Direct & Indirect Speech

 

                      

Direct speech – reporting the message of the speaker in the exact words as spoken by him.

Direct speech example:  Vikram said ‘I am busy now’.

Indirect speech: reporting the message of the speaker in our own words 

Indirect speech example: Vikram said that he was busy then.

 Rules :- 

Rules for converting Direct into Indirect speech

Rule 1 – Direct To Indirect Speech Conversion – Reporting Verb

• When the reporting verb of direct speech is in past tense  then all the present tenses are changed to the corresponding past tense in indirect speech. 

 example: 

Direct: zoya said, ‘I am happy’.

Indirect: zoya said (that) she was happy.

•  In indirect speech, tenses do not change if the words used within the quotes (‘’) talk of a habitual action or universal truth.

 example:

Direct: teacher said, ‘the sun rises in the east’.

Indirect: He said that the sun rises in the east . 

• The tenses of direct speech do not change if the reporting verb is in the future tense or present tense. 

 example:

Direct: Mona says/will say, ‘I am going’

Indirect: Mona  says/will say she is going.

Rule 2 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech conversion – Present Tense 

• Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect.

 example:

Direct: “I have been to London”, Mayuri told me.

Indirect: Mayuri told me that she had been to London.

• Present Continuous Changes to Past Continuous

 example:

Direct: “I am playing the flute ”, Vikram explained.

Indirect: Vikram explained that  he was playing the flute.

• Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect

 example:

Direct: Amina said, “She has finished her homework“.

Indirect: Amina said that she had finished her homework.

• Simple Present Changes to Simple Past

example:

Direct: “I am not feeling well.”, she said.

Indirect: She said that she was not feeling well.

Rule 3 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech conversion – Past Tense & Future Tense

• Simple Past Changes to Past Perfect

 example:

Direct: he said, “Lencho arrived on Monday.”

Indirect:  he said that Lencho had arrived on Monday.

• Past Continuous Changes to Past Perfect Continuous

example

Direct: “We were playing cricket", Manohar  told me.

Indirect: Manohar told me that they had been playing cricket.

• Future Changes to Present Conditional

 example

Direct: vikram said, “I will be in Shimla tomorrow.”

Indirect: Vikram  said that he would be in Shimla  the next day.

• Future Continuous Changes to Conditional Continuous

 example

Direct: Shanu said, “I’ll be dancing on your marriage next Tuesday.”

Indirect: Shanu said that he would be dancing on your marriage the following Tuesday.

Rule 4 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Interrogative Sentences

• No conjunction is used, if a sentence in direct speech begins with a question (what/where/when) as the “question-word” itself acts as a joining clause.

example

Direct: “Where do you live?” asked the Madam.

Indirect: The Madam enquired where I lived.

• If a direct speech sentence begins with an auxiliary verb/helping verb, the joining clause should be if or whether.

 example

Direct: She said, ‘Will you come for the dinner ’?

Indirect: She asked whether we would come for the dinner.

• Reporting verbs such as ‘said/ said to’ changes to enquired, asked, or demanded.

example

Direct: He said to me, ‘What are you eating’?

Indirect: He asked me what I was eating.

Rule 5 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Changes in Modals

While changing direct speech to indirect speech, the modals used in the sentences change like:

1. Can gets changed into could
2. May gets changed into  might
3. Must gets changed into had to /would have to                                                                                                       

      

Examples:

• Direct : She said, ‘She can dance’.
• Indirect: She said that she could dance. 
• Direct: She said, ‘I may buy a new car’.
• Indirect: She said that she might buy a new car.
• Direct: Rama said, ‘I must complete the task’.
• Indirect: Rama said that she had to complete the task.

There are modals that do not change – Could, Would, Should, Might, Ought to

• Direct: She said, ‘I should leave the job’
• Indirect: She said that she should leave the job.

Rule 6 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Pronoun

1. The first person in direct speech changes as per the subject of the speech.

 examples-

Direct: He said, “I am in the room.”

Indirect: He says that he was in the room.

1. The second person of direct speech changes as per the object of reporting speech.

 examples –

Direct: She says to them, “You have done your work.”

Indirect: She tells them that they have done their work.

1. The third person of direct speech doesn’t change.

 examples –

Direct: She says, “he sings well.”

Indirect: She says that he sings well.

Rule 7 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Request, Command, Wish, Exclamation

• Indirect Speech is supported by some verbs like requested, ordered, suggested and advised. Forbid-forbade is used for negative sentences. Therefore, the imperative mood in the direct speech changes into the Infinitive in indirect speech.

Direct: She said to him ‘Please do come’.

Indirect: She requested him to come.

Direct: teacher said to students, ‘Sit down’.

Indirect: Teacher ordered students to sit down.

1. In Exclamatory sentences that express grief, sorrow, happiness, applaud, Interjections are removed and the sentence is changed to an assertive sentence.

Direct: Sanwali said, ‘Alas! I am undone’.

Indirect: Sanwali exclaimed sadly that she was broke.

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Rule 8 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Punctuations

1. In direct speech, the words actually spoken should be in (‘’) quotes and always begin with a capital letter.

Example: Mogli said, “I am the best.”

1. Full stop, comma, exclamation or question mark, are placed inside the closing inverted commas.

Example: They asked, “Can we sing with you?”

1. If direct speech comes after the information about who is speaking, a comma is used to introduce the speech, placed before the first inverted comma.

Direct speech example: He shouted, “Shut up!”

Direct speech example: “Thinking back,” he said, “she didn’t expect to win.” (Comma is used to separate the two direct speeches and no capital letter to begin the second sentence).

Rule 9 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Change of Time

1. In direct speeches, the words that express nearness in time or place are changed to words that express distance in indirect speech. Such as :

• Now gets changed into  then                  
• Here gets changed into there
• Ago gets changed into before                
• Thus gets changed into so
• Today gets changed into that day         
• Tomorrow gets changed into the next day
• This gets changed into that                 
• Yesterday gets changed into the day before
• These gets changed into those              
• Come gets changed into go                     
• Hence gets changed into thence
• Next week or month gets changed into following week/month

Examples:

Direct: He said, ‘His friend came yesterday.’

Indirect: He said that his friend had come the day before.

1. The time expression does not change if the reporting verb is in the present tense or future tense.

Examples: 

Direct: He says/will say, ‘My friend came yesterday.’

Indirect:  He says/will say that his friend had come the day before.

 

Rules of converting Indirect Speech into Direct Speech

The following rules should be followed while converting an indirect speech to direct speech:

1. Use the reporting verb such as (say, said to) in its correct tense.
2. Put a comma before the statement and the first letter of the statement should be in capital letter.
3. Insert question mark, quotation marks, exclamation mark and full stop, based on the mood of the sentence.
4. Remove the conjunctions like (that, to, if or whether) wherever necessary.
5. Where the reporting verb is in past tense in indirect, change it to present tense in the direct speech.
6. Change the past perfect tense either into present perfect tense or past tense, as necessary.

Check the examples:

• Indirect: She asked whether she was coming to the prom night.
• Direct: She said to her, “Are you coming to the prom night?”
• Indirect: The student said that she was happy with her result.
• Direct: The student said. “I am happy with my result.”