‘Told someone to do something’ is an indirect imperative.
Key examples:
- Go away. → I told him to go away.
- Have a seat. → I asked him to have a seat.
In negative sentences, 'do not' is removed and 'not to' is used in making Indirect Imperative:
- Don’t go yet. → I told him not to go yet.
To transform imperative direct speech into reported one remove comma (,) and Inverted Commas ("...") and use to-infinitive.
Examples:
- (Direct Speech): I said to him, ″Have a seat ″. → (Indirect Speech): I told him to have a seat.
- (Direct Speech): I said to him, ″Don’t go out ″. → (Indirect Speech): I told him not to go out.
The verbs ‘tell’, ‘say’, ‘ask’ can also be changed into verbs ‘beg’, ‘advise’, ‘request’, ‘order’, ‘command’, etc. depending on what idea an imperative sentence expresses.
Examples:
- He said to us, ″Go there at once″. → He ordered us to go there at once.
- She said to me, ″Stay with me tonight″. → She begged me to stay with her tonight.
- I said, ″Be careful″. → I advised them to be careful.
Table for study:
