Direct and Indirect Speech

Definition of Speech:–

  • The communication or expression of thoughts in spoken words.
  • Usually, something that is spoken.

In spoken english the speech is of two types:

  1. Direct speech
  2. Indirect speech

These two ways are usually used to convey a message (spoken-words) of one

person to another person.

What is Direct & Indirect Speech?

Direct Speech: the message of the speaker is conveyed or reported in

his own actual words without any change.

Ex:- Radha said, “I am very busy now.”

Note:-

  • The exact words (or actual words) of the speaker are enclosed in Inverted Commas or Quotation Marks.
  • There is always a comma or a colon after “said” that introduces the spoken words.

Indirect Speech: the message of the speaker is conveyed or reported

in our own words.

Ex:-Radha said that she was very busy then

Note:-

  • The word ‘that’ will be used before the spoken-words of the speaker.
  • The pronouns of the sentence are also changed accordingly.

Components of Direct Speech:-

There are two components of a sentence of Direct Speech.They are:-

1)Reporting Speech: The part of the first sentence (i.e. she said, he said, she

says, they said, they say etc.) before the actual words of the speaker is called

a reporting speech.

Examples:

She said, “I am listening to music”.

He says, “You are an intelligent student”.

You will say, “I need your help”.

2)Reported Speech: The second sentence (actual words of speaker) that is

enclosed in Inverted Commas or Quotation Marks is called a reported

speech.

Examples:

He said, “I got a job in college”

She says, “I want to become a doctor”

They said, “We play football in the playground”

Rules for changing Direct Speech to Indirect Speech:

Rule 1:-If the reporting verb is in the Present or Future tense (e.g., say, will say) there is no change in the tense of the verb in the Indirect speech.

Ex:- Balu says, “I eat a mango”. (D.S.)
Balu says, that he eats a mango”. (I.S.)

If Reporting Verb is in the Past Tense. the tense of the verbs in the reported speech or Indirect Speech must be generally changed.

Rule 2: The adverbs change as follows while the transformation from Direct Speech to Indirect speech.

D&I2

Rule 3:-Tenses

1) Present Tense in the Direct becomes past tense.
Ex:- Somu said, “I ask a doubt”. (D.S)
Somu said that he asked a doubt. (I.S)

2)Past Tense in the direct becomes past perfect or remains unchanged.

Ex:- Arun said, “I ate a mango yesterday”. (D.S)
Arun said that he had eaten a mango the day before. (I.S)

3) Present Continuous in the direct becomes past continuous.

Ex:-Charan said, “I am going to school”. (D.S)
Charan said that he was going to school. (I.S)

4)Past Continuous in the direct becomes past perfect continuous.

Ex:-Naveen said, “I was playing Ludo”. (D.S)
Naveen said that he had been playing Ludo. (I.S)

5). Present Perfect in the direct becomes past perfect.

Ex:-Surya said, “I have done my home work”. (D.S)
Surya said that he had done his home work. (I.S)

6)Present Perfect Continuous in the direct becomes past perfect continuous.

Ex:-He said, “I have been studying english”. (D.S)
He said that he had been studying english. (I.S)

7)‘Will’ and ‘Shall’ are changed to ‘would’.
EX:-He said, “I will do work tommorow”. (D.S)
He said that he would do work the next day. (I.S)

MAY

MIGHT

CAN

COULD

MUST

HAD TO /MUST

**Exception to the above rule:

*If the direct speech contains the Universal Truth, the tense of the direct speech remains unchanged even if the reporting verb is in the past.

Ex:-The teacher said, “The sun rises in the East”. (D.S)
The teacher said that the sun rises in the East. (I.S)

ASSERTIVE SENTENCES:

RULES:

  • Remove the quotation marks in the statement
  • Use the conjuction ‘that’
  • Change the reporting verb ‘say to’ into ‘tell’
  • Change the reporting verb ‘said to’ into ‘told’

Examples

1. “I will work hard to get first class” said Ramu (D.S.)

Ramu said he would work hard to get first class. (I.S.)

2. “You can do this work” said Ram to Rani (D.S.)
Ram told Rani that she could do that work. (I.S.)

Imperative Sentence (Order/Request)

Rules:-

  • Use ‘to’ if it is an affirmative sentence. (without don‘t)
  • Use ‘not to’ if the sentence begins without Don‘t.
  • Don‘t use ‘that’
  • Omit the word ‘please’. Use the word ‘request’ instead of ‘say’.
  • If the direct speech contains a request or a command, the reporting verb (say, said) change to tell, request, order, command etc. In its correct tense.
  • Remove the quotation mark in an Imperative sentence.

Examples:-

  • “Be careful” said he to her. (D.S.)
    He ordered her to be careful. (I.S.)
  • “Bring me a glass of water” said mother to Son. (D.S.)
    Mother asked Son to bring her a glass of water. (I.S.)

 

Interrogative Sentence (Questions)

Rules:-

  • Remove the quotation marks and question mark in the interrogative sentence.
  • Use ‘if’ or ‘whether’ if the sentence inside the quotation marks begins with a helping verb (Auxiliary verb).
  • Use the given interrogative word (what, when, where, why, who, whom, whose, which, now etc.) if it does not begin with the helping verb.
  • Don‘t use ‘that’
  • Changing the reporting verb (say, said) into ‘ask’ or ‘enquire’ in its correct tense.
  • Omit helping verb like ‘do, does, did’. But don’t omit them when they are with ‘not’.

Examples:-

1. “Won’t you help me to caary this box?” said I to my friend. (D.S.)
I asked my friend if he would not help me to carry that box. (I.S.)

2. Mohan said to Sita, “Why did not you attend the meeting yesterday”? (D.S.)
Mohan asked Sita why she had not attended the meeting the day before. (I.S.)

3. “How often do you go to the theatre?” said Damu to Rani. (D.S.)
Damu asked Rani how often she went to the theatre. (I.S.)

4. Mohamed said to Sultan, “Do you like mangoes?” (D.S.)
Mohamed asked Sultan if he liked mangoes. (I.S.)

Exclamatory Sentence :-

Rules :

  • Change the exclamatory sentence into satement or Assertive
  • Remove the quotation marks and exclamatory mark.
  • Use the conjunction ‘that’
  • Omit the interjections such as Oh, O, Alas, how, what, hurrah.
  • Add the word ‘very’ to the adjective or adverb if necessary.
  • If the verb is not given, use ‘Be’ form verb (is, was, are, were, am) in its correct tense according to the subject.
  • Change the reporting verb (say, said) to ‘exclaim joyfully’
  • Use ‘exclaim’ sorrowfully for sorrowful incidents.

Examples:-

1. “O, what a beautiful flower that is!” said she. (D.S.)
She exclaimed joyfully that that was a very beautiful flower. (I.S.)

2. “What a horrible sight!” we all exclaimed. (D.S.)
We all exclaimed that it was a very horrible sight. (I.S.)

3. “Alas! I have broken my brother’s watch” said he.
He exclaimed sorrowfully that he had broken his brothers watch. (I.S.)

4. “How beautiful she is!” said Babu. (D.S.)
Babu exclaimed joyfully that she was very beautiful. (I.S.)