Direct and Indirect Speech

Sita said, “I am very good in English”.

Sita said that she was very good in English.
The first sentence is said to be in Direct Speech, while the second sentence is said to be in Indirect Speech.

Direct Speech – When actual words of speaker are used without making any change, it is called Direct Speech.
In the Direct Speech:
1. The actual words of the speaker are put in inverted commas. (“ ‘)
2. The first word of the speaker‘s speech begins with a Capital letter.
3. A comma (,) is placed after the saying verb.

Indirect Speech – When we only report what the speaker said or just give the matter of the speaker’s speech in our own
words, it is called Indirect Speech.
In the Indirect Speech:
1. Inverted commas are removed.
2. The tense of the speaker’s verb changes.
3. The commas separating the saying verb and the speaker’s speech is removed.
4. The conjunctions like ‘that’, ‘if’, ‘whether’ or ‘to’ are used.
5. The speaker’s speech does not begin with a capital letter.
6. The words like ‘said to’ are changed into “told”, “asked”, “requested” etc.

Rules for Changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech (Assertive Sentences)
Rule 1: Change in the Reporting Verb.
S. N o . Direct Sp eech Ind irect Sp eech
1 say, says (witho ut o bject) No change
2 say to , says to (with o bject) tell, tells
3 said (witho ut o bject) No change
4 said to (with o bject) to ld

Rule 2: Remove comma and inverted commas in the Direct Speech and use the conjunction “that”
a) If the sentence states some universal truth or habitual action, the tense of the reported verb does not change at
all, though the reporting verb is in past tense.
Ex. 1: He said, “Indian soldiers are very brave”. (Direct Speech)
He said that Indian soldiers are very brave. (Indirect Speech)

b) If the sentence in Past Indefinite Tense states some historical fact, there is no change in the tense.
Ex. 1: The teacher said, “India became independent in 1947”
The teacher said that India became independent in 1947.

Rule 3: Make a change in the reported verb

a) If the reporting verb is in Present or Future tense, the tense of the reported verb is not changed.
Ex. 1: She says, “I am quite happy”
She says that she is quite happy.
Ex. 2: He is saying, “I was suffering from cold”
He is saying that he was suffering from cold.
Ex. 3: He has just said to me, “I will return your money”.
He has just told me that he will return my money.

b) If the reporting verb is in Past tense, the tense of the reported verb changes accordingly.
Present Indefinite Tense changes into Past Indefinite Tense
Ex. 1: Ram said, “I am busy”.
Ram said that he was busy.
Ex. 2: Ravi said to me, “You are correct”.
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 Ravi told me that I was correct.

Present Continuous Tense changes into Past Continuous Tense

Ex. 1: The girls said, “We are learning English”
The girls said that they were learning English.
Ex. 2: Manoj said to me, “Ram is doing his work”
Manoj told me that Ram was doing his work.
Present Perfect Tense changes into Past Perfect Tense
Ex. 1: Vinod said, “I have finished my work”
Vinod said that he had finished his work.
Ex. 2: Manu said to me, “The principal has gone”
Manu told me that the principal had gone.
Present Perfect Continuous Tense changes into Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Ex. 1: Hari said, “The teacher has been teaching for two hours”
Hari said that the teacher had been teaching for two hours.
Ex. 2: I said to him, “I have been playing cricket since my childhood”
I told him that I had been playing cricket since my childhood.
Past Indefinite Tense changes into Past Perfect Tense
Ex. 1: He said, “The cow died in the morning”
He said that the cow had died in the morning.
Ex. 2: Geeta said to me, “I went to Jaipur”
Geeta told me that she had gone to Jaipur.
Past Continuous Tense changes into Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Ex. 1: He said, “All were laughing then”
He said that all had been laughing then.
Ex. 2: She said to me, “I was writing a letter”
She told me that she had been writing a letter.
Past Perfect Tense and Past Perfect Continuous – NO CHANGE
Ex. 1: He said, “The bus had gone”
He said that the bus had gone.
Ex. 2: She said to me,” I had been watching TV since morning”
She told me that she had been watching TV since morning.
In Future Tense, ‘will’ or ‘shall’ is changed to ‘would’ or ‘should’ according to emotion.
Ex. 1: He said, “I will go to America”
He said that he would go to America.
Ex. 2: He said to me, “You can take my book”
He told me that I could take his book.

Direct Sp eech Ind irect Sp eech S. N o . Direct Sp eech Ind irect Sp eech
is, am was 8 will wo uld
are were 9 shall wo uld o r should
can co uld 10 co uld No change
may might 11 must No change
d o no t, d oes no t d id no t 12 should No change
d id / d id no t had / had no t 13 had No change
has, have had 14 wo uld No change

Rule 4: Change the words showing following quantities.

Ex. 1: He said to me, “You can take my book”.
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 He told me that I could take his book.
Ex. 2: He said to me, “You had broken the flower pot”.
He told me that I had broken the flower pot.
S. N o . Direct Sp eech Ind irect Sp eech S. N o . Direct Sp eech Ind irect Sp eech
1 this that 7 to day that d ay
2 these those 8 yesterd ay the previo us d ay
3 here there 9 to mo rrow the next day
4 no w / just then 10 to night that night
5 co me go 11 last night the previo us night
6 ago befo re 12 to mo rrow night the fo llowing night

Rule 6: If the sentence contains “Yes” or “No”, then “Yes” is changed to “replied in affirmative” and “No” is
changed to “replied in negative”.
Ex. 1: He said, “Yes, I have broken the window glass”
He replied in affirmative that he had broken the window glass.
Ex. 2: She said, “No, I have not broken the window glass”.
She replied that she had not broken the window glass.

Rules for Changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech (Interrogative Sentences)
Rule 1: Reported speech of sentence which starts with a helping verb (do) uses connective word (if or whether)

Rule 2: The connective word, Conjunction (that) is not used at all.

Rule 3: The reporting verb is changed into “ask” or “asked”.

Rule 4: Question mark is not placed in the Indirect speech.

Rule 5: Tenses and Pronouns are changed in the same manner as mentioned in Assertive sentence.

Interrogative Sentences (Questions)

There are two types of Interrogative sentences.
Type 1:
She said, “Do you take tea?”
She asked if he took tea.
Type 2:
He said, “When will you come back”?
He asked me when will I come back.

Imperative Sentences (Commands and Requests)

Rules for Changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech (Imperative Sentences)

Rule 1: The reporting verb is changed into ‘ordered’, ‘requested’, ‘advised’, ‘suggested’ or ‘begged’ according to the
emotion displayed in the verb.

Rule 2: ‘To’ is placed before the verb of reported speech.

Rule 3: If ‘let’ is used for permission then “to” is placed before ‘let’ and the reporting verb is changed into ‘requested’.

Rule 4: If ‘let’ is used for proposal, order, wish, the reporting verb is changed into ‘proposed’, ‘ordered’, ‘wished’. The
conjunction, ‘that’ is used. ‘Should’ is used before the verb of the reported speech.
Ex. 1: I said to servant, “Open the door”.
I ordered the servant to open the door.
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 Ex. 2: He said to me, “Please lend me your car”.
He requested me to lend him my car.
Ex. 3: I said to him, “Let us go out for a walk”
I proposed to him that we should go out for a walk.

Exclamatory Sentences (Strong feelings, wish, prayer)

Rules for Changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech (Exclamatory Sentences)

Rule 1: Reporting verb is changed into ‘exclaimed with joy or sorrow or with surprise’, or into ‘applauded’, ‘wished’ or
‘prayed’.

Rule 2: Exclamatory words like ‘hurrah’, ‘alas’, ‘oh’ in the reported speech are removed.

Rule 3: Mark of exclamation (!) is also removed.

Rule 4: Conjunction word ‘that’ is used.

Ex. 1: He said, “Alas! I am undone”.

He exclaimed with sorrow that he was undone.
Ex. 2: The boys said, “Hurrah! We have won the match”.
The boys exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.
Ex. 3: She said, “Good morning, boys!”
She wished good morning to boys.
Ex. 4: The old woman said to me, “May God bless you!”.
The old woman prayed that God might bless me.