Перевод в косвенную речь требует изменения структуры предложения и некоторых грамматических элементов. Вот как можно преобразовать каждое из данных предложений:
"What were you laughing at when I entered?" the boy asked.
- The boy asked what I had been laughing at when he had entered.
"I didn't hear anything. The music was playing quite loudly," the woman said.
- The woman said that she hadn't heard anything because the music had been playing quite loudly.
"My daughter was still sleeping at that time," Mrs. Gray said.
- Mrs. Gray said that her daughter had still been sleeping at that time.
"Were you playing tennis at 5, as usual?" Dad asked.
- Dad asked if I had been playing tennis at 5, as usual.
"The man was leaving for St. Petersburg and asked to take him to the station," the taxi driver said.
- The taxi driver said that the man had been leaving for St. Petersburg and had asked to be taken to the station.
"I'll call you tomorrow," Mary promised.
- Mary promised that she would call me the next day.
"If anything happens to me, you'll have to look after my children," she said.
- She said that if anything happened to her, I would have to look after her children.
"I won't help you until you tell me all the truth," the lawyer said.
- The lawyer said that he wouldn't help me until I told him all the truth.
"We won't have this subject next year," she complained.
- She complained that they wouldn't have that subject the next year.
"Will you stay there long?" Mum wondered.
- Mum wondered if I would stay there long.
В косвенной речи время глаголов обычно смещается на один шаг назад (например, настоящее время становится прошедшим, прошедшее становится предпрошедшим). Также меняются личные и указательные местоимения в зависимости от контекста.
