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Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct speech refers to quoting someone's exact words, usually within quotation marks. Indirect speech involves paraphrasing what someone said without using their exact words. When changing direct speech to indirect speech, some modifications are typically made, such as using a reporting verb, changing verb tenses and pronouns, and possibly reordering words. Direct and indirect speech allow us to communicate what others have said even when they are not present.

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84 views2 pages

Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct speech refers to quoting someone's exact words, usually within quotation marks. Indirect speech involves paraphrasing what someone said without using their exact words. When changing direct speech to indirect speech, some modifications are typically made, such as using a reporting verb, changing verb tenses and pronouns, and possibly reordering words. Direct and indirect speech allow us to communicate what others have said even when they are not present.

Uploaded by

umar
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

What is direct and indirect speech?

Direct speech, also known as quoted speech, is when someone's exact words are repeated, usually
enclosed in quotation marks, to convey what they said. For example, "I love pizza," said Jane. In this
case, the exact words spoken by Jane are quoted directly within the sentence.

Indirect speech, also known as reported speech, is when someone's words are paraphrased or
summarized to convey what they said, without using their exact words. For example, Jane said that she
loves pizza. In this case, the idea or meaning of what Jane said is conveyed, but her exact words are not
used.

When transforming direct speech to indirect speech, some changes are usually necessary, such as the
use of reporting verbs (such as "said" or "told"), changes in verb tense, pronoun changes, and word
order changes. For example, "I love pizza," said Jane (direct speech) could be transformed to "Jane said
that she loves pizza" (indirect speech).

Direct and indirect speech are important in communication because they allow us to accurately convey
what someone else said or communicated, even if they are not present to speak for themselves.

How to change Direct Speech into Indirect Speech

To change Direct Speech into Indirect Speech, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Identify the reporting verb and the tense

Identify the verb used to report what was said, such as "said", "told", "asked", etc.

Note the tense of the reporting verb (e.g. present, past, future) as it will determine the tense changes
that are needed in the reported speech.

Step 2: Change the pronouns and time expressions

Change the pronouns and any time expressions (e.g. "today", "yesterday") to match the context of the
reported speech.

For example, "I am tired," said John today (Direct Speech) can become "John said he was tired today"
(Indirect Speech)

Step 3: Change the tense of the reported speech

Change the tense of the reported verb to match the tense of the reporting verb.

For example, "I will come tomorrow," said Mary (Direct Speech) can become "Mary said she would come
the next day" (Indirect Speech)

Step 4: Make any necessary changes in modals, conditionals and reporting verbs.
Change modal verbs, such as "can" to "could" and "may" to "might", to match the past tense in indirect
speech.

In conditional sentences, "will" is changed to "would", "shall" to "should", "can" to "could" and "may" to
"might".

Change the reporting verb to match the context and style of the sentence.

here's an example:

Direct Speech: "I am studying for my exams," said Jane.

Indirect Speech: Jane said that she was studying for her exams.

In this example, the reporting verb is "said" and it is in the past tense. The pronoun "I" is changed to
"she" to match the third person perspective in indirect speech. The present tense "am" is changed to
the past tense "was" to match the past tense reporting verb.

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