Introduction to Reported Speech

Title: Introduction to Reported Speech

Story 1: A Day at the Market
Imagine you are at a bustling market in India. You overhear a fascinating conversation between two vendors. One vendor says, "I have the juiciest, most delicious mangoes in town!" The other vendor excitedly replies, "That's great! I will buy a crate from you tomorrow."

Story 2: A Family Gathering
You are attending a family gathering, where you witness an interesting conversation between your cousins. One of them exclaims, "I'm going to be a famous singer one day!" Another cousin responds, "She said she would practice singing every day to make her dream come true."

Introduction:
Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. It helps us to share conversations and relay information accurately. In reported speech, we often change the original speaker's words to fit into our own sentence structure.

Definition:
Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is used to report or relay what someone else said, without using their exact words. It involves transforming direct speech into indirect speech while maintaining the original meaning.

Example:
Direct Speech: She said, "I am going to the library."
Reported Speech: She said that she was going to the library.

Main Differences between Direct Speech and Indirect Speech:
1. Pronouns and Verb Changes:
In reported speech, pronouns and verb tenses often need to be changed. For example:
- He said, "I love chocolate." (direct speech)
- He said that he loved chocolate. (reported speech)

2. Time and Place References:
Time and place references may also need to be adjusted in reported speech. For example:
- She said, "I will meet you here tomorrow." (direct speech)
- She said that she would meet me there the next day. (reported speech)

3. Punctuation and Word Order:
In direct speech, we use quotation marks and question marks/exclamation points inside the quotation marks. In reported speech, these punctuation marks are not used. Additionally, the word order is changed. For example:
- She said, "Are you coming with us?" (direct speech)
- She asked if I was coming with them. (reported speech)

Interesting Fact:
Did you know that reported speech is used in newspapers, interviews, storytelling, and even in everyday conversations? It helps us to accurately convey what someone said, even if it happened in the past.

Examples:
1. The teacher said, "The exam will be next week."
The teacher informed us that the exam would be the following week.

2. He said to his friend, "Let's go to the movies tonight."
He suggested to his friend that they should go to the movies that night.

Mnemonic Technique:
To remember the rules of reported speech, you can use the acronym "PVT-CHAMP":
P - Pronouns and verbs change
V - Verb tenses change
T - Time and place references change
C - Comma and word order change
H - He said, she said
A - Avoid using quotation marks
M - Make necessary changes to the sentence structure
P - Punctuation changes

Questions to Reflect on Learning:
1. What is reported speech, and why is it used?
2. What are the main differences between direct speech and reported speech?
3. Can you provide an example of a sentence in direct speech and rewrite it in reported speech?

Remember, practice is key to mastering reported speech. Keep exploring different examples and applying the rules to enhance your understanding. Happy learning!