Reporting speech changes the center of reference. Inside a direct quotation, मैं maĩ refers to the original speaker, तुम/आप to that speaker's addressee, and यहाँ/आज to the quoted situation. In indirect speech, the current narrator must identify those participants from outside the quotation, often replacing first and second person with a name or third-person pronoun.
Hindi does not mechanically backshift every tense the way traditional English exercises often do. Pronoun and deictic reference still has to be recalculated, however. The safest question is not “Which word replaces I?” but “Who is speaking at this grammatical level?”
Direct and indirect reference
| Inside the quotation | Possible indirect form | What determines it |
|---|---|---|
| मैं maĩ | वह/वे, a name | identity and honorific stance toward quoted speaker |
| हम ham | वे, speaker's group, हम | whether current narrator belongs to the group |
| तू/तुम/आप tū/tum/āp | वह/वे, addressee's name | identity and current respectful stance |
| मेरा/अपना merā/apnā | उसका/अपना, name + का | clause subject and intended owner |
| यह/यहाँ/आज yah/yahā̃/āj | वह/वहाँ/उस दिन or unchanged | current time, place, and discourse center |
रवि ने कहा, ‘मैं आज घर पर रहूँगा।’
ravi ne kahā, ‘maĩ āj ghar par rahū̃gā.’
Ravi said, ‘I will stay home today.’
रवि ने कहा कि वह उस दिन घर पर रहेगा।
ravi ne kahā ki vah us din ghar par rahegā.
Ravi said that he would stay home that day.
Direct मैं belongs to Ravi's quoted voice. Indirect वह belongs to the narrator's description of Ravi. आज becomes उस दिन only because the report is made from a later day; a same-day report can naturally retain आज.
First person can remain first person
If the current reporter is quoting their own earlier words, मैं may remain मैं in indirect speech because the original and current speaker are the same person.
मैंने कल कहा था कि मैं बैठक में नहीं आ पाऊँगी।
maĩne kal kahā thā ki maĩ baiṭhak meṃ nahīṃ ā pāū̃gī.
I said yesterday that I would not be able to come to the meeting. (female speaker)
Likewise, quoted हम may remain हम when the current speaker still belongs to the same group. If the narrator is outside that group, third-person वे or an explicit group noun is clearer.
टीम के सदस्यों ने कहा, ‘हम तैयार हैं।’ बाद में प्रबंधक ने बताया कि वे तैयार हैं।
ṭīm ke sadasyoṃ ne kahā, ‘ham taiyār haiṃ.’ bād meṃ prabandhak ne batāyā ki ve taiyār haiṃ.
The team members said, ‘We are ready.’ Later the manager reported that they were ready.
The present tense हैं can remain because Hindi does not require automatic backshift after past बताया. A past form would be chosen if the readiness belonged to a completed past situation, not merely because the reporting verb is past.
Second person becomes a third-person referent
The quoted addressee is usually described in the third person in indirect speech. A name prevents ambiguity between reporter, original speaker, and original addressee.
रीना ने मोहन से कहा, ‘तुम देर से आए हो।’
rīnā ne mohan se kahā, ‘tum der se āe ho.’
Reena said to Mohan, ‘You have arrived late.’ (informal)
रीना ने मोहन से कहा कि वह देर से आया है।
rīnā ne mohan se kahā ki vah der se āyā hai.
Reena told Mohan that he had arrived late.
Quoted familiar तुम... आए हो becomes indirect वह... आया है. The report need not preserve the original address level as a second-person form because Mohan is no longer being addressed.
When the original addressee was respected, the narrator can preserve deference with honorific third-person वे and plural agreement:
नीरा ने डॉक्टर से कहा, ‘आप बहुत थके हुए लग रहे हैं।’
nīrā ne ḍokṭar se kahā, ‘āp bahut thake hue lag rahe haiṃ.’
Neera said to the doctor, ‘You look very tired.’ (respectful)
नीरा ने बताया कि डॉक्टर बहुत थके हुए लग रहे थे।
nīrā ne batāyā ki ḍokṭar bahut thake hue lag rahe the.
Neera said that the doctor looked very tired. (respectful singular reference)
The plural/honorific participles and auxiliary keep the respectful stance. This is a choice shaped by the narrator's stance and context, not an automatic conversion table tied to the quoted आप.
वह and वे can become ambiguous
Indirect speech often contains several third-person participants. Repeating वह can leave it unclear who spoke, acted, or was addressed. Hindi does not provide a special “former/latter” pronoun to solve this; repeat a name or role.
अमन ने विवेक से कहा कि विवेक उसकी फ़ाइल ले जाए।
aman ne vivek se kahā ki vivek uskī fāil le jāe.
Aman told Vivek to take his file. (उसकी still needs context for whose file)
If ownership matters, replace उसकी too: अमन की फ़ाइल or विवेक की फ़ाइल. Pronouns reduce repetition, but clarity outranks elegance.
Careful direct usage distinguishes singular यह/वह from plural ये/वे. Informal speech frequently uses singular ये/वो, but a report should not treat that colloquial form as proof of plural reference. Agreement, honorificity, and context must be read together.
Reflexive अपना resets inside the reported clause
अपना normally refers to the subject of the clause that contains it, not automatically to the person who uttered the original sentence.
सोनिया ने कहा कि अर्जुन अपना कमरा साफ़ करेगा।
soniyā ne kahā ki arjun apnā kamrā sāf karegā.
Sonia said that Arjun would clean his own room.
The room belongs to embedded subject Arjun. To make it Sonia's room, say सोनिया का कमरा or an unambiguous contextual possessive. See changing antecedents of अपना for harder control cases.
English herself/himself also does not equal अपना. Use ख़ुद/स्वयं for an emphatic or case-marked reflexive and अपना only as a possessive.
Formal and informal versions of the same report
अजय ने बताया कि तुम कल आ रहे हो।
ajay ne batāyā ki tum kal ā rahe ho.
Ajay said that you are coming tomorrow. (informal current address to a man)
अजय ने बताया कि आप कल आ रहे हैं।
ajay ne batāyā ki āp kal ā rahe haiṃ.
Ajay said that you are coming tomorrow. (respectful current address to a man)
Here तुम/आप refer to the current listener, not a participant shifted out of a quotation. The minimal pair shows that reported clauses can themselves address the listener; आप still requires plural/honorific हैं.
A dialogue with two reporting centers
लीला: मीरा ने क्या कहा? कबीर: उसने कहा, ‘मैं आप दोनों से कल मिलूँगी।’ लीला: यानी उसने कहा कि वह हम दोनों से कल मिलेगी? कबीर: हाँ, हम दोनों से।
līlā: mīrā ne kyā kahā? kabīr: usne kahā, ‘maĩ āp donoṃ se kal milū̃gī.’ līlā: yānī usne kahā ki vah ham donoṃ se kal milegī? kabīr: hā̃, ham donoṃ se.
Leela: What did Meera say? Kabir: She said, ‘I will meet both of you tomorrow.’ Leela: So she said that she would meet both of us tomorrow? Kabir: Yes, both of us. (respectful dialogue)
Inside the quotation, मैं is Meera and आप दोनों से addresses Leela and Kabir respectfully as a pair. Leela's paraphrase turns Meera into वह and the two addressees into inclusive हम दोनों से. The change from second person to first person follows the new reporting center; the pair itself has not changed.
Common Mistakes
Leaving quoted first person unchanged for a different reporter
❌ रवि ने कहा कि मैं बीमार है।
Incorrect—the indirect subject is Ravi, and the agreement also mismatches मैं.
✅ रवि ने कहा कि वह बीमार है।
ravi ne kahā ki vah bīmār hai.
Ravi said that he was ill.
Giving singular agreement to reported honorific आप
❌ उसने कहा कि आप व्यस्त है।
Incorrect—आप requires plural/honorific हैं even inside a reported clause.
✅ उसने कहा कि आप व्यस्त हैं।
usne kahā ki āp vyast haiṃ.
He or she said that you are busy. (respectful)
Treating tense backshift as automatic
❌ मौसम विभाग ने कहा कि कल बारिश हुई थी।
Incorrect for a forecast about the day after the report—past perfect wrongly turns the prediction into an earlier event.
✅ मौसम विभाग ने कहा कि अगले दिन बारिश होगी।
mausam vibhāg ne kahā ki agle din bāriś hogī.
The weather department said that it would rain the next day.
Letting अपना refer automatically to the matrix speaker
❌ रमा ने कहा कि नील अपना बैग लाएगा।
Incorrect for the intended meaning that Neel will bring Rama's bag—अपना locally identifies Neel's own bag.
✅ रमा ने कहा कि नील रमा का बैग लाएगा।
ramā ne kahā ki nīl ramā kā baig lāegā.
Rama said that Neel would bring Rama's bag.
Key Takeaways
- Recalculate pronouns from the current reporting center; do not perform blind word replacement.
- Hindi does not require automatic tense backshift, though time reference may motivate a tense change.
- Quoted second person normally becomes third-person reference in an indirect report.
- Respectful third-person agreement can preserve deference toward one reported participant.
- Repeat names when multiple वह/वे/उसका forms would obscure reference.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Reported statementsA2 — Turn direct Hindi statements into indirect reports with कि while adjusting speaker reference, deixis, punctuation, and time only when meaning requires it.
- Reported questionsA2 — Report Hindi wh- and yes-or-no questions with पूछना and कि while preserving embedded word order, clear participant reference, and meaningful tense choices.
- Reported commands and requestsA2 — Report instructions and requests with a subjunctive कि clause or an oblique infinitive while keeping the addressee, politeness, negation, and desired outcome clear.
- Reported speech without backshiftC1 — Report Hindi statements faithfully without importing English automatic tense backshift, while adjusting viewpoint and deixis when meaning requires it.
- अपना with changing antecedentsB1 — Track which subject अपना refers to as clauses, control relations, reported viewpoints, and honorific reference change.
- Respectful third-person referenceB2 — Refer respectfully to one third person with plural ये or वे, plural oblique forms, and honorific agreement while preserving deixis and gender.