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Direct Speech: I said to my friend ,"good morning. Let us go for a picnic today.

Indirect speech(book answer): I wished my friend good morning and proposed that we should go for a picnic that day.

I think there should be they instead of we.

2:

Direct Speech: I said to my brother,"Let us go to some hill station for a change".

Indirect Speech(book answer): I suggested to my brother that we should go to some hill station for a change.

In second example too book uses we. I read a rule saying when we change speech let us change into they. So which one is correct we or they?

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  • In general the person and number behind each pronoun will match here, the only change is from objective to subjective.
    – Jason Patterson
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 15:01

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I wished my friend good morning and proposed that we should go for a picnic that day.

Did you intend for you and your friend to go for a picnic? I + anyone else = we.

In this sentence, you are considering yourself ("I") and your friend to be in the same group, and then you are speaking for that group.

That's first person plural and the use of "we" is correct. You would use "they" if you were not part of that group.

It's the same thing with the second sentence.

I read a rule saying when we change speech "let us" changes into they.

This is wrong, unless everyone else in the group of "us" left you behind.

It's possible for "let us" to be used as a polite or gentle way of expressing an imperative to a group of people, and not be including yourself in that group. (A teacher talking to children: "Let's go inside.") However, in both your examples, you are including yourself in the group.

If the subject of the first part of the sentence is no longer "I", but a third-person pronoun such as "he", in that case you use "they" for the second part of the sentence.

He wished his friend good morning and proposed that they should go for a picnic that day.

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  • Direct Speech: He said to his friend ,"good morning. Let us go for a picnic today. In this case i think there should be they. Am i right?
    – starun008
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 18:23
  • Yes. See my addition above.
    – LawrenceC
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 18:27
  • @LawrenceC :ell.stackexchange.com/questions/150969/…. In this link the user has said that they should not be used with third person and you have mentioned they in your answer.
    – asr09
    Commented Dec 22, 2017 at 15:05
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    I + someone else = we. Me + someone else = us. He/she/it + someone else = they. Him/her/it + someone else = them.
    – LawrenceC
    Commented Dec 22, 2017 at 18:51
  • @LawrenceC:dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/let-let-s: In this link cambridge says , let us means including ourselves. I just need ask you that according to the point of view cambridge, what will be the direct narration of your sentence:He wished his friend good morning and proposed that they should go for a picnic that day.
    – asr09
    Commented Dec 23, 2017 at 2:00

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