DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

Introduction to Direct and Indirect Speech

The distinction between direct and indirect speech may be confusing for some
students. Often when we need to explain an incident or action, it involves quoting
what someone said. A social situation, as well as a work email or presentation,
are examples of such instances. There are two forms of speech used to explain
what other people say: direct speech and indirect speech (or reported speech).

Direct Speech
The same words spoken are quoted in direct speech. If we use direct speech in
writing, we bring the words spoken between quotation marks (" ") and leave them
alone. We may be reporting something that is actually being said (for example, a
phone conversation) or asking someone about a previous conversation later.

Examples
 Nirmal said, "There's a dog outside the window."
 Mahima says, "What time will you be home?"

 Supriya said, "I don't know!"

Indirect Speech
When we use reported or indirect speech to speak about the past, we generally
change the tense of the words we say. We use reporting verbs like 'say,' 'tell,'
and 'ask,' and we can introduce the reported words with the word 'that.' There are
no inverted commas in this sentence.

Examples
 Mahima said that she had seen him.

 Nirmal said that he was looking forward to playing in the match on

Saturday.

Direct and Indirect Speech

Children often mix up direct and indirect speech. We need a way to say the
difference between what someone is claimed to have said and what they actually
said when we're writing. What did she say if you asked her? You may respond in
one of two ways:
“I don’t like pizza,” Siddi said. (Direct speech)
Siddi says she doesn’t like pizza. (Indirect speech)
Note how speech marks (“...”) are used in direct speech to indicate precisely
what was said. Speech labels are located at the beginning and end of the actual
words spoken. The words 'Siddi said' are not in speech marks because they
were not spoken aloud; rather, they are a way for the writer to express who was
speaking to the reader.
The past tense is often used in reported speech. This is due to the fact that the
words have already been spoken, and the writer is simply reporting on what has
already been saying. It's critical to think about what was said and convert it to the
past tense.

Direct and Indirect Narration Rules

Following are the steps to convert the direct/indirect speech and also let’s
discuss Direct and Indirect speech tenses rules in detail.
Step 1: Write down the reporting verb that is used to determine the indirect
speech's tense.
Step 2: Change the position and time to reflect the speaker's actual location and
time.
Step 3: For both the object and the subject, use the correct pronoun.
Step 4: Make sure the sentence has a correct structure and word order.
Now we'll go through each of these measures in greater depth.

Step 1: Choosing the Verb's Tense and Conversion

Case 1: Nirmal said, ‘I go to the gym every day’.
Case 2: Nirmal says, ‘I go to the gym every day.’
The verb ‘say' is used in both of the instances above to express the action of
speaking. In addition, the reporting verb say is used in the past tense in the first
case – said. In case 2, however, the reporting verb is in the present tense.
As a consequence, all verbs must be in the relevant past tense here. If the
reporting verb is in the past tense, this is often followed. Thus, Nirmal said, ‘I go
to the class every day’ will change to Nirmal said that he went to the gym every
day.
The second rule is that the tense is not changed whether the reporting verb is in
the future or present tense. So, Nirmal says, ‘I go to the class every day’ will be
changed to Nirmal says that he goes to the class every day.

Step 2: Changes are Made to the Word That Communicates Place, Time,
and Connection.
The time or place specified in the sentence should be changed to match the
current time or position.
On 21st, May 2015: ‘I will come tomorrow,’ Sriram said.
On 21st, May 2015, Sriram said that he would come the next day.

Step 3: The Subject and Object Pronouns Are Chosen Separately.

Case 1: Saurav will say to his friends, “I have started learning psychology” will
change to Saurav will tell his friends that he has started learning psychology.
In this case, the speaker and the reporter are the same people. As a
consequence, the pronoun should be the first person pronoun.
Case 2: Ma’am said to me, “I hope you will bring the geometry to my next class”
will change to Ma’am hoped that I would bring the geometry to her next class.
The speaker is ma'am, and the reporter is the student. As a consequence,
ma'am pronoun should be in the third person. The reporter's pronoun should also
be in the first person.
Remember that we do not change the tense of the reporting verb within the
quotation marks when it is in the present or future tense.

Conclusion
When using English, you'll want to use both direct and indirect speech regularly,
so make sure you're familiar with both and can use them correctly. Direct speech
isn't always an accurate representation of what someone has said. Using
inverted commas before and after the quotation, you may quote from other texts
in a similar way. Instead of using the verb "to tell," consider using a verb like "to
compose," "to state," or "to define." You may convey what is being reported using
a variety of verbs; for example, while "to say" is widely used, you may also want
to use "to tell" to explain something that has been told to you. Keeping a small
diary of what has been said around you is an important way to practice – explain
what people have said and try to write a few examples of each form.

(Taken from: https://www.vedantu.com/english/direct-and-indirect-speech)

NOTES:

1. When changing direct sentences into indirect ones, we have to change the
tenses if the reporting verbs (said, told) in past tense.

NO DIRECT SENTENCE INDIRECT SENTENCE

1 Simple Present Tense Simple Past Tense
2. Simple Present Continuous Simple Past Continuous
3. Simple Present Perfect Tense Simple Past Perfect Tense
4. Simple Present Future Simple Past Future
5. Simple Past Tense Simple Past Perfect Tense
6 Present modals Past modals

2. Words expressing nearness in Direct speech are changed to words expressing distance
in indirect speech.

NO DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

1 Now Then
2 This That
3 These Those
4 Here There
5 Ago Before
6 Thus So
7 Today That day
8 Tomorrow The next day
9 Yesterday The day before
10 Last night The night before / the previous
night

3. Change the form of the sentences

NO DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

1 Statement Statement
 He said, “I am okay today.” He said that he was okay that day.
She said to me, “I will not tell you my She said to me that she would not tell me her
problem.” problem.

2 Question Statement
They asked me, ”Do you know this They asked me whether/if I knew that man.
man?”
The teacher asked him, “Why were The teacher asked him why he had been late
you late yesterday?” the day before

3 Order
Father told her, “Bring me a glass of
water.”
The lady ordered me, “Don’t be
here.”
4 Exclamation
Mother said, “How hot it is!”
Mary said, “How nice you look
Margaret!”
Order
Father told her to bring him a glass of water.
The lady ordered me not to be there.
Statement
Mother remarked that it was very hot.
Mary remarked that Margaret was looking
very nice.

I. Change these sentences into indirect sentences.

1. My sister said to me, “I will meet you ate the cinema.”

2. John said, “I don’t think I will be able to go to the match this evening.”
3. The captain aske the little boy, “Do you know how to swim?”
4. Father asked me, “Did you switch off the fan before you left the room?”
5. “Clean this room while I am away,” he said to the servant.
6. The officer said to his men, “Don’t shoot till I give the word.”
7. That lady asked him, “What time is it?”
8. Mother wanted to know, “When did you clean this room?”
9. The teacher looked at my work and said, “How careless of you!”
10. Tina read the direction and said, “How confusing!”

II. Please write the indirect sentences and indirect sentences from these stories.

TEXT 1
The Story of Toba Lake
Once upon a time, there was a man who was living in north
Sumatra. He lived in a simple hut in a farming field. The did some
gardening and fishing for his daily life.

One day, while the man was doing fishing, he caught a big golden
fish in his trap. It was the biggest catch which he ever had in his
life. Surprisingly, this fish turned into a beautiful princess. He felt in
love with her and proposed her to be his wife. She said; “Yes, but
you have to promise not to tell anyone about the secret that I was
once a fish, otherwise there will be a huge disaster”. The man
made the deal and they got married, lived happily and had a
daughter.
Few years later, this daughter would help bringing lunch to her
father out in the fields. One day, his daughter was so hungry and
she ate his father’s lunch. Unfortunately, he found out and got
furious, and shouted; “You damned daughter of a fish”. The
daughter ran home and asked her mother. The mother started
crying, felt sad that her husband had broken his promise.
Then she told her daughter to run up the hills because a huge
disaster was about to come. When her daughter left, she prayed.
Soon there was a big earthquake followed by non-stop pouring
rain. The whole area got flooded and became Toba Lake. She
turned into a fish again and the man became the island of
Samosir.
TEXT 2

Once upon a time, in a small village, a lazy boy called Jack lived
with his mother. He was so lazy that he found it very difficult to
move even his fingers. His mother worked as a servant maid in
town homes and earned for herself and her son. People started
to call him Lazy Jack and Jack’s mother was totally irritated and
worried about her son.

One day, she fell sick and was feeling fever severely. She was
bed-ridden for two days and could not go to work. She asked her
son to earn something for them; otherwise there wouldn’t be
anything to eat.
Lazy Jack finally understood her mother’s health and their
poverty. He promised her mother to bring something and went on
to search for a work.
A farmer offered him work in his land and paid two pennies for
Jack’swork.
Jack thanked him and rushed to home with the pennies in hand.
As he was running to home, he did not notice the pennies rolled
down from his hand. He could not find the coins and reached
home with unhappy face.
He told the incident to his mom. Jack’s mom told him, ‘dear Jack,
next time, you put them in your pocket, so that they won’t fall!’

The next day, a milkman offered Jack a job. Jack was offered a
jar of milk as wages for his work. As told by his mother, he
poured the milk into his pocket and ran towards his mom.
His mom recognized what would have happened after seeing
Jack’s dress. She told him,’ Jack, you should have carried the
milk jar on your head. Don’t worry. But be careful next time!’
Next time also Jack worked for the milkman and he went to the
milkman’s farm early in the morning. The work got completed
before the noon and Jack was paid a bar of cheese for his work.
Jack was happy and as told by his mother, he carried the cheese
bar on his head. Since it was a sunny day and very hot in the
noon, all the cheese melted away.
Jack told his mom that all cheese had melted. His mother told, he
should have carried the cheese in his hands and asked him to do
correctly next time.
The next day, he went to work in cattle. The owner of the cattle
farm offered him a little kitten for him towards wages as Jack
liked the kitten very much. He carried the kitten on his hands. The
little kitten jumped from his hands and ran away. Jack was sad
and told his mother he had lost the kitten too. His mom told, he
should have tied a rope and dragged the kitten on the road.
For the next two days, he went to work in a farm again and
returned home with a huge piece of meat. He tied the meat with a
rope and dragged it on the road. The meat was spoiled and his
mom shouted at him as he could not do anything properly.
Later sometime, she consoled him and told him that he should
have carried the meat on his shoulders. Jack went to nearby
town for work and returned home after a week. For his hard work,
he was rewarded with a donkey and he carried the donkey on his
shoulders.
A young girl around 8 years of age who saw Jack carrying the
donkey on shoulders started to laugh and she laughed
continuously for long time. Her dad, who was the richest person
in the town, was so happy and was in tears. He thanked Jack as
he made her daughter laugh after 5 years. Jack realized his
mistakes and foolishness he had done then and before. But at
the same time his foolishness made that rich man’s daughter
laugh. He took the rich man and his daughter to his home. The
rich man offered them work and shelter in his bungalow. From
that incident, he tried to do everything properly without any
mistakes and foolishness and they lived happily ever after!