Rules for Direct and Indirect Speech for Competitive

Exams
geeksforgeeks.org/direct-indirect-speech-rules

What is Direct & Indirect Speech?

When anything is repeated exactly as it was – usually between two inverted commas – it
is referred to as direct speech. The indirect speech will still convey the same
information, but instead of simply repeating someone’s words or speech, it will report or
describe what was said without the use of inverted commas.

There are some common rules to change the mode of speech. Other rules vary
depending on the types of sentences i.e. Assertive, Interrogative, Imperative, Optative
and Exclamatory.

In this article, we will discuss all the rules related to Direct and Indirect Speech of
Assertive, Interrogative, and Imperative sentences.

Direct and Indirect Speech Rules

I. Change of words

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

This That

These Those

Today This day

Tomorrow The Next day

Yesterday The previous day

Now Then

II. Change of Pronouns

The first person pronoun is changed based on: the subject of reporting speech.
The second person pronoun is changed based on: the object of reporting speech.
The Third-person pronoun remains unchanged in indirect speech.

1/7
III. Change of tense

There is no need of changing the verb/tense of the reported speech when the reporting
verb is in the present or future tense.
When the reporting verb is in the past tense, then the conversion happens according to
the following rules:

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

Simple Present Tense Simple Past Tense

Present Continuous Tense Past Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Tense Past Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Simple Past Tense Past Perfect Tense

Past Continuous Tense Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Tense and Past Perfect Continuous Tense remain the same in such
cases.
Modal verbssuch as Can, Shall, Will, May, Must is converted into Could, Should,
Would, Might and Must respectively.
In the case of the general truths and habits in the reporting speech, the tense
remains same.

Direct and Indirect Speech Examples

Now, let’s have a look at the rules which are specific to the sentences. These are
certain rules that you need to follow & remember for the questions of Direct &
Indirect speech:

1. Assertive Sentence

The inverted commas (“ “) used in Direct Narration is removed in Indirect Narration and
“that” conjunction is used.
Says to/said to is converted into tells/told in indirect speech if they are followed by an
object. If not, they would remain the same in indirect speech.

Examples:

2/7
Direct: Ram said, “I am ill”
Indirect: Ram said that he was ill.

Direct: He said, “I must go at once.”

Indirect: He said that he had to go at once.

Direct: Raj said to Sheela, “The Sun rises in the east”.

Indirect: Raj told Sheela that the Sun rises in the east.

Direct: She said, “My uncle came yesterday.”

Indirect: She said that her uncle had come the previous day.

Direct: Nusrat says, “I am never late”

Indirect: Nusrat says that she is never late.

2. Interrogative sentence

Say/Said is changed to ask/asked/wonder/wondered/enquire of/enquired of etc as per the

sense of the sentence. If the reported speech is in YES/NO question form then if/whether
is used before reported speech. If the reported speech is in the form of WH-Question
(who/ what/ why/ how/ where/ when/ which etc), no conjunction is used before the
question word. The question word itself works as conjunction.

The reported verb is made assertive; i.e. it is kept in the order of subject + verb.
The sign of interrogation (?) is removed and full stop is used.

Examples:

Direct: Rahul said to his teacher, “What is the way to solve the question?”
Indirect: Rahul asked his teacher what the way to solve the question was.

Direct: The stranger said to me, “where do you live?”

Indirect: The stranger asked me where I lived.

Direct: “Where were you last evening?” said the lady to her maid.
Indirect: The lady asked her maid where she had been the previous evening.

Direct: The teacher said to me, “have you submitted your project?”
Indirect: The teacher asked me whether I had submitted my project.

Direct: The doctor said the patient, “Are you feeling better today?”
Indirect: The doctor asked the patient if he was feeling better that day.

3. Imperative sentence
In imperative sentences, order, request, advice, or negative command is given. In
negative command, the reported speech starts with Do not or Don’t.

3/7
Say/said to is converted into order/ ordered/ command/ commanded/ request/ requested/
urge/ urged/ advise/ advised/ ask/ asked/ tell/ told/ suggest/ suggested as per the sense
of the sentence and to is used before the main verb.

For negative commands, inverted commas are removed and not + to + verb (first form) is
used. For example, “do not go” is converted into “not to go”.
The words like kindly, and please are removed.

Examples:

Direct: Doshi said to his wife, “Please select one of these necklaces.”
Indirect: Doshi requested his wife to select one of those necklaces.

Direct: “Wait here till I return”, she told them.

Indirect: She ordered them to wait there till she returned.

Direct: Father said, “do not get dry in the rain”.

Indirect: Father advised not to get dry in the rain.

Direct: My mother said, “Blink often if your eyes are dry.”

Indirect: My mother advised me to blink often if my eyes were dry.

Direct: The officer said, “March on, don’t stop unless told!”
Indirect: The officer commanded to march on and not to stop unless told.

Direct and Indirect Speech Exercises

Read the following sentences carefully and change them into indirect speech:

Questions:

1. Sheela said to me, “When are you leaving?”

2. His mother said to me, “You were wrong.”
3. Manav said, “I may go there.”
4. Grandfather said to me, “May God bless you.”
5. Mr. Harvey said to me, “Please wait here till I return.”
6. “We have been living alone for years,” he said.
7. “You must leave now,” Sunny said to me.
8. “French is easy to learn,” the teacher said.
9. The speaker said, “Be quiet and listen to my words.”
10. “I know her name and address,” said Joanna.

Answers:

1. Sheela asked me when I was leaving.

2. His mother told me that I was wrong.
3. Manav said that he might go there.
4. Grandfather prayed that God might bless me.

4/7
5. Mr. Harvey requested me to wait there till he returned.
6. He said that they had been living alone for years.
7. Sunny told me that I should leave then.
8. The teacher said that French was easy to learn.
9. The speaker urged to be quiet and listen to his words.
10. Joanna said that she knew her name and address.

Direct and Indirect Speech Rules Chart

Tense Tense Direct Speech Indirect Speech

Change

Present Past Simple He said to me, “She He told me that she

Simple always wears a blazer.” always wore a blazer.

Present Past He said to me, “He is He told me that he was

Continuous Continuous looking for the way.” looking for the way.

Past Simple Past Perfect He said to me, “My sister He told me that his sister
gave me a chocolate.” had given him a
chocolate.

Past Past Perfect They said to me, “We They told me that they
Continuous Continuous were living in Delhi.” were living in Delhi.

Present Past Perfect He said to me, “He has He told me that he had
Perfect written a book on SRK.” written a book on SRK.

Past Perfect Past Perfect He said to me, “The food He informed me that the
has gone stale.” food had gone stale.

Present Past Perfect He said to me, “She has He told me that she had
Perfect Continuous been working in my office been working in his office
Continuous since last two years.” since last two years.

Will Would He said to me, “I will finish He told me that he would

this assignment.” finish that assignment.

Shall Should He said to me, “You shall He advised me that I

obey the rules.” should obey the rules.

Can Could They said to me, “We can They told me that they
invite our friends.” could invite their friends.

May Might He said to me, “He may He told me that he might

get a flight today.” get a flight this day.

Have to Had to He said to me, “You have He told me that I had to

to understand this understand that situation.
situation.”

5/7
 Must Must He said to me, “I must go He told me that he must
to the office for the party go to the office for the
arrangements.” party arrangements.

Would/Should Would/Should He said to me, “He would He told me that he would

give a speech in the give a speech in the
auditorium.” auditorium.

Difference Between Direct and Indirect Speech

The difference between direct and indirect speech have been explained below:

I. Direct Speech means the exact repetition of the words spoken by a person, using a
quotative frame. Whereas, indirect speech means to report something said or written by
another person, without using the exact words.

II. Direct Speech is also known as ‘quoted speech,’ since it uses the exact words of the
speaker. Whereas, the indirect speech is also known as ‘reported speech,’ since it
narrates what is spoken by a person.

III. Direct Speech is narrated from the speaker’s viewpoint, whereas indirect speech is
narrated from the listener’s viewpoint.

IV. When the exact rendition of the words of the speaker is used in a sentence, it is direct
speech. Conversely, when own words are used to report the speaker’s statement, it is
indirect speech.

V. In direct speech, inverted comma is used whereas, it is not used in indirect speech.

Direct and Indirect Speech Rules- FAQs

What is Direct & Indirect Speech with Examples?

Direct speech means to report the message of the speaker in the exact words as
spoken by a person. For eg., Ronit said, “I am occupied now.”
Indirect speech means to report the message of the speaker in our own words. For
eg., Ronit said that he was occupied then.

How do you change direct speech to indirect speech?

In order to understand the process to change direct speech into indirect speech,
there are certain rules to be followed and they have already been described above.

Examples of Direct Speech?

Examples of direct speech have already been explained above.

6/7
Examples of Indirect Speech?

Examples of indirect speech have already been explained above.

Three 90 Challenge is back on popular demand! After processing refunds worth INR
1CR+, we are back with the offer if you missed it the first time. Get 90% course fee refund
in 90 days. Avail now!

Summer-time is here and so is the time to skill-up! More than 5,000 learners have now
completed their journey from basics of DSA to advanced level development programs
such as Full-Stack, Backend Development, Data Science.

And why go anywhere else when our DSA to Development: Coding Guide will help you
master all this in a few months! Apply now to our DSA to Development Program and our
counsellors will connect with you for further guidance & support.

7/7