Direct and Indirect Speech A Comprehensive Guide

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

Direct speech:-Direct speech is the conversation between two persons about each other.

E.g.:-Vani said to Rani “I am going to college now”

Indirect speech: - Indirect speech is the conversation between two persons about third person. This is also called reported speech.

E.g.:-Vani told Rani that she was going to college then.

Direct and Indirect Speech A Comprehensive Guide

Rules for changing direct speech (D.S) in to Indirect speech (I.D.S):-

While changing a sentence from D.S in to I.D.S certain rules have to be followed as follows.

1. Quotation marks “”must be removed.

2. There are four types of sentences in reported part so the conjunctions should be used as follow:-

S.No	Sentences	Direct speech	Indirect speech	conjunctions
1	Assertive sentence	said said to	said told	that
2	Interrogative sentence (helping verbs + w.h )	said said to said to	Asked questioned enquired	if/whether wh words
3	Imperative sentence (positive +negative)	said said to	Requested ordered commanded instructed warned suggested	positive(to)/ negative(not to)
4	Exclamatory sentence	said said to	Exclaimed	that

3.Change of tense:-

Direct speech Indirect speech

1. Simple present simple past

Am, is, are, have, has was, were, had

2. Present continuous past continuous

3. Present perfect past perfect

4. Present perfect continuous past perfect continuous

5. Simple past (ate V2) past perfect (had eaten V3)

4.Change of model verbs:-

D.S I.D.S D.S I.D.S

Shall should will would

Should should would would

Can could may might

Could could might might

Must had to

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1. Change of pronouns:- Pronouns and possessive adjectives in first person, and second person should be into third person. Observe the following table

s.no

Person

Singular

Plural

1.speaker

2.listener

3.we

our

our selves

I(sub)

(obj)

my (sub)

my self

you(sub)

you(obj)

your

he,she

him/her

his/her

himself/herself

him/her

he/she

him/her

they

them

their

they

them

their

them selves

6.Change of (adverbs) nearness to distance (or) time and place indicators:

Direct Speech Indirect speech

this that

these those

now then

here there

today that day

yesterday the previous day

tomorrow the next day, the following day

last night the previous night

tonight that night

thus so

Model-I

ASSERTIVE SENTENCE (D.S to I.D.S)

1. He said “I am busy today” (D.S)

He said that he was busy that day. (I.D.S)

2. Mohan said to Balu “I will meet you tomorrow”. (D.S)

Mohan told Balu that he would meet him the next day.(I.D.S)

3. My uncle said “I take the idles this morning”. (D.S)

My uncle said that he took idles. (I.D.S)

4. Sita said to her husband “I like sweets”. (D.S)

Sita told her husband that she liked sweets. (I.D.S)

5. My grandfather said “I drank coffee”. (D.S)

My grandfather said that he had drunk coffee. (I.D.S)

6. A wife said to her husband “I have seen this film twice”. (D.S)

A wife told her husband she had seen that film twice. (I.D.S)

7. The porter said that “The train will be late by tomorrow”. (D.S)

The porter said that the train would be late by the next day. (I.D.S)

MODEL -2

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

a) YES OR NO TYPE QUESTIONS:-

1. The girl asked him, “Can you sing with me?” (D.S)

The girl asked him if he could sing with her. (I.D.S)

2. The teacher asked the students, “Are you all going to the picnic?” (D.S)

The teacher asked the students if they were all going to the picnic. (I.D.S)

3. She said to me, “Do you like music?” (D.S)

She asked me if I liked music. (I.D.S)

4. The teacher said the boys, “Hence you finished your work”? (D.S)

The teacher asked the boys if they had finished their work. (I.D.S)

5. He asked me, “Do you know English”? (D.S)

He asked me if I knew English. (I.D.S)

6. The stranger said to me, “Can you tell me the way to railway station”? (D.S)

The stranger asked me if I could tell the way to railway station. (I.D.S)

7. John said to Ram, “Will you play chess with me?” (D.S)

John asked Ram if he would play with him. (I.D.S)

b). “WH” QUESTIONS:-

1. She said to me, “Where can we buy samosas?”

She asked me where they could buy samosas.

2. Swathi said to me, “when will you come?’

Swathi asked me when I would come.

3. Ragini said to them, “What are you doing?”

Ragini asked them what they were doing.

NOTE:- When “Do, does and did” are used as auxiliary verbs in direct speech, they are omitted in indirect speech.

E.g:-1. He asked me, “Where does your father live?”

He asked me where my lived.

2. They said to me, “How many sisters do you have?”

They asked me how many sisters I had.

3. The doctor said to the patient, “What did you eat yesterday?”

The doctor asked the patient what he had eaten the previous day.

NOTE:-If the direct speech begins with who, what or which followed by a form of ‘be’ as the main verb, the verb is placed at the end of the sentence.

E.g- 1.He said to her, “Who is your English teacher?”

He asked her who her English teacher was.

2. She said to me, “what is your name?”

She asked me what my name was.

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MODEL 3

IMPERATIVE SENTENCES

Note: .The change of tense is not applicable for imperative sentences.

E.g:-1.She said to me, “Please shut the door”

She requested me to shut the door.

2. The lecturer said to the students, “Use the Oxford dictionary.”

The lecturer advised the students to use the Oxford dictionary.

3. The teacher said, “Keep your clothes clean.”

The teacher advised to keep your clothes clean.

MODEL 4

EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES

Eg:- He said, “How beautiful picture it is!” (D.S)

He said that it was very beautiful picture. (I.D.S)

He said, “How nice it is!”

He said that it was very nice.

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Friday, August 13, 2021