GRADE 7 ENGLISH - Past and Past Perfect Tenses, Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct speech

The exact words of the speaker are enclosed in quotation marks.

Indirect or Reported speech

The exact words of the speaker were reported but are not enclosed in quotation marks

What changes when converting a direct speech to an indirect speech?

Pronoun, Verb with its tense depending on the sentence,

In the indirect or reported speech, the word ______ is used after the dialogue tag he/she said.

that

the words ___ are used after the dialogue tag he/she asked. 

if, when, why, how

What are the most common reporting verbs?

said, told, and asked

Direct Speech

No need to change the pronoun used by the speaker

Reported Speech

Change the pronoun

Direct Speech

No need to change the tense of the verb

Reported Speech

Change the tense of the verb

RULE # 1

Remove the quotation marks and the comma. Use the relative pronoun ‘that’.

RULE # 2

Change the person of the PRONOUNS

SON formula

1ST Person-Subject

2ND Person - Object

3RD Person - No change

Rule # 3

If in a direct speech the reporting verb, ‘said’ is used, then CHANGE THE TENSE of the verb. If the reporting verb, “says/say” or “will say” is used, there is NO NEED to change the tense of the verb.

RULE # 4

If in a direct speech, the words within the quotation marks talk of a universal truth or habitual action, then the tense of the verb inside the quotation marks is not changed at all.

CHOOSE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT DIRECT/ REPORTED SPEECH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS.

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“I have a dream,” Martin Luther King Jr. said.

Martin Luther King Jr. said that he had a dream.

CHOOSE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT DIRECT/ REPORTED SPEECH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS.

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“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,” Mr. Luther King Jr. said.

Martin Luther Jr. said that our lives began to end the day we became silent about things that matter.

CHOOSE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT DIRECT/ REPORTED SPEECH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS.

\
“The best way to predict the future is to create it,” Abraham Lincoln told us.

Abraham Lincoln told us that the best way to predict the future was to create it.

CHOOSE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT DIRECT/ REPORTED SPEECH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS.

\
He told me that silence was the best answer for all the questions.

“Silence is the best answer for all the questions,” he told me.

CHOOSE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT DIRECT/ REPORTED SPEECH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS.

\
He told me that I should strive harder to become successful.

“You shall strive harder to become successful,” he told me

Past Perfect Tense

Refers to an action COMPLETED before ANOTHER PAST ACTION

Past Perfect Tense

Refers to an action COMPLETED before a SPECIFIC TIME in the past

PAST PERFECT TENSE FORMULA

had + past participle (completed action)

**SIMPLE PAST TENSE**

Used to state an action that BEGAN and COMPLETED in the PAST.

IDENTIFY WHAT WORDS IN THE SENTENCES USED ARE SIMPLE PAST TENSE AND PAST PERFECT TENSE.

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Before the maiden arrived, the youth had prepared his confession.

Maiden - Simple Past Tense

Hap Prepared - Perfect Past Tense

Note: We can use ***before*** with **past simple** tense to talk about an action that happened after something else.

IDENTIFY WHAT WORDS IN THE SENTENCES USED ARE SIMPLE PAST TENSE AND PAST PERFECT TENSE.

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The moment that the maiden had told the youth to get his mother’s heart, the youth left right away.

Had told - Past Perfect Tense

Left - Simple Past Tense

IDENTIFY WHAT WORDS IN THE SENTENCES USED ARE SIMPLE PAST TENSE AND PAST PERFECT TENSE.

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The youth couldn’t marry the maiden until he had taken his mother’s heart.

couldn’t- Simple Past Tense

had taken- Past Perfect Tense