Class Notes

Class: VIII TOPIC- DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

Subject: ENGLISH

Grammar (page number 54)

A. Write in indirect speech
Answer 1. She asked whether they could play football there.
Answer 2. He asked where the goalkeeper was.
Answer 3. Ram asked Hari if he knew how to play hockey.
Answer 4. She asked what he liked to read about if he didn’t like fantasy.
Answer 5. The woman asked the waiter how much a cup of coffee was.
Answer 6. Maya asked me when I would go to Landour in Mussoorie.
B. Read this dialogue between two friends and then right it in indirect speech.
 Arya greeted Vinay and asked him why he was walking so fast.
 Vinay returned his greeting and said that he was running late. He had to be at the field in fifteen
minutes.
 Arya asked him why he was going there.
 Vinay replied that a table tennis competition would be held there the following Saturday and the
registrations opened that day.
 Arya asked him if he was participating.
 Vinay replied in the affirmative and said he was very anxious.
 Arya said that he too could play table tennis.
 Vinay said that was great as he needed a partner and asked if he would come with him.
 Arya agreed and proposed that they should go.
1. There are two different ways in which we can report the words of a speaker :
(a) Direct Speech or Direct Narration.
(b) Indirect Speech or Indirect Narration.

2. (a) Direct Speech contains the actual words of the speaker ; as—
Sarla said, “My father has a roaring business in Mumbai.”
He said to me, “I am feeling unwell today.”
In these sentences, actual words of the speaker are given within inverted commas
without any change.
(b) Indirect Speech gives the substance of the speaker’s actual words and not the
exact words spoken by him or her ; as—
Sarla said that her father had a roaring business in Mumbai.
He told me that he was feeling unwell that day.

3. The actual words of the speaker, given within ‘inverted commas’ are called the
Reported Speech. In the same way, the Verb which introduces the Reported Speech
is called the Reporting Verb.
In the sentence above ‘said’ is the Reporting Verb and ‘My father has a roaring
business in Mumbai’ is the Reported Speech.
Reporting Verb and Reported Speech.
Look at the following sentences :
Radha says, “I shall finish my home-work today.”
Sushma said to Pushpa, “Show me your dolls.”
The verbs ‘says and said’ in the above sentences are ‘Reporting Verbs’.
The exact words of the speaker given within the inverted commas are ‘Reported
Speech’.
4. Here are some distinctive points regarding the Direct Speech and Indirect Speech :
In the Direct Speech
1. The Reported Speech is put within Reported (Inverted) Commas.
2. The Reported Speech and the Reporting Verb are separated by a Comma.
3. The first word of the Reported Speech begins with a capital letter.

Transformation of Direct Speech into Indirect Speech

I. Rules for the Change of Tense
Rule I. If the Reporting Verb is in the Present or Future Tense, the Tense of the Verb
in the Reported Speech does not change.
Examples
1 Direct: Rajesh says, “She has brought lame to her family.”
Indirect: Rajesh says that she has brought fame to her family.
2. Direct: Rohit has said, “I cannot displease my friend.”
Indirect: Rohit has said that he cannot displease his friend.
3. Direct: I shall say, “I went to Agra on Monday.”
Indirect: I shall say that I went to Agra on Monday.
4. Direct: She will say, “I have sent him a present.”
Indirect: She will say that she has sent him a present.

Rule II. If the Reporting Verb is in the Past Tense, the tense of the verb in the
Reported Speech must be changed into the corresponding Past Tense.
Examples
1. Direct: I said, “I am speaking the truth.”
Indirect: I said that I was speaking the truth.
2. Direct: The teacher said, “Boys fail because they do not study regularly.”
Indirect: The teacher said that boys failed because they did not study regularly.

Exception to Rule II
(i) If there is a Universal Truth or Habitual fact in the Reported Speech, the Tense of
the verb is never changed ; as—
1. Direct: He said, “Face is the index of mind.”
Indirect: He said that face is the index of mind.
2. Direct: The teacher said, “The earth rotates round its axis.”
Indirect: The teacher said that the earth rotates round its axis.
3. Direct: Horatius said, “Death comes sooner or later.”
Indirect: Horatius said that death comes sooner or later.
(ii) The Tense of the Verb in the Reported Speech does not change if the reported
speech states a past historical fact ; as—
1. Direct: He said, “India became free on 15th August, 1947.”
Indirect: He said that India became free on 15th August, 1947.
2. Direct: She said, “Her father lived at Lahore for ten years.”
Indirect: She said that her father had lived at Lahore for ten years.

(iii) If two such actions are given in the Reported Speech which take place at the
same time, the Past Indefinite or Continuous Tense does not change.
Direct: He said, “Mohan was singing a song while Gopal was playing on a flute.”
Indirect: He said that Mohan was singing a song while Gopal was playing on a flute.
Examples
1. Direct: She said, “I am a top-class singer.”
Indirect: She said that she was a top-class singer.
2. Direct: We said, “He is writing a poem.”
Indirect: We said that he was writing a poem.
3. Direct: He said, “It may rain tonight.”
Indirect: He said that it might rain that night.
4. Direct: He said, “A devil ever remains a devil.”
Indirect: He said that a devil ever remains a devil.
The future tense of the reported speech is changed as under :
Future Indefinite—would/should
Future Continuous—would/should be
Future Perfect—would/should have
Future Perfect Continuous—would/should have been
Examples
1. Direct: You said, “He is a very good athlete.”
Indirect: You said that he was a very good athlete.
2. Direct: I said, “I have finished my work.”
Indirect: I said that I had finished my work.
3. Direct: He said, “Her parents will pay a visit to Delhi.”
Indirect: He said that her parents would pay a visit to Delhi.
Interrogative Sentences
Conversion of Interrogative Sentences From Direct Into Indirect
1. The Reporting Verb is changed, into ‘ask, enquire, inquire or demand etc.
2. No conjunction is used to introduce the Reported Speech if the question begins
with (an interrogative) word; such as—what, who, whose, which, when, where,
why, how, whom etc.
3. If or whether is used to introduce the Reported Speech if the reported speech has
no question word.
4. Change the questions into statements. Put full stop in place of mark of
interrogation (?).
Examples
(a) Questions beginning with a Helping Verb
1. Direct: He said to her, “Shall I accompany you to Agra?”
Indirect: He asked her if he would (should) accompany her to Agra.
2. Direct: She said to him, “Had I been absenting myself from school for a month?”
Indirect: She asked him if she had been absenting herself from school for a month.
3. Direct: He said to us, “Has she been spinning since yesterday?”
Indirect: He asked us if she had been spinning since the previous day.
4. Direct: They said to you, “Shall we be going on picnic tomorrow?”
Indirect: They asked you if they would be going on picnic the next day.
5. Direct: I said to her, “Will you have ironed your clothes?”
Indirect: I asked her if she would have ironed her clothes.

(b) Sentences having ‘Yes’ or ‘No’

1. Direct: “Are there any more files?” He asked. “Yes, sir,” said the peon.
Indirect: He asked the peon if there were any more files. The peon replied
respectfully in affirmative.
2. Direct: The teacher said to Lila. “Did you break the window pane?” “No, sir.” said
Lila, “I did not.”
Indirect: The teacher asked Lila if she had broken the window pane. Lila replied
respectfully and refused it (to have done it).
3. Direct: “If you find my answers satisfactory, will you give me five rupees?” said
the astrologer. “No.” replied the customer.
Indirect: The astrologer asked the customer whether he would give him five rupees
if he found his answers satisfactory. The customer replied in negative.
4. Direct: I said to him. “Do you want to go to Chandigarh?” He said, “No, sir.”
Indirect: I asked him if he wanted to go to Chandigarh and respectfully he replied in
negative.
5. Direct: He said to me, “Does Mohan still play?” I said, “Yes, sir.”
Indirect: He asked me if Mohan still played and I replied in positive.
(c) Questions beginning with Interrogative Words
1. Direct: He said to me, “Whom does she want to contact?”
Indirect: He asked me whom she wanted to contact.
2. Direct: They said to her, “Whose house are you purchasing?”
Indirect: They asked her whose house she was purchasing.
3. Direct: You said to him, “Why are you making mischief?”
Indirect: You asked him why he was making mischief.
4. Direct: They said to us, “How have you solved this sum?”
Indirect: They asked us how we had solved that sum.
5. Direct: We said to them, “Who has misguided you?”
Indirect: We asked them who had misguided them.
(d) Questions beginning with modal auxiliaries
1. Direct: I said to him, “May Sunita come in to discuss with you something?”
Indirect: I asked him if Sunita might come in to discuss with him something.
2. Direct: The traveller said to me, “Can you tell me the way to the nearest inn?”
Indirect: The traveller asked me if I could tell him the way to the nearest inn.
3. Direct: He said to me. “Must I leave for Mumbai tomorrow?”
Indirect: He asked me if he had to leave for Mumbai the next day.
4. Direct: I said to her, “Could you give me your notes?”
Indirect: I asked her if she could give me her notes.
5. Direct: I said to him, “Need I go to him?”
Indirect: I asked him if I had to go to him.

Imperative Sentences into Indirect Speech

Imperative sentences are of three kinds: advice, order and request. So, according to
the type of sentence the reporting verb ‘said/said to’ is changed into ordered,
requested, advised etc. And instead of ‘that’ ‘to’ is used to join the reported speech.
1. Direct: Neena said to him, “Open your book”.
Indirect: Neena ordered him to open his book.
2. Direct: The inspector said to his constables, “Go and find them everywhere”.
Indirect: The inspector ordered his constable to go and find them everywhere.
3. Direct: Shahista said to me, “Please, allow me to help you”.
Indirect: Shahista requested me to allow her to help me.
4. Direct: She said to her mother, “Please, take care of my children”.
Indirect: She requested her mother to take care of her.
5. Direct: He said to me, “Take proper rest”.
Indirect: He advised me to take proper rest.
6. Direct: The officer said to his soldiers, “Follow me.
Indirect: The officer ordered his soldiers to follow him.
Exclamatory Sentences into Indirect Speech
While changing exclamatory sentences into indirect speech, the reporting verb is
changed into exclaimed with joy, sorrow etc.
‘What, how’ are changed into very, great etc. e.g.
1. Direct: He said, “What a great idea!”
Indirect: He exclaimed that it was a great idea.
2. Direct: The players said, “Hurrah! we won the match”.
Indirect: The players exclaimed with joy and said that they had won the
match.
3. Direct: “What a pity!” said the woman.
Indirect: The woman exclaimed that it was a great pity.
4. Direct: “Eh! How beautiful the doll is!” said angel.
Indirect: Angel exclaimed with surprise that it was a very beautiful doll.
5. Direct: “Bravo! only you could do this”, said the manager to his team.
Indirect: The manager exclaimed with appreciation and acknowledged his
team that only they could do this.
Sentences Beginning with ‘Let’
1. Sentences that express suggestions.
1. Direct: Veena said, “Let us go for a movie in the evening”.
Indirect: Veena suggested that they should go for a movie in the evening.
2. Direct: Renu said to me, “Let us decide something quickly”.
Indirect: Renu suggested that we should decide something quickly.
2. If they have a force of an order or request.
1. Direct: Sudhir said to his friend, “Let me sit alone for a while”.
Indirect: Sudhir requested his friend to let him sit alone for a while.
2. Direct: The security officer said to the guard, “Let them come in”.
Indirect: The security officer ordered the guard to allow them to come in.