DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

REPORTED SPEECH (NOTES AND EXERCISES)

There are three specific changes that occur in the reported speech. They are as follows:
1. The Tense of the verb
If the reporting verb is in the past tense(told/said/asked etc), the tense of the verb in the
reported speech changes to the corresponding past tense as given below.
 Simple present to Simple Past
Direct Rohit said, “I want to visit London.”
Indirect Rohit said that he wanted to visit London.

 Present continuous to Past continuous

Direct He said to me,” I am planning to throw a party for my friends.”
Indirect He said that he was planning to throw a party for his friends.

 Present Perfect to Past perfect

Direct Amina said to her friend, “My sister has given me a book to read.”
Indirect Amina told her friend that her sister had given her a book to read.

 Present perfect continuous to Past perfect continuous

Direct John said, “I have been doing exercise for one hour.”
Indirect John said that he had been doing exercise for one hour.

 Simple past to Past perfect

Direct Jimmy said, “Antony didn’t attend the class yesterday.”
Indirect Jimmy said that Antony hadn’t attended the class the previous day.

 Past continuous to Past perfect continuous

Direct She said to me, “The hawker was selling fruits in the street.”
Indirect She told me that the hawker had been selling fruits in the street.

Note: Past perfect and past perfect continuous tenses don’t change. Moreover, the above
changes don’t take place if the reporting verb is in the present/future tense or the quoted
words express a universal truth/a habit of the doer/scientific fact/historical truth/proverb.
Use the conjunction that in the declarative (positive and negative) sentences.

Changes in the modals

Will changes to would, shall-should, can-could, may-might, must-had to, and would, should,
could, might and had to remain unchanged.
2. Changes in the Personal pronouns and possessive adjectives

The personal pronouns/possessive adjectives of the first person (I, my, me, mine, we, our,
ours, us) change according to the subject of the reporting clause. The pronouns/Possessive
adjectives of the second person( you, your, yours) change according the object of the
reporting clause and if they are of the third person( he, his, him, her, hers, they, their, them,
it, its), they don’t change.
Reporting clause is the part of the speech that exists outside of the quotation marks (“ ”)
Direct- Jay (subject) said to her (object), “I (1st person) want you (2nd person) to help
them(3rd person) in the garden.”
Indirect – Jay told her that he wanted her to help them in the garden.

3. Change in Adjectives and Adverbs

The Adjectives and Adverbs expressing nearness change to the words expressing
distance as given below.

Now changes to then

Here - there
This - that
These - those
Today - that day
Tonight - that night
Yesterday - the previous day/the day before
Tomorrow - the next day/ the following day
Ago - before
Thus - in that way

Direct - They said, “ We want to do this work now as we shall be busy tomorrow.”
Indirect – They said that they wanted to do that work then as they would be busy the next
day.
Reported speech of Questions-Interrogative Sentences

 Use the conjunction if/whether if the sentence is a yes/no-type question that starts
with a helping verb. The other changes will take place as discussed above, but never
use the helping verb before the subject in the reported speech, if it is required.
Direct- Leena said to him, “Do you like to read travelogues?”
Indirect- Leena asked him if he liked to read travelogues.
Direct- Mayank said to Rovin, “Have you completed the homework?”
Indirect- Mayank asked Rovin if he had completed the homework.

 Don’t use any conjunction if the sentence is a WH-type question that starts with the
question words such as what, why, where, when, who, how, which etc.
Direct- My mother said to me, “When did you return from our office?”
Indirect- My mother asked me when I had returned from my office.

Note: Put a full stop at the end of the reported speech of all types of sentences.

Reported speech of Imperative sentences-Statement/Declarative

These sentences express the sense of order, request, advice and proposal. The reporting
verb said or said to changes to ordered, requested, advised or proposed to depending on
the sense of the sentence. We can also use asked/told if there is no specific sense as such.
Don’t use any conjunction, but an infinitive ‘to’ before the verb, but if the sentence starts
with Let’s, use the conjunction that and change the words let’s/ let us to they should/we
should.
Direct- He said to her, “Obey your parents.”
Indirect- He advised her to obey her parents.
Direct- The teacher said to the students, “Don’t shout in the class.”
Indirect- The teacher ordered/asked the students not to shout in the class.
Direct- They said to him, “Let’s go to play.”
Indirect- They proposed to him that they should go to play.

Reported speech of Exclamatory sentences

These sentences express the sudden/strong feelings of heart. They start with the
interjections like Hurrah, Alas, Oh, Bravo, Ouch etc. or with What/How to express the sense
of wonder or surprise.
In the reported speech, use the reporting verb exclaimed with joy/sorrow/surprise etc.
depending on the sense of the sentence, and the conjunction that
Direct- Kiran said, “Hurrah! I have won the competition.”
Indirect- Kiran exclaimed with joy that she had won the competition.
Direct- He said, “How beautiful the bag is!”
Indirect- He exclaimed with wonder that it was a very beautiful bag.