phenomenally rich! I’m going to be the richest man alive!” (1)_________.

Calvin said that when (5)____ grows up, he (6)_____ to be the richest man alive.

“But I won’t let wealth change me!” Calvin continued.

His dad replied, (2)_____________

Calvin went on to say that he (7)_____ let wealth change (8)_____, to which his dad replied that it (9)______ (10)_____ last hope.

Calvin (3)_____ “You’re going to be pretty lonely in the nursing home.”

(4) ________ said his dad.

Calvin replied that (11)_______ (12)_____ to be pretty lonely in the nursing home.

His dad said that maybe by then, (13)____ (14)_____ finish (15)______ book.

Exercise 2. Calvin and Hobbes

Direct Speech Indirect Speech