Direct Indirect Speech

Content
1. Introduction
2. Direct Speech
3. Indirect Speech
4. Statements / affirmative sentences
5. Interrogative sentences
6. Imperative sentences
7. Exclamatory sentences
 A SPEAKER’S word can be reported in
two ways:
Direct Speech- Exact words of speaker
• The teacher said to Rajesh, “You have a
bright future.”

Indirect Speech- What the speaker has said

without using the exact words
• The teacher told Rajesh that he had a
bright future.
 There are two ways of reporting what
somebody says:
• Direct speech
• Indirect (or reported) speech.
 The reproduction of the exact words of
the speaker is called ‘ Direct Speech’
• We may also give an account of what
another person has said. In other words,
when the meaning of a speech is
conveyed in the reporter’s words, it is
called ‘Indirect Speech’
 1

When we use direct speech in our writing:

• The exact words spoken must be put
inside “ ”
• The first spoken word must have a
capital letter.
• When a new speaker begins, we must
start a new line.
 2. Direct speech
• Saying exactly what someone
has said is called Direct Speech
(sometimes called quoted
speech)
• Here what a person says appears
within quotation marks ("...")
and should be word for word.
• For example:
• “ I am going to the cinema", he
 3. Indirect speech
• Indirect speech or reported
speech reports what a speaker
said without using the exact
words.
• When we report what another
person
has said, we usually do not use the speaker’s
exact words (direct speech), but reported
(indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn
how to transform direct speech into reported
 3. Indirect speech
• In reporting speech the tense
usually changes. This is because
when we use reported speech, we are
usually talking about a time in the
past.
• In indirect speech we report
what was said.
• We sometimes need to change
pronouns.
• We don’t use speech marks.
He said, “I am playing.”
She said, “ I shall paint.”
He said, “I have finished this
exercise today.”
The inspector said to me, “ I am glad to
be with you now.”
• He said that he had caught three
fish.

• Не shouted (that) the train

would leave in ten minutes!

• She said that she was a

clever girl.

• He said that he loved ice

cream.
What changes did
you notice?
• Omission of comma
• Use of ‘that’.
• Change of pronoun.
• Change of tense.
• Change of adverb,
place or time.
Direct / Indirect Speech

I am feeling Paul said

ill ! that he was
feeling ill.
Direct: Paul said, “ I am feeling ill ”.

Indirect: Paul said that he was feeling ill.

What are the changes?

1. No speech markers (, “ ”) in the Indirect
Speech.
2. We added that (optional)
3. Pronoun change (I  He)
4. Tense change ( am was)
 4. How to change statements
(affirmative / assertive) sentences of
Direct Speech into Indirect
Speech ?
•There are three rules while changing from
direct to indirect of statements like
sentences.
Change of
Tense
 If the reporting verb in the direct
speech statement is in present tense or
future tense, then it remains same in
indirect speech too i.e. no change in
tense.
 If the reporting verb is in the past
tense in the direct speech statement ,
then the verbs within the inverted
commas willchange in the indirect
speech statements.
• Am / is 
was  were
• are 
• Do
Have / does
/ has did
•will had
• can 
 could
 Direct Speech Reported Speech

 Simple Present  Simple Past

- Mira said, “I go to school.”

- Mira said that she went to school .

 Simple Past  Past Perfect

- They said, “We went at work.”

- They said that they had gone at work.

 Direct Speech Reported Speech

 Continuous Present  Continuous

Past

- Mira said, “I am going to school.”

- Mira said that she was going to school.

 Perfect Present  Perfect Past

- They said, “We have finished the work.”

- They said that they had finished the work.

 Direct Speech Reported Speech

 Past Perfect  Past Perfect

He said, “ I hadn’t gone there.”

He said he hadn’t gone there.

 Future Will  Conditional “Would”

Keya said, “I will come on Monday.”

Keya said that she would come on Monday.

 Modals Change…

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

 Can  Could

- She said, “ I can go to -She said she could go

the party tonight.” to the party that night.

 May  Might

-The kids said, “We -The kids said they

may go to school.” might go to
school.
Change of
Personal Pronouns change according to

SON formula
1st person =
Subject 2nd person
= Object
3rd person = No
•If subject of
change
the quoted words is in 1st
person then it will change according to
the subject of the reported verb
e.g. - He said to her, “I like coffee.” He
told her that he liked coffee.
Personal Pronouns change according to:

•If subject of the quoted words is in 2nd

person then it will change according to the
object of reporting verb
e.g. - He said to her, “You look happy.”
He told her that she looked happy.

•If the subject of the quoted words is in 3rd

person then there will be no change.
e.g. - He said to him, “She has already left.”
He told him that she had already left.
 Subject= 1st Person
DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH
I He / She
Me Him / Her
His /
My Her
They

We Them
Their
Us

Our
 Subject = 1st Person

• He said, “I went to consult my parents.”

He said that he had gone to consult his
parents.
• Mona said, “ I went to consult my parents.”
Mona said that she had gone to consult her
parents.
• Boys said, “ We went to consult our parents.
Boys said that they had gone to consult
their parents.
 Object = 2nd Person
DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH
You (singular.) He / She
Your (singular.) His / Her
You (singular.) Him /
You (plural.) Her
They
Your (plural.)
You (plural.) Their
Them
 Object= 2nd Person

• Anil said to Mina , “ Your parents are waiting for you.”

Anil told Mina that her parents were waiting for her.

• Anil said to Yogi, “ Your parents are waiting for you.”

Anil told Yogi that his parents were waiting for him.

• Anil said to them, “ Your parents are waiting for you.”

Anil told them that their parents were waiting for them.
3rd person= No Change
Change in Adverbs of Time and Place

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

Last year The year before
Tonight That night
This That
Thus So
Change of Adverbs
 Practice…
1. "I take English classes at Kansagara
College." He said that…
2. "I am practicing how to write a formal paragraph."
He said that…
3. "I have already written this paragraph four
times."
He said that…
4."I really wanted to drop my English
class." He said that…
5."I had made too many mistakes to
continue." He said that…
6. "I am not going to give up yet."
7. "I have to get a scholarship for college."
He said that …

8. "I must support myself after college

graduation." He said that …

9. "I cannot continue to depend on my

parents." He said that …

10."I might go to work full time and go to school part

time."
He said that …
5. Interrogative Sentences
 In a direct ‘Yes/No’ question ..,,

• A question is changed into a Statement.

• Reporting verb is changed into ask /
enquire and connective ‘ if/whether’ is
used .
• Remaining changes will be like
that of statements.
 Example..

 She said to him, “ Are you writing a poem?”

She asked him if he was writing a poem.

 I said to her, “ Do you know this person?”

I enquired her whether she knew that
person.
•
In case of question words like who,
how, where, what, whose, which,
why, whom etc. same words are
used as a connective in the reported
speech.
 Example
 “Where do you live?”, she asked Mina.
She asked Mina where she lived.

He said to Yuvi, “How do you write

poems?
He asked Yuvi how he wrote poems.
6. Imperative Sentences
# In Imperative sentences, reporting
verb is changed into order /
command / advise / warn / request /
etc.

# No change of tense.

# The connective ‘to’ is put as

infinitive.
 I said to him, “ Take your seat.”
I advised/ordered him to take
his seat.

 He said to Neena, “ Give me some

food, please.”
He requested Neena to give him
some food.
7. Exclamatory
Sentence
# In Exclamatory Sentences,
reporting verb is changed into
'exclaimed with joy / sorrow /
anger / surprise' etc.
# Sentence will be changed into
statement.
# Exclamatory symbols (Oh, Alas
etc.) are removed.
# Connective ‘ that’ will be used.
 He said, “ How beautiful a
place !”
> He exclaimed with joy
that
it was a very beautiful
place.

 Rohan said, “ Hurrah ! We

have won the match !.”
> Rohan exclaimed happily
that they had won the
• Alas !
• exclaimed with sadness / regret /
disappointment.
• Direct Speech:
• The reporter said, “Alas! Many lives have
been lost due to tsunami”
• Indirect Speech:
• The reporter exclaimed sadly that many
lives had been lost due to tsunami.
• May you !
• blessed/ wished.
• Direct Speech:
• The grandmother said her, “May you
meet with success wherever you go”
• Indirect Speech:
• The grandmother blessed her that
she should meet with success
wherever she goes.
 Note
If the reported speech expresses a
universal truth or general habit, its
tense will not change.
Example:-
Direct: He said, “The world is round.”
Indirect: He said that the world is round.
 Change the following into indirect speech.

• The air hostess said, “ The hijackers tried to

frighten the passengers.”
• The captain said to his men, “ Stand at
ease.”
• She said to Neena, “ Do you believe in
ghosts?”
• The Principal says, “Rules have to be followed
at any cost.”