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Direct and Indirect Speech

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36 views

Direct and Indirect Speech

Uploaded by

donkeyshotdoflamingo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 27

Let’s talk about

reporting …
Telling someone what someone else said

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Direct vs Indirect speech

Direct Indirect

Reporting the message Reporting the message


of the speaker in exact of the speaker in our
words as spoken by him own words
Rama said ‘I am busy now.’
Rama said that he was
very busy then.
Direct & Indirect Speech
rules
To report a sentence, there are various
factors that are considered such as
reporting verbs, modals, time, place,
pronoun, tense, etc.

We will take up all the factors one by


one
Writing Direct Speech 101
Basic rules when writing direct speech

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1. In direct speech the words actually spoken should
be in (“”) quotes and always begin with a capital letter.
Example: She said, “I am the Best.”

2. Full stop, Comma, exclamation or question mark, are


placed inside the closing inverted commas. Example:
They asked, “Can we sing with you?”

3. If direct speech comes after the information about


who is speaking, comma is used to introduce the
speech, placed before the first inverted comma.
Example: “Thinking back,” he said, “she didn't expect
to win.”
Direct to
indirect Speech
Rules
01 No Quotation Marks “”
Words of the speaker (reported speech) are not
enclosed in Inverted Commas or Quotation
Marks in Indirect Speech

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02 Usage of the word“that”
The conjunction “that” is always used between
reporting verb and reported speech in
indirect speech

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03 Change in the Tense
A change is made in tense of reported speech
for changing a direct speech into indirect
speech

Let’s look at the rules for tense change


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Present tenses
PRESENT SIMPLE changes into PAST SIMPLE
She said, “I work in a hospital.” She said that she worked in a hospital.

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE changes into PAST PROGESSIVE


He said, “I am waiting for someone.” He said that he was waiting for
someone

PRESENT PERFECT changes into PAST PERFECT


She said, “ I have completed the work.” She said that she had completed
the work.
PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE changes into PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
David said, “he has been waiting for his brother for three hours.”
David said that he had been waiting for his brother for three hours
Past Tenses
PAST SIMPLE changes into PAST PERFECT
He said, “I started a Job.” He said that he had started a job.

PAST PROGRESSIVE changes into PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE


He said, “I was writing a poem.” He said that he had been writing a
poem.

PAST PERFECT changes into PAST PERFECT (No change in tense)

They said, “We had won the game.” They said that they had won the
game.
Future tenses
FUTURE SIMPLE TENSE (WILL) changes into WOULD
She said, “I will go to London.” She said that she would go to London.

FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE (WILL BE) changes into WOULD BE


He said to me, “I will be waiting for you.” He said to me that he would
be waiting for me

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE (WILL HAVE) changes into WOULD HAVE

She said, “I will have cooked the food.” She said that she would have
cooked the food
04 Changes in Pronoun
The pronoun (or subject) of reported speech is
sometime changed according to the pronoun (or
subject) or Object of the reported verb (first sentence
of Direct speech).

The possessive pronouns (i.e. his, her, my, their, your


etc.) may also change according to subject or object
of the first sentence.
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Examples
Direct speech
1. He said, "I eat an apple."

2. She said to me, “I like your book.”

Indirect speech
1. He said that he ate an apple.

2. She said to me that she liked my book.


05 Changes in Time
If the word related to time is given in the
sentence then it will be changed in indirect
speech. Some rules must be followed while
doing this and those are given in the
following table.

Let’s look at the rules the changes in time


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Conversions
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Now Then
Here There
Ago Before
Thus So
Today That Day
Tonight That night
Tomorrow The next day
Yesterday The day before
Next week/month/year The following week/month
Examples
Direct speech
1. He said, “His girlfriend came yesterday.”

2. She said, “I am buying a laptop today.”

3. He said, “I need your now.”

Indirect speech
1. He said that his girlfriend had come the day before.

2. She said that she was buying a laptop that day

3. He said that he needed my help then.


06 Changes in Modals
For converting direct speech into indirect
speech, Present Modals (e.g. Must, Can, May)
are changed into Past Modals (i.e. Could,
Might, Had to)

There are Modals that do not change like -


Could, Would, Should, Might, Ought to.
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Conversions
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Can Could
May Might
Must Must/had to

Could Could
Would Would
Should Should
Might Might
Ought to Ought to
Examples
Direct speech
1. She said, “She can dance.”

2. She said, “I may go to Paris.”

3. Rama said, “I must complete the assignment.”

Indirect speech
1. She said that she could dance.

2. She said that she might go to Paris.

3. Rama said that he had to complete the assignment.


Request, Command, Wished,
07 Enquired
Some verbs, such as requested, ordered, urged, and
advised, are used in indirect speech.

For the negative statements, the word forbidden is used.


As a result, in indirect communication, the imperative
mood that is present in direct speech is replaced by the
infinitive word
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Examples
Direct speech
1. She said to her, "Please do this work."

2. She said to her, “Please complete it.”

3. Hamid said to Ramid, “Sit down.”

Indirect speech
1. She requested her to complete that work.

2. She requested her to complete it

3. Hamid ordered Ramid to sit down.


08 Interrogative sentences
No conjunction is used, if a sentence in direct
speech starts with a question word
(what/where/when) as the "question-word"
itself acts as conjunction

If a direct speech sentence starts with an


auxiliary verb/helping verb, the joining clause

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will be changed into if or whether.
Examples
Direct speech
1. "Where are you going?" asked the boy

2. David said to me, “Do you like coffee?”

3. She said to me, “What is your name?”

Indirect speech
1. The boy asked where I was going.

2. David asked me if I liked coffee.

3. She asked me what my name was.


Exclamatory sentences
09 Interjections words are removed from
exclamatory sentences that express (grief,
sorrow, delight, or applaud) and the sentence
is transformed into an assertive sentence

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Examples
Direct speech
1. Students said, "Hurrah! India has won the match."

2. He said, “What a dreadful idea!” or “How dreadful!”

3. “Ugh!” she exclaimed, and turned the programme off

Indirect speech
1. Students exclaimed with joy that India had won the match.

2. He exclaimed that it was a dreadful idea/was dreadful.

3. With an exclamation of disgust she turned the programme off


Meet the Team

Joyce Forkou Bakop Pharell Abraham Noumsi

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