Direct and indirect speech
Introduction.
There two ways to convey a message of a person, or the words spoken by a person to other person.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Suppose your friend whose name is John tells you in school, “I will give you a pen”. You come to home and you want to tell your brother what your friend told you. There are two ways to tell him.

Direct speech: John said, “I will give you a pen”.
Indirect Speech: John said that he would give me a pen.

In direct speech the original words of person are narrated (no change is made) and are enclosed in quotation mark. While in indirect speech some changes are made in original words of the person because these words have been uttered in past so the tense will change accordingly and pronoun may also be changed accordingly. In indirect speech the statement of the person is not enclosed in quotation marks, the word “that” may be used before the statement to show that it is indirect speech. Indirect speech is also called reported speech because reported speech refers to the second part of indirect speech in which something has been told by a person.
Reporting verb: The verb first part of sentence (i.e. he said, she said, he says, they said, she says,) before the statement of a person in sentence is called reporting verb.
Examples. In all of the following example the reporting verb is “said”.
He said, “I work in a factory” (Direct speech)
He said that he worked in a factory. (Indirect speech)
They said, “we are going to cinema” (Direct speech)
They said that they were going to cinema. (Indirect speech)

Reported Speech. The second part of indirect speech in which something has been told by a person (which is enclosed in quotation marks in direct speech) is called reported speech. For example, a sentence of indirect speech is, He said that he worked in a factory. In this sentence the second part “he worked in a factory” is called reported speech and that is why the indirect speech as a whole can also be called reported speech.

Fundamental rules for indirect speech.
Reported speech is not enclosed in quotation marks.
Use of word “that”: The word “that” is used as a conjunction between the reporting verb and reported speech.
Change in pronoun: The pronoun (subject) of the reported speech is changed according to the pronoun of reporting verb or object (person) of reporting verb (first part of sentence). Sometimes the pronoun may not change.
In following example the pronoun of reported speech is “I” which will be changed in indirect speech into the pronoun (Subject) of reporting verb that is “he”.

Example.
Direct speech: He said, “I am happy”
Indirect Speech: He said that he was happy.
Direct speech: I said to him, “you are intelligent”
Indirect Speech: I said him that he was intelligent. (“You” changed to “he” the person of object of reporting verb)
Change in time: Time is changed according to certain rules like now to then, today to that day, tomorrow to next day and yesterday to previous day.
Examples.
Direct speech: He said, “I am happy today”
Indirect Speech: He said that he was happy that day.
Change in the tense of reported speech: If the first part of sentence (reporting verb part) belongs to past tense the tense of reported speech will change. If the first part of sentence (reporting verb part) belongs to present or future tense, the tense of reported speech will not change.
Examples.
Direct speech: He said, “I am happy”
Indirect Speech: He said that he was happy. (Tense of reported speech changed)
Direct speech: He says, “I am happy”
Indirect Speech: He said that he is happy. (Tense of reported speech didn’t change).

Table for change in tense of reported speech for all TENSES.

TENSE CHANGE - IN - INDIRECT SPEECH
Present simple tense into Past simple
Present Continuous tense into Past continuous
Present Perfect tense into Pas perfect
Present Perfect Continuous into Past perfect continuous
Past simple into Past Perfect
Past Continuous into Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect into Past Perfect
Future simple, will into would
Future Continuous, will be into would be
Future Perfect, will have into would have

Examples.
DIRECT SPEECH
INDIRECT SPEECH
PRESENT TENSE
PRESENT SIMPLE changes into PAST SIMPLE
He said, “I write a letter”

She said, “he goes to school daily”

They said, “we love our country”

He said, “he does not like computer”
He said that he wrote a letter.

He said that she went to school daily.

They said that they loved their country
He said that he did not like computer.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS changes into PAST CONTINUOUS
He said, “he is listening to the music”

She said, “I am washing my clothes”

They said, “we are enjoying the weather”

I said, “it is raining”
She said, “I am not laughing”
He said that he was listening to the music.

She said that she was washing her clothes.

They said that they were not enjoying the weather.

She said that she was not laughing.
PRESENT PERFECT changes into PAST PERFECT
She said, “he has finished his work”

He said, “I have started a job”

I said, “she have eaten the meal”

They said, “we have not gone to New York.
She said that he had finished his work.

He said that he had started a job.

I said that she had eaten the meal.
They said that they had not gone to New York.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS changes into PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
He said, “I have been studying since 3 O’clock”

She said, “It has been raining for three days.”

I said, “She has been working in this office since 2007”
He said that he had been studying since 3 O’clock.

She said that it been raining for three days.

I said that she had been working in this office since 2007.
PAST TENSE
PAST SIMPLE changes into PAST PERFECT
He said to me, “you answered correctly”

John said, “they went to cinema”

He said, “I made a table”
She said, “I didn’t buy a car”
He said to me that I had answered correctly.

John said that they had gone to cinema.

He said that he had made a table.
She said that she had not bought a car.
PAST CONTINUOUS changes into PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
They said, “we were enjoying the weather”

He said to me, “ I was waiting for you”

I said, “It was raining”
She said, “I was not laughing”
They said that they had been enjoying.

He said to me that he had been waiting for me.
I said that it had been raining.

She said that she not been laughing.
PAST PERFECT changes into PAST PERFECT (tense does not change)
She said, “She had visited a doctor”

He said, “I had started a business”

I said, “she had eaten the meal”

They said, “we had not gone to New York.
She said that she had visited a doctor.

He said that he had started a business.

I said that she had eaten the meal.

They said they had not gone to New York.
FUTURE TENSE
FUTURE SIMPLE TENSE
WILL changes into WOULD
He said, “I will study the book”

She said, “I will buy a computer”

They said to me, “we will send you gifts”

I said, “I will not take the exam”
He said that he would study the book.

She said that she would buy a computer.

They said to me that they would send you gifts.
I said that I would not take the exam.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE
WILL BE changes into WOULD BE
I said to him, “ I will be waiting for him”

She said,” I will be shifting to new home”

He said, “I will be working hard”

He said, “he will not be flying kite”
I said to him that I would be waiting for him.

She said that she would be shifting to a new home.

He said that he would be working hard.

She said that he would not be flying kites.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
WILL HAVE changes into WOULD HAVE
He said, “I will have finished the work”

She said, “they will have passed the examination”

He said, “I will have gone”
He said that he would have finished the work.

She said that they would have passed the examination.

He said that he would have gone.
Note: The tense of reported speech may not change if reported speech is a universal truth though its reporting verb belongs to past tense.

Examples.
Direct speech: He said, “Mathematics is a science”
Indirect Speech: He said that mathematics is a science.
Direct speech: He said, “Sun rises in east”
Indirect Speech: He said that sun rises in east. (Tense didn’t change because reported speech is a universal truth thought its reporting verb belongs to past tense)

Please check,
a) He said, “Don’t open the door.”
He forbade to open the door.
b) He offered to bring me some tea.
He said to me, " Shall I bring some tea for you."
c) He aid, “Thank you!”
He thanked me.
d) He said, “Can you swim?” and I said, “NO”.
He asked if I could swim and I replied in negative.
e) He told Aslam to get his coat.
He said to Aslam, "Get my coat."
0 “If 1 were you, I would wait,” I said.
I said/remarked that if I had been him/at his place, I would have waited.
g) He ordered the peon to lock the door.
He said to the peon, "Lock the door."
h) He warned me not to leave my car unlocked as there had been lot of stealing from cars.
He said to me, "Do not leave your car unlocked as there have been a lot of stealing from cars."
The boy said to his teacher, “I do not know the answer”.
The boy replied to his teacher/told his teacher that he did not know the answer.
b) The beggar said, “May you live long and grow rich”
The beggar prayed that I might live long and grew rich./ The beggar prayed for my long life and that I may grew rich.