Narration: Direct and Indirect Speech

What is Direct & Indirect Speech?

Direct speech – reporting the message of the speaker in the exact words as spoken by him.
Direct speech example: Maya said ‘I am busy now’.
Indirect speech: reporting the message of the speaker in our own words
Indirect speech example: Maya said that she was busy then.

Direct And Indirect Speech Rules

Rules for converting Direct into Indirect speech
To change a sentence of direct speech into indirect speech there are various factors that are
considered, such as reporting verbs, modals, time, place, pronouns, tenses, etc. We will discuss
each of these factors one by one.

Rule 1 – Direct To Indirect Speech Conversion – Reporting Verb

1. When the reporting verb of direct speech is in past tense then all the present tenses are
changed to the corresponding past tense in indirect speech.

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: She said, ‘I am happy’.
Indirect: She said (that) she was happy.

1. In indirect speech, tenses do not change if the words used within the quotes (‘’) talk of a
habitual action or universal truth.

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: He said, ‘We cannot live without air’.
Indirect: He said that we cannot live without air.

1. The tenses of direct speech do not change if the reporting verb is in the future
tense or present tense.

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: She says/will say, ‘I am going’
Indirect: She says/will say she is going.

Rule 2 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech conversion – Present

Tense
 Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect.
Direct to indirect speech example:
Narration: Direct and Indirect Speech
Direct: “I have been to Boston”, she told me.
Indirect: She told me that she had been to Boston.

 Present Continuous Changes to Past Continuous

Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: “I am playing the guitar”, she explained.
Indirect: She explained that she was playing the guitar.

 Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect

Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: He said, “She has finished her homework“.
Indirect: He said that she had finished her homework.

 Simple Present Changes to Simple Past

Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: “I am unwell”, she said.
Indirect: She said that she was unwell.

Rule 3 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech conversion – Past Tense

& Future Tense
 Simple Past Changes to Past Perfect
Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: She said, “Irvin arrived on Sunday.”
Indirect: She said that Irvin had arrived on Sunday.

 Past Continuous Changes to Past Perfect Continuous

Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: “We were playing basketball”, they told me.
Indirect: They told me that they had been playing basketball.

 Future Changes to Present Conditional

Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: She said, “I will be in Scotland tomorrow.”
Indirect: She said that she would be in Scotland the next day.

 Future Continuous Changes to Conditional Continuous

Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: He said, “I’ll be disposing of the old computer next Tuesday.”
Narration: Direct and Indirect Speech
Indirect: He said that he would be disposing of the old computer the following Tuesday.

Rule 4 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion –

Interrogative Sentences
 No conjunction is used, if a sentence in direct speech begins with a question
(what/where/when) as the “question-word” itself acts as a joining clause.
Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: “Where do you live?” asked the boy.
Indirect: The boy enquired where I lived.

 If a direct speech sentence begins with an auxiliary verb/helping verb, the joining clause
should be if or whether.
Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: She said, ‘Will you come for the party’?
Indirect: She asked whether we would come for the party.

 Reporting verbs such as ‘said/ said to’ changes to enquired, asked, or demanded.
Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: He said to me, ‘What are you wearing’?
Indirect: He asked me what I was wearing.
Candidates can also check the links given below to understand the concept of word formation in
English and to learn the common words in English Language that appear in most of the competitive
exams-

1. English Root Words

2. Most asked English Vocabulary Words

Rule 5 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Changes in

Modals
While changing direct speech to indirect speech, the modals used in the sentences change like:

1. Can becomes could

2. May becomes might
3. Must becomes had to /would have to

Check the examples:

 Direct : She said, ‘She can dance’.

 Indirect: She said that she could dance.
 Direct: She said, ‘I may buy a dress’.
 Indirect: She said that she might buy a dress.
 Direct: Rama said, ‘I must complete the assignment’.
Narration: Direct and Indirect Speech
 Indirect: Rama said that he had to complete the assignment.
There are modals that do not change – Could, Would, Should, Might, Ought to

 Direct: She said, ‘I should clean the house’

 Indirect: She said that she should clean the house.

Rule 6 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Pronoun

1. The first person in direct speech changes as per the subject of the speech.

Direct speech to indirect speech examples-

Direct: He said, “I am in class Twelfth.”
Indirect: He says that he was in class Twelfth.

1. The second person of direct speech changes as per the object of reporting speech.

Direct speech to indirect speech examples –

Direct: She says to them, “You have done your work.”
Indirect: She tells them that they have done their work.

1. The third person of direct speech doesn’t change.

Direct speech to indirect speech examples –

Direct: He says, “She dances well.”
Indirect: He says that she dances well.

Rule 7 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Request,

Command, Wish, Exclamation
 Indirect Speech is supported by some verbs like requested, ordered, suggested and advised.
Forbid-forbade is used for negative sentences. Therefore, the imperative mood in the
direct speech changes into the Infinitive in indirect speech.
Direct: She said to her ‘Please complete it’.
Indirect: She requested her to complete it.
Direct: Hamid said to Ramid, ‘Sit down’.
Indirect: Hamid ordered Ramid to sit down.

1. In Exclamatory sentences that express grief, sorrow, happiness, applaud, Interjections

are removed and the sentence is changed to an assertive sentence.

Direct: She said, ‘Alas! I am undone’.

Indirect: She exclaimed sadly that she was broke.
Narration: Direct and Indirect Speech
Aspirants are well aware that English is an important component of the syllabus of various
competitive exams and it is important to be clear with the basic concepts. Therefore, given below are
a few articles to clarify the confusion between usage of common but confusing words in the English
Language.

Difference Between Affect and Effect Difference Between Center and Centre

Difference Between Principal and Principle Difference Between Program and Programme
More such concept-wise, subject-wise differences can be found on the 100 Difference between
Articles page linked here.

Rule 8 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion –

Punctuations
1. In direct speech, the words actually spoken should be in (‘’) quotes and always begin with a
capital letter.

Example: She said, “I am the best.”

1. Full stop, comma, exclamation or question mark, are placed inside the closing inverted
commas.

Example: They asked, “Can we sing with you?”

1. If direct speech comes after the information about who is speaking, a comma is
used to introduce the speech, placed before the first inverted comma.

Direct speech example: He shouted, “Shut up!”

Direct speech example: “Thinking back,” he said, “she didn’t expect to win.” (Comma is used to
separate the two direct speeches and no capital letter to begin the second sentence).

Rule 9 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Change of

Time
1. In direct speeches, the words that express nearness in time or place are changed to words
that express distance in indirect speech. Such as :

 Now becomes then

 Here becomes there
 Ago becomes before
 Thus becomes so
 Today becomes that day
 Tomorrow becomes the next day
 This becomes that
 Yesterday becomes the day before
 These become those
Narration: Direct and Indirect Speech
 Hither becomes thither
 Come becomes go
 Hence becomes thence
 Next week or month becomes following week/month
Examples:
Direct: He said, ‘His girlfriend came yesterday.’
Indirect: He said that his girlfriend had come the day before.

1. The time expression does not change if the reporting verb is in the present tense or
future tense.

Examples:
Direct: He says/will say, ‘My girlfriend came yesterday.’
Indirect: He says/will say that his girlfriend had come the day before.

Rules of converting Indirect Speech into Direct Speech

The following rules should be followed while converting an indirect speech to direct speech:

1. Use the reporting verb such as (say, said to) in its correct tense.
2. Put a comma before the statement and the first letter of the statement should be in capital
letter.
3. Insert question mark, quotation marks, exclamation mark and full stop, based on the mood of
the sentence.
4. Remove the conjunctions like (that, to, if or whether) wherever necessary.
5. Where the reporting verb is in past tense in indirect, change it to present tense in the direct
speech.
6. Change the past perfect tense either into present perfect tense or past tense, as necessary.

Check the examples:

 Indirect: She asked whether she was coming to the prom night.
 Direct: She said to her, “Are you coming to the prom night?”
 Indirect: The girl said that she was happy with her result.
 Direct: The girl said. “I am happy with my result.”