ENGLISH - HANDOUT

REPORTED SPEECH

The words spoken by a person can be reported in the following two ways: ∙ We may quote the actual words spoken by the

speaker. This is called Direct Speech.

Ravi said, “ I am busy now.” - Direct Speech

Mohit said, “ I am going to meet my friend.” – Direct Speech

∙ We may report the speaker’s word in the form of a narrative instead of his actual words. This is called Indirect Speech or
Reported Speech.

Ravi said that he was busy then. -Indirect Speech

Mohit said that he was going to meet his friend. –Indirect Speech

The verb introducing the words of the speaker, that is said in the above sentence is called the Reporting Verb or the
Introducing Verb. It indicates who speaks to whom, when and how.

The following points should be remembered when using the DIRECT SPEECH.

⮚ Direct Speech is always placed within inverted commas.

“It is snowing!” exclaimed Priya.
⮚ The direct speech is separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. Subhi said, “ My mother is baking a cake.”
⮚ The first letter of the first word of the direct speech begins with the capital letter. Mother said, “ You must clean your
room before the guests arrive.” ⮚ In direct speech we can use any kind of sentence and any tense as required by the
sense conveyed by the sentence.
“Hurrah! We won!” screamed the students.
The following points should be remembered when using the INDIRECT SPEECH.

⮚ Inverted commas are removed when we convert from direct to indirect speech. Priya exclaimed that it was snowing.
⮚ The comma separating the reporting verb from the direct speech is omitted in indirect speech.
Mother told me to clean my room before the guests arrived.
⮚ The reported speech is introduced by conjunctions such as that, if, what, why… Shubhi said that her mother was
baking a cake.
⮚ The Reporting Verb changes according to the sense conveyed by the sentence. Adverbs may be added to the reporting
verb to stress upon the message conveyed. The students joyfully screamed that they had won.

TRANSFORMATION OF DIRECT SPEECH INTO INDIRECT SPEECH RULES FOR THE CHANGE OF TENSES
CHANGE OF TENSES :
While changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech, the rules of Sequence of tenses are followed.

⮚ RULE 1: If the Reporting Verb is in Present or Future Tense, the tense of the verb in the Reported Speech is not changed
at all: as
1. Direct: He says, “I am ready.”
Indirect: He says that he is ready.
2. Direct: He says, “I was ready.”
Indirect: He says that he was ready.
3. Direct: He will say, “I am ready.”
Indirect: He will say that he is ready.

⮚ RULE 2: If the Reporting Verb is in the Past Tense, the tense of the verb in the Reported Speech is changed into its
corresponding past Tense, as follows: i. A Simple Present becomes a Simple Past:
Direct: He said, “I write a letter.”
Indirect: He said that he wrote a letter.
ii. A Present Continuous becomes a Past Continuous:
Direct: “What are they doing?” I asked.
Indirect: I asked what they were doing.

Direct: He said, “I am going to the market.”

Indirect: He said that he was going to the market.

iii. A Present Perfect becomes a Past Perfect:

Direct: He said, “I have done my work.”
Indirect: He said that he had done his work.

Direct: Rumi asked Sonia, “Has mother finished her cooking yet?”
Indirect; Rumi asked Sonia if her mother had finished cooking.

iv. Present Perfect Continuous becomes Past Perfect Continuous: Direct: Radika said, “I am tired. I have been working
for a long time.” Indirect: Radhika said that she was tired as she had been working for a long time.
Direct: Gayatri said, “ It has been raining since morning.”
Indirect: Gayatri said that it had been raining since morning.

v. A simple past becomes a Past perfect:

Direct: Ravi said, “I misplaced my book.”
Indirect :Ravi said that he had misplaced his book.

vi. A Past Continuous becomes a Past Perfect Continuous

Direct: Rahul said, “I was waiting for my brother to join me.”
Indirect : Rahul said that he had been waiting for his brother to join him.

vii. A Past Perfect and a Past Perfect Continuous remain unchanged. Direct: The farmer said, “ The flood had destroyed
my fields.”
Indirect: The farmers said that the flood had destroyed his fields.
Direct: Ruma said, “ Rosy had been singing.”
Indirect: Ruma said that Rosy had been singing.
viii. Will changes to would, shall into should or would, can into could and may into might
Direct: He said, “ I will write a letter.”
Indirect: He said that he would write a letter.
Direct: He said, “ He may be in his office.”
Indirect: He said that he might be in his office.

⮚ RULE 3: If the Reported Speech expresses some universal truth or habitual action, the tense of the verb in the Reported
Speech is not changed into the corresponding past, but remains exactly as it is, e.g.
Universal Truth
Direct: He said, “ Two and three make five.”
Indirect: he said that two and three make five.

Direct: He said, “The sun rises in the east.”

Indirect: He said that the sun rises in the east.
Habitual Action
Direct: He said, “My grandmother goes to the temple every Tuesday.” Indirect: He said that his grandmother goes to the
temple every Tuesday.
Direct: He said, “I am an early riser.”
Indirect: He said that he is an early riser.

Direct: He said, “ I always drive to office.”

Indirect : He said that he always drives to his office.

⮚ RULE 4: When we change from Direct to Reported Speech, the words that express nearness of time or place are changed
to words showing distance of time and place.

Direct: He said, “ It is raining now.”

Indirect: He said that it was raining then.

Direct: He said, “ I am glad to be here this evening.”

Indirect: He aid that he was glad to be there that evening.

Direct: He said, “Last night I met my friend.”

Indirect: He said that he had met his friend the previous night.

CHANGES TO REMEMBER
TRANSFORMATION OF DIRECT SPEECH INTO INDIRECT SPEECH CHANGE OF PRONOUNS:
⮚ First person pronouns in the direct speech change according to the subject of the reporting verb in the indirect
speech.
Direct: I said to the doctor, “ I am unwell.”
Indirect: I told the doctor that I was unwell.
Direct: They said, ‘We will not permit this.’
Indirect: They said that they would not permit that.
⮚ Second person pronouns in the direct speech change according to the object of the reporting verb in the indirect
speech.
Direct: He said to me, ‘You have to come with me.’
Indirect: He told me that I had to go with him.
Direct: She said to me, ‘You can go.’
Indirect : She said to me that I could go.

⮚ Third person pronouns in the direct speech will not change in the indirect speech. Direct: He said, ‘She is a good
girl.’
Indirect: He said that she was a good girl.
Direct: You said to me, “They will carry their own bags.”
Indirect: You told me that they would carry their own bags.
Direct: They said, ‘He does not have the necessary qualifications.’
Indirect: They said that he did not have the necessary qualifications. RULES TO FOLLOW WHILE CHANGING DIFFERENT
KINDSOF SENTENCES
⮚ ASSERTIVE SENTENCES: Assertive sentences in the Indirect speech are usually introduced by the Conjunction ‘that’:
Direct: They said to Anuj, “You are a brave boy.”
Indirect: They told Anuj that he was a brave boy.

Direct: The employer said to me, “I have never seen such a hardworking man as you are.” Indirect: The employer told me
that he had never seen such a hardworking man as I was. NOTE: The reporting verb generally changes into told, but we may
use expressions like answered, replied, informed, remarked, etc. “TOLD” is usually followed by a personal object after them;
said does not need a personal object
Direct: Ramesh said, “Sister you are late today.”
Indirect: Ramesh told his sister that she was late that day.

⮚ IMPERATIVE SENTENCES-Commands, Requests, Suggestions and Advice

I. When reporting a request, we use different forms of verbs such as request, beg, entreat, or plead. e.g.
Rahul said to his professor, “May I leave early today.” -Direct
Rahul requested his professor to allow him to leave early that day. -Indirect II. When we report an advice in indirect
speech, we use different forms of words such as advice, forbid, or urge. e.g.
Anand said to me, “Work hard and be regular.” - Direct
Anand advised me to work hard and be regular. – Indirect
III. When we want to report an order, we use words such as order, command or tell. e.g.
Meera said to the gardener, “Water the plants regularly.”- Direct
Meera ordered the gardener to water the plants regularly.- Indirect NOTE: The imperative word is changed into the
infinitive form

⮚ INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

I. The verb said is replaced by words such as asked, enquired or demanded. e.g. Direct:I said to him, “May I borrow
your pen?
Indirect: I asked him if I could borrow his pen.
II. We do not use a conjunction to introduce the reported speech if the question begins with an interrogative word
like who, whom, whose, which, where, why, when or how. eg
Direct:Sohan said, Who are you speaking to?
Indirect: Sohan asked who I was speaking to.
III. If or whether is used to introduce the reported speech if the question begins with a helping verb, like is, are, am,
was, were, has, have ,does, did, shall, will, etc. e.g. Direct:Ritu said, “Are you coming to the market with me?”
Indirect: Ritu asked me whether I was going to the market with her IV.
Questions become statements ending in full stop. e.g
Direct:The doctor said, “ Sister, why are you late?”
Indirect: The doctor asked the sister why she was late.

⮚ EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES
I. The verb may be replaced by exclaimed, cried, applaud, confess in the indirect speech. If the direct speech
expresses a wish, then the reporting may be wish or pray. e.g.
Direct:Dolly said, I wish I were a fairy.”
Indirect:Dolly wished she were a fairy. OR Dolly wished to be a fairy. II. The exclamatory sentences are changed into
assertive sentences. The exclamation mark is replaced with a full stop.
III. The conjunction THAT is used as the linking word to introduce the reported speech. E.g.
Direct:“Oh dear! I am sorry,” he said.
Indirect: He exclaimed apologetically that he was sorry.
Direct: “Alas! How foolish I have been! “said the man.
Indirect: The man regretfully confessed that he had been very foolish. Direct: The old woman said to the woman, “May you
live long!”
Indirect: The old lady blessed the woman with a long life.
IV. Interjections and exclamations are replaced with suitable adverbs or adverb phrases according to the sense
conveyed.