Words showing nearness in direct speech are normally changed into
words showing distance in indirect speech. The most common changes are
given below.
Now/just changes to then Come sometimes changes to go Today changes to that day/the same day
Tomorrow changes to the next day/the following day Yesterday changes to the day before/the previous day Next week/month/year changes to the following week/month/year Last week/month/year changes to the previous week/month/year Ago changes to before This sometimes changes to that Here changes to there
Examples are:
- He said, "I won't answer your question now."
- He said that he wouldn't answer my question then.
- He told her, "I want to leave for Delhi tonight."
- He told her that he wanted to leave for Delhi that night.
- He said, "I will come tomorrow.”
- He said that he would come the next day.
- She said, "I will see you here tomorrow."
- She said that she would see me there the next day.
- "I have an appointment next week," she said.
- She said that she had an appointment the following week.
- "I was on holiday last week," he told us.
- He told us that he had been on holiday the previous week.
- "John called 10 minutes ago," she told me.
- She told me that John had called 10 minutes before.
- "Do you like this shirt?" she asked.
- She asked if I liked that shirt.
|