Common errors in reported speech
(also called indirect speech)
🔴 1. Tense Errors
Mistake: Not shifting tenses correctly when reporting past speech.
Direct: She said, "I am tired."
Wrong: She said she is tired.
Correct: She said she was tired. ✅
📌 Rule: Shift tenses one step back in time (present → past, past → past perfect, etc.) when the reporting verb is in the past.
🔴 2. Pronoun Errors
Mistake: Keeping the same pronouns instead of changing them to match the context.
Direct: John said, "I lost my keys."
Wrong: John said I lost my keys.
Correct: John said he lost his keys. ✅
📌 Rule: Adjust pronouns according to the speaker and listener.
🔴 3. Time/Place Word Errors
Mistake: Using words like today, tomorrow, here without changing them.
Direct: She said, "I will call you tomorrow."
Wrong: She said she would call me tomorrow.
Correct: She said she would call me the next day. ✅
📌 Common changes:
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today → that day
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tomorrow → the next/following day
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yesterday → the day before
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here → there
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now → then
🔴 4. Question Form Errors
Mistake: Keeping the question word order.
Direct: He asked, "Where are you going?"
Wrong: He asked where are you going.
Correct: He asked where I was going. ✅
📌 Rule: Reported questions follow statement word order (subject before verb).
🔴 5. Yes/No Question Errors
Mistake: Not using if or whether.
Direct: She asked, "Do you like pizza?"
Wrong: She asked do I like pizza.
Correct: She asked if I liked pizza. ✅
🔴 6. Quotation Mark Errors
Mistake: Using quotation marks in reported speech.
❌ She said "she was tired."
✅ She said she was tired. (no quotes in reported speech)
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