Welcome to E-Learning @ BTSC

Grade : XM
Teacher: Ms. Sadia Munir
Subject : English
Topic: Direct & indirect
narration
Learning objectives
At the end of this class, the students will be able to
Identify the difference between reporting speech
& reported speech
Apply the changes of pronouns, Adverbs and
modals
Change the direct narration of interrogative &
Imperative sentences into indirect narration by
applying the stated rules
 DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

• Study the sentences written below:

• 1. He says, “ I am unwell.”
• 2. He will say, “ I am unwell.”
• 3. He said, “ I am unwell.”
All the three sentences written above are the examples of Direct Speech. In the
Direct Speech , we have two parts; reporting speech, and the reported speech. In
the above three sentences, he says, he will say,
Continued …

• and he said are said to be REPORTING SPEECH and the sentence I am unwell
which is enclosed within double inverted commas in all the three sentences is said
to be REPORTED SPEECH.
• The verb in the reporting speech is said to be a reporting verb and the verb of the
reported speech is known as reported verb.
Continued …

• When we quote speaker’s actual words, this is called DIRECT SPEECH.

• We may report what he said without quoting his exact words. This is called
INDIRECT ( or REPORTED) SPEECH. The first three sentences written above
are the examples of the DIRECT SPEECH. We may change them to Indirect
speech without changing their meaning as done below:
Continued…

• 1. He says that he is unwell.

• 2. He will say that he is unwell.
• 3. He said that he was unwell.
The basic rule to change a sentence from Direct speech to Indirect Speech is:
RULE : If the reporting verb is in the present tense or in the future tense the tense
of the reported verb will not be changed.( you can see this happen in sentence no.
1 and 2 above).
Continued…
• And if the reporting verb is in the past tense, the tense of the reported verb is
changed to its corresponding past except in cases where reported speech talks of a
universal truth or habitual action ( for example: the teacher said, “ The sun rises in
the east.” will be changed to The teacher said that the sun rises in the east.)
Continued…
• Help List one
• —Words indicating nearness are changed into words showing distance:
• Here—there,
• tomorrow—the next day/the following day,
• this—that,
• yesterday—the previous day or the day
before,
• these —those,
• the next week—the following week,
• today—that day,
• now—then,
• tonight—that night
Continued…
• Help list two
• —The following changes in the tense need to be
considered;
• Is/am—was, can—could,will—would,
• Are —were,shall—should,may—might
• Is (sleeping)—was(sleeping)
• Are (sleeping)—were(sleeping)
• Has/have killed—had killed
• Was/were laughing— had been laughing
• Did—had done
Some examples of the previous rule

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

• I said, “My mother cooks well.” • I said that my mother cooked well.
• She said, “I am reading a novel now.” • She said that she was reading a novel
• He said, “I killed an ant.” then.
• We said, “They have done their job.” • He said that he had killed an ant.
• We said that they had done their job.
Continued…

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

• She said, “ We were all laughing • She said that they had been all
uncontrollably.” laughing uncontrollably.
• He said, “I can do it.” • He said that he could do it.
• She said to me, “You may need help.” • She told me that I might need help.
• He said, “She will do this task • He said that she would do that task
quickly.’ quickly.
Continued…

Direct speech Indirect Speech

• He said to me, “ I have often told you • He reminded me that he had often told
not to play with fire.” me not to play with fire.
• “You have all done very badly!” • The teacher remarked that they had all
remarked the teacher. done very badly.
• The teacher promised, “ If you will • The teacher promised that he would
come before school tomorrow, I will explain it they would come before
explain it.” school the next day.
Continued…

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

• The Prince said, “It gives me great • The prince said that it gave him great
pleasure to be here this evening.” pleasure to be there that evening.
• He said, “I shall go as soon as it is • He said that he would go as soon as it
possible.” was possible.
• He said, “ I do not wish to see any of • He said that he did not wish to see any
you; go away.” of them and ordered them to go away.
 Questions or interrogative sentences

• Interrogative sentences are of three types as indicated below:

• 1. yes /No Questions (Those questions which can be answered in yes or no are
known as yes/no questions.)
• 2. Wh Questions (Those questions which begin with Wh words such as; Who,
what, when ,where etc, how is also treated as a wh question)
• 3. Tag/Tail Questions ( when a tag is added with any statement affirmative or
negative sentences, it is said to be a tag question. For example; He is a good boy,
Isn’t he?, or He plays football, Doesn’t he? Or She does not sing,does she? Etc)
Note: The first two types of questions are relevant in the present context.
Continued…
• Yes/No questions need if or whether words which act as conjunction to join reporting
speech and reported speech. Whereas Wh questions need nothing as they themselves act
as conjunction in Indirect Speech.For example:
• He said to me, “Are you a student?” ( You can answer this question in yes or in no ,hence,
this is an yes/ no question which will be changed to indirect speech as; He asked me if (or
Whether)I was a student. Here if or whether acts as a conjunction and not as a question
word.
• He said to me, “What are you doing?” can be changed to the Indirect speech as ; He asked
me what I was doing. Note that wh word what itself functions as a conjunction here, no
extra word has been inserted to join the two sentences.
• HhehHer
Exercises on Interrogative sentences

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

• “Where do you live?”asked the • The stranger asked where I lived.
stranger.
• He said, “Will you listen to such a • He asked them if they would listen to
man?” such a man.
• “What do you want?” he said to her. • He asked her what she wanted.
• He said, “ How’s your father?” • He asked how her/his father was.
Continued…

Direct Speech Indirect

• “Are you coming home with me?” he • He asked if she/he was going home
asked. with him
• “which way did she go?” asked the • The young man asked which way she
young man. had gone.
• “Have you anything to say on behalf • The judge finally asked if he/she had
of the prisoner?” said the judge finally. anything to say on behalf of the
prisoner.
E

L
I
S
 I m p e r a tOpen
• The imperative is formed i v the
e door!
with the verb without a Take and
subject
aspirin. Pay
attention

•The negative imperative is

formed with Do not / Don’t
and the verb

• Don’t touch that

• Don’t play with your brother

Uses o f
Imperative
Imperatives
Give Make a
i n s t r u ct io n s r e ques t
• Write your • Have
name • Take some tea • Be
a quiet,
deep please
Offer
Give o r d e r s breath Somet h i n g
 Exclamatory sentences

An exclamatory sentence makes a

statement that conveys strong emotion
or excitement. Placing that tiny stripe
above a period at the end of a sentence
can really rock the boat! 
 Examples

"I got the concert tickets!"

"Ugh! Why are you yelling at me?"
"I'm not!"
 What are Optative Sentences?
Optative sentences are those which express hope, wish,
prayer.  These sentences take an exclamation mark either
after an interjection or at the end of sentence. 

Let’s look at the examples:

1.She said, “May God be your on your side”

2.Old man said, “would that I were young
again”
3.She said, “Good morning sir!”
 Reported Speech Rules for Optative
Sentences

Context of speaker - Rule 1

1. She said, “May God bless her soul.” (Context = Pray)
2. I said, “If I was a bird.” (Context = Wish)
3. Teacher said, “You can go” (Context = Allow)
4. Student said, “May I go ma’am?” (Context = asking
permission)

Direct: I said to him, “May you get well soon.” (Reporting verb = Said,
Tense = Past Indefinite)

Indirect: I prayed him that he might get well soon. (Reporting verb =

Prayed, Tense = Past Indefinite)
 Conversion of “Said” in optative sentence

Optative words 'Said' is replaced with

Would that Wished
May/ May God Prayed
Would that Wished
O that/O for Wished
Good morning Wished
Good night Bade