Now In this lesson, we’ll learn direct and indirect speech rules for pronouns which is a very necessary and important change that we have to make anyway. Whatever the tense is.
Table of Contents
1. Direct and Indirect Speech Rules for Subjective Pronouns
We have to learn first what are the persons of pronouns with their types or cases. By learning pronouns, we can learn respective changes.
Before we proceed, we shall have to learn what are pronouns and persons of pronouns or the types of pronouns.
| Case/ Types | 1st Persons | 2nd Person | 3rd Persons | ||||
| Subjective | I | We | You | He | She | They | It |
| Possessive (S) | My | Our | Your | His | Her | Their | It |
| Possessive (P) | Mine | Ours | Yours | – | Hers | Theirs | Its |
| Objective | Me | Us | You | Him | Her | Them | It |
Possessive (S)=Possessive Singular
Possessive (P)=Possessive Plural
Rule One
If the subject of ‘reported speech’ is first person, it changes with the subject of ‘reporting speech’.
First Person of Reported Speech → Subject of Reporting Speech
For Example:
(R.ing Speech) (R.ted Speech)
He said to me, I am …………
↓ ↓
Subject First Person
Now the answer will be as:
He told me that he was…….
More Example:
(R.ing Speech) (R.ted Speech)
You I am listening…
↓ ↓
subject First Person
Now the answer will be as:
You told me that you were listening….
Rule of First Person (We)
If the subject of ‘reported speech’ is first person, it changes with the subject of ‘reporting speech’. But remember, if the subject of reported speech is ‘we’, change everytime it with ‘they’.
If the subject of reported speech is “We” and whatever the subject reporting speech has, just change it to they in reported speech except “you”.
For Example:
(R.ing Speech) (R.ted Speech)
He said, “We are friends.”
He→Subject
We→ First Person
He told me that they were friends.
The reason behind changing “He” to “They” is that “We” is plural whereas “He” is singular so to make the balance of plural, we changed “He to They”.
Example:
You said, “We are writing…. (Dir.)
↓
You told that you are writing…. (Ind.)
In the above example, both “We” and “you” are plural so the balance of plural is there. Therefore, you will be changed with “We” to give “you”
Role No. 2
Rule of 2nd Person(You)
As we know that ‘You’ is only the second person. So, if the subject of the reported speech is ‘You’, it will be changed with the object of reporting speech.
Remember, if reporting speech has no object, just suppose ‘me’ or ‘him’ as an object and then make a change.
Example:
He said to me, “You are a good friend.”(Dir.)
↓
He told me that I am……….(Ind.)
Note: If there is no object in reporting speech, we can consider “him” or “me”.
Example:
He said You are……….(Dir.)
↓
He told that he was (Ind.)
or
He told that I was…. (Ind.)
We shall also change the helping verb according to the newly changed subject of reported speech. Look above example for understanding.
Rule No.3
“Rule of the Third Person for Subjective Pronoun Changes in Direct and Indirect Speech”
[He, She, It They, Name(s)]
If the subject of reported speech is ‘3rd person’ then it will remain unchanged but change of pronouns will be made.
Example:
You said, “They are lawyers. (Dir.)
↓
You told that they were lawyers. (Ind.)
Example:
You say, “He is topper.”.(Dir.)
↓
You tell that he is topper. (Ind.)
Example:
They told, “Ali is a good boy”.(Dir.)
2. Direct and Indirect Speech Rules for Possessive Pronouns
The Objective Pronouns Changes are of two types.
a Possessive Pronoun (Singular) Change
b. Possessive Pronoun (Plural) Change
Possessive Pronoun (Singular) Change:
Singular Possessive Pronouns
My, our, your, his, her, their, it
Rule of Possessive Pronouns 1st Person (my, our)
If there is a Possessive pronoun singular in reported speech, it will change with the subject of reporting a speech by changing it into the Possessive Singular Case.
Example(my)
He said to me, “It is my bat.”
He said to me, “It is my bat.”
He told me that it… his bat.
Note: We do not write helping verb and keep it empty because we will learn its changes in next lesson.
Example(my) Possessive Pronouns Changes
You said to me, “It is my bat.”
You said to me, “It is my bat.”
He told me that it… your bat.
Example(my)
She said to me, “It is my bat.”
She told me that it was her bat.
Example(our) Possessive Pronouns Changes
She said to me, “It is our bat.”
She told me that it was their bat.
Note: Change ‘our’ to ‘their’ whatever the subject of reporting speech is. The reason is that ‘our’ is used for plural.
Example(our)
He said to me, “It is our bat.”
He said to me, “It is our bat.”
He told me that it… their bat.
Example(our)
You said to me, “It is our bat.”
You said to me, “It is our bat.”
You told me that it……your bat.
Rule for Second Person Possessive Pronoun (Your)
Change possessive pronoun singular of reported speech with objective of reporting speech.
Example(your) Possessive Pronouns Changes
He said to me, “It is your bat.”
He told me that it… my bat.
Example(your)
He said to us, “It is your bat.
He told us that it… our bat.
Example(your)
He said to him, “It is your bat.”
He said to him, “It is your bat.”
He told us that it…… his bat.”
Example(your)
He said to her, “It is your bat.”
He said to her, “It is your bat.
He told us that it…. her bat.”
Example(your):
He said to them, “It is your bat.”
He said to them, “It is your bat.
He told them that it…. their bat.
Rule for Possessive Pronoun Third Person Singular
The third-person possessive pronouns such as his, her, their, its, names will not be changed.
Possessive Pronouns Changes in Direct and Indirect Speech
Example(his)
He said to them, “It is his bat.”
He said to them, “It is his bat.
He told them that it…. his bat.
Example(her)
He said to them, “It is her bat.”
He said to them, “It is her bat.”
He told them that it…. her bat.
Example (their) Possessive Pronouns Changes in Direct and Indirect Speech
He said to them, “It is their bat.”
He said to them, “It is their bat.”
He told them that it…. their bat.
Example(its) Possessive Pronouns Changes in Direct and Indirect Speech
He said to them, “It is its beak.”
He said to them, “It is its beak.”
He told them that it…. its bat.
Example(name)
He said to them, “It is Ali’s bat.”
He said to them, “It is Ali’s bat.”
He told them that it… Ali’s bat.
2. Possessive Pronoun (Plural) Change
Possessive pronouns such as mine, ours, yours, hers, theirs, its will be changed in plural form.
Example(mine)
He said to me, “It is mine.”
She said to me, “It is mine.”
She told me that it ۔۔۔ hers.
Example(mine)
You said to me, “It is mine
You said to me, “It is mine.”
You told me it …….. yours.
Example(mine)
Amina said to them, “It is
Amina said to me, “It is mine.”
Amina told me it………….hers.
Example(ours)
She said to me, “It is ours.”
She told me that it….. hers.
Example(ours):
He said to me, “It is
He said to me, “It is ours.”
He told me that it….theirs.
We place ‘their’ because ‘our’ is plural and ‘he’ is singular so, to make ‘he’ plural, ‘their’ will be written which is our final change.
Rule for Possessive Pronoun Second Person Singular (yours)
As we know the second person changes with the object of reporting speech. But if there is possessive pronoun of the second person is in plural form then it changed with object of reporting speech in plural form.
Example(yours)
He said to me, “It is yours.”
He said to me, “It is yours“
He told me that it… mine.
Example(yours)
He said to us, “It is yours.”
He said to us, “It is yours.”
He told us that it… ours.
Example(yours)
He said to her, “It is yours.”
He said to her, “It is yours.
He told her that it….. hers.
Example(yours)
He said to them, “It is yours.”
He said to them, “It is yours.”
He told them that it….. theirs.
Rule for Possessive Pronoun Plural for 3rd Person
The third person will not be changed whether they are possessive, subjective, or objective.
Example(hers)
He said to them, “It is hers.”
He said to them, “It is hers.”
He told them that it…. hers.
Example(theirs)
He said to them, “It is theirs.”
He said to them, “It is theirs.”
He told them that it…. theirs.
Example(its)
He said to them, “It is its.”
He said to them, “It is its.”
He told them that it…. its.
Example(name) Possessive Pronouns Changes in Direct and Indirect Speech
He said to them, “It is Ali’s.”
He said to them, “It is Ali’s.
4. Direct and Indirect Speech Rules for Objective Pronouns Change
This rule is as same as we applied to subjective pronouns in relation to objective pronouns. In other words, we’ll change persons with objective pronouns now.
All the changes will be made as we did on the rules previously. The first person will be changed with the subject of reporting speech whereas the second person with the object of reporting speech but all changes will be transformed into objective cases.
Objective Pronoun Change
‘Me, us, you, him, her, them, it’
Rule (First Person Objective me, us)
The objective pronoun (1st Person) of the reported speech will be changed with the subject of the reporting speech and it will be written in an objective case.
Example(me) Objective Pronouns Changes
You said to me, “It is best for me.”
You said to me, “It is best for me.”
You told me that it… best for you.
Example(me)
He said to me, “It is best for me.”
He told me that it… best for him.
Example(me)
She said to me, “It is best for me.”
She told me that it…best for her.
Example(me)
They said to us, “They are praying for me.”
They told us that they…praying for them.
Example(us)
You said to me, “It is best for us.”
You told me that it… best for you.
Example(us) Objective Pronouns Changes
I said to them, “It is best for us.”
I told them that it….. best for us/them.”
Rule of Second Person Objective Case (You)
The object (2nd Person) of the reported speech will be changed with the object of the reporting speech all in the objective case.
Example(you) Objective Pronouns Changes in Direct and Indirect Speech
I said to them, “It is best for you.”
I told them that it….. best for them.
Example(you)
I said to her, “It is best for you.”
I told her that it….. best for her.
Example(you)
I said to him, “It is best for you.”
I told her that it….. best for him.
Rule for Third Persons Objective Case
The third person will not be changed whatever the case is. Whether the case is subjective objective or possessive.
Example(him) Objective Pronouns Changes
I said, “It is best for him.”
I said that it…best for him.
Example(her)
I said, “It is best for her.”
I said that it.. best for her.
Example(them)
I said, “It is best for them.”
I said that it.. best for them.
“Them” is a third person → No change
Example(her)
He said, “I love it.”
He told that he loved it.
