ENG • SHS 1Term 2WAEC / WASSCE SyllabusVIP Lesson
Direct and Indirect (Reported) Speech
Reporting statements, questions, commands and exclamations: backshift of tenses, pronoun and time-word changes, universal-truth exception, and the question-word/word-order trap.
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Real-World Context & Relevance in Ghana
A market gossip chain in Kejetia is pure reported-speech practice: "Ama said that Kojo had sold the tomatoes the day before and would return on the following Monday" — every item of that sentence (tense, time word, modal) is exactly what WAEC demands students produce mechanically.
Key Syllabus Learning Objectives
- 1Convert statements, questions, commands and exclamations between direct and indirect speech
- 2Apply the full tense-backshift table including modals and no-backshift cases
- 3Change pronouns and possessives accurately from the reported viewpoint
- 4Shift time and place words (now→then, yesterday→the day before, here→there)
- 5Apply the universal-truth and still-true exception to backshift
1
Statements: The Four-Gear Conversion
Change (1) reporting verb and remove quotation marks and commas; (2) pronouns to the reporter's view (I→he/she, my→his/her, we→they); (3) tense one step back per the ladder; (4) time/place words. "Ama said, 'I am cooking kenkey today'" → "Ama said that she was cooking kenkey that day." For statements reported with a PRESENT verb ("Ama says..."), the tense stays: "she is cooking kenkey today" remains.
- say vs tell: tell needs a person (told ME); say takes that-clause without a person (said THAT).
- add/remark/reply/explain are accepted reporting verbs for variety in transformation items.
- the word "that" is optional but WAEC mark-schemes always accept it; keep it while learning.
- never change the number of the verb's subject accidentally: "He said he WERE" is a concord slip — was.
Practical Example:
A radio jingle report: "The presenter said the show would return the following week" — from "We will return next week!" — all four gears shifted.
Core Takeaway:
Four gears move together: verb, pronoun, tense, time/place.
2
Questions: Order, Not Question-Marks
A reported question is an embedded STATEMENT: subject before verb, no auxiliary DO, no inversion, no question mark. Yes/No questions use IF/WHETHER: "He asked, 'Are you tired?'" → "He asked (me) IF I was tired." WH questions keep the question word and then straighten the order: "Where do you live?" → "He asked where I lived." "Who HAS finished?" keeps its present perfect if the moment of asking is still relevant, but standard transformation backshifts to had.
- The reporting verb becomes ASKED / ENQUIRED / WANTED TO KNOW (never "asked that").
- Removal of the question mark is a required punctuation change in written answers.
- If the answer's tense matters: "When did you buy it?" → "He asked when I HAD bought it" (past simple in the question → past perfect).
- "Do you think that..." style double questions: "What does she want?" asked by a man → "The man asked what she wanted."
Practical Example:
A parent at reporting time: "The visitor asked whether the boy had completed the assignment" — from 'Has he completed the assignment?'.
Core Takeaway:
Reported questions are statements wearing question clothing — flatten the word order.
3
Commands, Requests, Advice and Exclamations
Imperatives collapse to infinitives with the addressee as object: tell/order/command/advice + person + (not) + to-infinitive. 'Close the door' → "He told me TO close the door." 'Don't run' → "He warned us NOT to run." Requests with please shift to asked...to. Exclamations lose the interjection and gain an emotion phrase: "Alas! My brother has died!" → "He exclaimed with sorrow that his brother had died." "Hurra! We have won" → "They shouted with joy that they had won."
- Reporting verb upgrades: tell → order (military/strict), advise (helpful), beg/pray (pleading), warn (danger), urge.
- "Let's go" → suggested GOING / suggested that they should go.
- "Please help me" → asked me TO help him/her.
- Proverbs/commands in questions: WAEC sometimes mixes — trust the punctuation: ? ends mean question gears, ! means exclamation gears.
Practical Example:
A coach's sideline line later quoted: "The coach had told the players not to crowd the penalty box" — from 'Don't crowd the box!'.
Core Takeaway:
Commands = to-infinitive report; exclamations = emotion + that-clause.
4
Exceptions and Frozen Forms
No backshift for: universal truths and scientific facts ("The teacher said that water BOILS at 100°C"); habitual statements still true now ("He said he RIDES to school daily" — acceptable); past perfect and modal-only forms (would, could, might, should) which cannot go further back; unreal conditionals ("If I were rich, I would travel" reported unchanged except pronouns). Deixis note: if the reporting moment is still inside the original time ("today" when said today, reported today), WAEC accepts keeping it, but the safe exam habit is to shift.
- "said" + no "that": optional; "enquired" cannot take a that-clause — only if/wh-questions.
- Time clause order: "would" reports: 'I will come tomorrow' → "he said he WOULD come the following day."
- must → must (obligation still standing) or had to (shifted); WAEC accepts either with explanation.
- Quotation marks, comma before them, and capitals all disappear in the report — losing any of these is a mechanical-accuracy cut.
Practical Example:
A geography teacher's line quoted in an exam: "The lesson stated that the sun rises in the east" — no backshift, and no marks.
Core Takeaway:
Backshift everything EXCEPT what already sits at the past limit (past perfect, would/could) and timeless truth.
WAEC / WASSCE Examiner Tips
- Solve with a checklist written beside your answer: VERB | PRONOUN | TENSE | TIME | PUNCTUATION — five ticks, full marks.
- For exclamation transformations, learn the emotion nouns: joy (hurra), sorrow (alas), surprise (wow/wonderful), anger (shame), disgust — "exclaimed with ___".
- A reporting verb in present tense ("says", "tells") is the examiner's signal: DO NOT backshift; only pronouns and time-words may shift.
- In objectives, the wrong option usually breaks exactly one gear (e.g., correct tense but unshifted "tomorrow") — hunt the unshifted element.
- For summary questions that ask you to report a speaker, indirect speech saves words: convert quoted dialogue into "said that..." clauses to respect word limits.
Common Candidate Pitfalls & Errors to Avoid
- Keeping question order in reported questions: *"He asked where did I live" — must be "where I lived".
- Forgetting time-word shifts: reporting "yesterday" as "yesterday" instead of "the day before".
- Using "asked that" instead of "asked if/whether".
- Mixing say/tell: *"He said me" — told me / said to me.
- Backshifting past perfect ("had gone") to a double-pluperfect (*"had had gone").
- Changing a command to a that-clause with should when the simple infinitive is required: "He ordered me to leave" preferred over "that I should leave."
Topic Mastery Checklist
- Can I state the backshift for each of the eight active tense frames and five modals?
- Can I report a yes/no question using if and statement order?
- Can I convert 'Don't be late' into "He warned us not to be late"?
- Can I list the nine time/place shifts (now/then, here/there, this/that...)?
- Can I explain why "The teacher said the earth revolved/revolves round the sun" both pass?
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