Direct & Indirect SPEECH

Grammar
Direct & indirect Speech

There are two ways to convey a message of a

person, or the words spoken by a person to other
person.
 Direct speech
 Indirect speech
Direct speech: John said, “I will give you a pen”.
Indirect Speech: John said that he would give me a pen.
Direct Speech / Quoted Speech
Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes
called quoted speech)
Here what a person says appears within quotation marks (".....”)
Indirect Speech(reporting of what a speaker said without
quoting his exact words is called indirect speech)
Rules of indirect speech
Change of tense
Use of conjunction ‘that’ before the indirect statement except of
Imperative and exclamatory sentences.
The tense cannot change if the statement is a universal truth.
If the reporting verb is in present tense, the tense of the direct speech do
not change.
1st Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are always changed according
to the SUBJECT of the Reporting Speech.
2nd Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are always changed according
to the OBJECT of the Reporting Speech.
3rd Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are not changed.
If the reporting verb is in the present tense, the tenses in the direct speech do not change.

He says, ‘He is leaving.’

He says that he is leaving.

When we report questions, the indirect speech is introduced by verbs such as asked, inquired etc.

He said to me, ‘What are you doing there?’

He asked me what I was doing there. To report an Yes/No question, we use if or whether.

He said to me, ‘Are you interested?’

He asked me if I was interested.

If Reporting Verb is in the Past Tense. the tense of the verbs in the
reported speech or Indirect Speech must be generally changed.
1. Present Tense in the Direct becomes past tense.
Johnsen said, “I write a letter”.
Johnsen said that she wrote a letter.

2. Past Tense in the direct becomes past perfect.

Angel said, “I brought a pen yesterday”.
Angel said that she had bought a pen the day before.

3. Present Continuous in the direct becomes past continuous.

John said, “I am going to church”.
John said that he was going to church.
Past Continuous in the direct becomes past perfect continuous.
Nelson said, “I was playing cricket”.
Nelson said that he had been playing cricket.

5. Present Perfect in the direct becomes past perfect.

Kamal said, “I have done my home work”.
Nelson said that he had done his home work.

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

He said, “I have been reading a novel”.
He said that he had been reading a novel.

7. ‘Will’ and ‘Shall’ are changed to ‘would’.

He said, “I will go to London tomorrow”.
He said that he would go to London the next day.
Imperative Sentences:-
Remove the quotation mark in an Imperative sentence.
Use ‘to’ if it is an affirmative sentence.
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.

He said to me, “Please give me your book”.

He requested me to give him my book.

“Call the first witness”, said the judge.

The judge commanded them to call the first witness.

Indirect speech of exclamatory sentences.
Sentence which expresses state of joy or sorrow or wonder is called exclamatory
sentence.
For example.
• Hurrah! We won the match.
• Alas! I failed the test.
• Wow! What a nice shirt it is.

To change such sentences, the words “exclaimed with joy” or “exclaimed with
sorrow” or “exclaimed with wonder” is added in the reporting verb depending upon
the nature of exclamatory sentence in indirect speech.
Examples.
Direct speech: He said, “Hurrah! I won a prize”
Indirect Speech: He exclaimed with joy that he had won a prize.
Direct speech: She said, “Alas! I failed in exam”
Indirect Speech: She exclaimed with sorrow that she failed in the exam.
Direct speech: John said, “Wow! What a nice shirt it is”
Indirect Speech: John exclaimed with wonder that it was a nice shirt.
Optative Sentences

Optative Sentence indicates a wish, pray or desire. It ends with exclamation mark (!). In exclamatory
or optative sentences, reported speech contains a wish or pray etc.

In case, the Reported Speech starts with the word may, then the Reporting Verb said is replaced with
the word prayed.
In case, the Reported Speech starts with the word would, then the Reporting Verb said is replaced
with the word wished.
May is changed in might.
Mark of exclamation is omitted.
In Indirect Speech, the optative sentences become assertive sentences.

He said to me, “May you live long!”

He prayed that I might live long.

She said, “Would that I were rich!”

She wished she had been rich.