Direct And Indirect Speech

Direct and Indirect Speech with Detailed Explanation

Definition of Direct Speech

Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes called quoted speech)

Here what a person says appears within quotation marks ("...") and should be word for word.

For example:

She said, "Today's lesson is on presentations."

or        

"Today's lesson is on presentations", she said.

Definition of Indirect Speech

Indirect speech is also known as Reported Speech, Indirect Narration or Indirect Discourse. In grammar, when you report someone else’s statement in your own words without any change in the meaning of the statement is called indirect speech. Quoting a person’s words without using his own word and bringing about any change in the meaning of the statement is a reported speech. Look at the following sentences:

Direct Speech: She says, “I am a little bit nervous.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she is a little bit nervous.

In the first sentence, the reporter conveys the message of the girl using her actual words i.e., “I am a little bit nervous.” In the second sentence, the reporter conveys her message but in his own words without any change in the meaning. Thus, both direct and indirect speeches are two different ways of reporting a statement of person. In simple words, quoting a person using your own words is called an indirect speech.

Key Terminology

During the process, you will come across many important terms that you need to know better so that to convert any direct speech into indirect speech easily and without any hassle. Consider the following sentences:

Direct Speech: She says, “I am a little bit nervous.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she is a little bit nervous.

Reporting Speech:

The first part in the direct speech is called REPORTING SPEECH.

Reported Speech:

The second part of the sentence, which is closed in inverted commas, is called REPORTED SPEECH.

Reporting Verb:

Verb of the reporting speech is called REPORTING VERB.

Reported Verb:

Verb of the reported speech is called REPORTED VERB.

Basic Rules

Before proceeding ahead, it is mandatory to memorize these rules:

Changes in Person of Pronouns:

·         1^st Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are always changed according to the SUBJECT of the Reporting Speech.

·         2^nd Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are always changed according to the OBJECT of the Reporting Speech.

·         3^rd Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are not changed.

Changes in Verbs:

·         In case, the Reporting Speech is in PRESENT TENSE or FUTURE TENSE, then no change is required to be made in the VERB of Reported Speech. This verb could be in any tense i.e., Present, Past or Future. For example:

Direct Speech: He says, “I am ill.”

Indirect Speech: He says that he is ill.

Direct Speech: She says, “She sang a song.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she sang a song.

Direct Speech: You say, “I shall visit London.”

Indirect Speech: You say that you will visit London.

·         If Reporting Verb is in Past Tense, then Reported Verb will be changed as per following criterion:

·         Present Indefinite Tense is changed into Past Indefinite Tense. For example:

Direct Speech: They said, “They take exercise every day.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they took exercise every day.

·         Present Continuous is changed into Past Continuous Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They are taking exercise every day.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they were taking exercise every day.

·         Present Perfect is changed into Past Perfect Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They have taken exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.

·         Present Perfect Continuous Tense is changed into Past Perfect Continuous Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They have been taking exercise since morning.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had been taking exercise since morning.

·         Past Indefinite is changed into Past Perfect Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They took exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.

·         Past Continuous Tense is changed into Past Perfect Continuous Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They were taking exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had been taking exercise.

No changes are required to be made into Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous Tenses.

Direct Speech: They said, “They had taken exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.

·         In Future Tense, while no changes are made except SHALL and WILL are changed into WOULD.

Direct Speech: They said, “They will take exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they would take exercise.

Important Words Changes

Words	Changed Into	Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
This	That	He says, “He wants to buy this book.”	He says that he wants to buy that book.
These	Those	He says, “He wants to buy these books.”	He says that he wants to buy those books.
Here	There	She says, “Everybody was here.”	She says that everybody was there.
Now	Then	They say, “It’s ten o’clock now.”	They say that it’s ten o’clock then.
Sir	Respectfully	They said, “Sir, the time is over.”	They said respectfully that the time was over.
Madam	Respecfully	They said, "Madam, the time is over."	They said respectfully that the time was over.
Today	That Day	She said, “I am going to London today.”	She said that she was going to London that day.
Yesterday	The Previous Day	She said, “I visited Oxford University yesterday.”	She said that she had visited Oxford University the previous day.
Tomorrow	Following Day or Next Day	She said, “I am going to London tomorrow.”	She said that she was going to London the next day.
Tonigh	That Night	She said, “I am going to see him tonight.”	She said that she was going to see him that night.
Good Morning, Good Evening, Good Day	Greeted	She said, “Good morning, Sir David.”	She greeted Sir David.

The above-mentioned rules are mandatory for converting a Direct Speech into an Indirect Speech. Hence, they should be memorized thoroughly. The following examples cover all the afore-mentioned rules. So, focus on every sentence to know how the above-mentioned rules have been used here.

Examples of Indirect Speech

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
She says, “I eat an apple a day.”	She says that she eats an apple a day.
He will say, “My brother will help her.”	He will say that his brother will help her.
We said, “We go for a walk every day.”	We said that went for a walk every day.
You say, “I went to London yesterday.”	You say that you went to London the previous day.
He said, “My father is playing cricket with me.”	He said that his father was playing cricket with him.
They said, “We have completed our homework.”	They said that they had completed their homework.
She said, “I have been waiting for him since last morning.”	She said that she had been waiting for him since last morning.
She said, “I bought a book.”	She said that she had bought a book.
They said, “We were celebrating Eid yesterday.”	They said that they had been celebrating Eid the previous day.
We said, “We had been waiting since morning.”	We said that we had been waiting since morning.
He said to me, “I will not give you any medicine without prescription.”	He said to me that he would not give me any medicine without prescription.
Rafiq said, “I shall leave for London tomorrow.”	Rafiq said that he would leave for London the next day.
She said, “I shall be visiting my college tomorrow.”	She said that she would be visiting her college the following day.
They said, “It will have been snowing since morning.”	They said that it would have been snowing since morning.

Assertive Sentences

Those sentences, which make a statement, are called assertive sentences. These sentences may be positive, negative, false or true statements. To convert such like sentences into indirect narration, use the rules as mentioned above except SAID is sometimes replaced with TOLD. Look at the following examples:

Direct Speech: She says, “I am writing a letter to my brother.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she is writing a letter to her brother.

Direct Speech: She says, “I was not writing a letter to my brother.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she was not writing a letter to her brother.

Direct Speech: She said to me, “I am writing a letter to my brother.”

Indirect Speech: She told me that she was writing a letter to her brother.

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Imperative Sentences

Imperative sentences are those sentences, which give an order or a direct command. These sentences may be in the shape of advice, entreaty, request, or order. Mostly, it depends upon the forcefulness of the speaker. Thus, full stop or sign of exclamation is used at the end of the sentence. For example:

·         Shut the door!

·         Please shut the door.

·         Repair the door by tomorrow!

To convert such like sentences into indirect speech, follow the following rules along with the above-mentioned rules:

·         Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into ORDER in case the sentence gives a direct command. For example:

Direct Speech: The teacher said to me, “Shut the door.”

Indirect Speech: The teacher ordered me to shut the door.

·         Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into REQUEST in case the sentence makes a request. For example:

Direct Speech: He said to me, “Shut the door.”

Indirect Speech: He requested me to shut the door.

·         Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into ADVISE in case the sentence gives an advice. For example:

Direct Speech: He said to me, “You should work hard to pass the exam.”

Indirect Speech: He advised me that I should work hard to pass the exam.

·         Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into FORBADE in case the sentence prevents someone from doing something. For example:

Direct Speech: He said to me, “Not to smoke.”

Indirect Speech: He forbade me to smoke.

Examples

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
We said to him, “Mind your own business.”	We urged him to mind his own business.
She said to him, “Consult a doctor.”	She suggested him to consult a doctor.
He said to me, “Write it again.”	He asked me to write it again.
You said to your father, “Please grant him leave for some time.”	You requested your father to grant him leave for some time.
My mother said to me, “Never tell a lie.”	My mother forbade me to tell a lie.

Interrogative Sentences

Those sentences, which ask questions, are called interrogative sentences. Every interrogative sentence ends at a sign of interrogation. For example:

·         Do you live here?

·         Have you ever watched Terminator III movie?

·         Is it raining?

To convert interrogative sentences into Indirect Speech, follow the following rules along with the above-mentioned rules:

·         Reporting Verb SAID To is changed into ASKED.

·         If Reporting Speech is having Reporting Verb at it its start, then IF is used in place of THAT.

·         If the Reporting Speech is having interrogative words like who, when, how, why, when then neither IF is used nor any other word is added.

·         Full Stop is placed at the end of the sentence instead of mark of interrogation.

Examples:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
I said to her, “When do you do your homework?”	I asked her when she did her homework.
We said to him, “Are you ill?”	We asked him if he was ill.
You said to me, “Have you read the article?”	You asked me if I had read the article.
He said to her, “Will you go to the Peshawar Radio Station?”	He asked her if she would go to the Peshawar Radio Station.
She says, “Who is he?”	She says who he was.
Rashid says to me, “Why have you got late?”	Rashid says to me why I had got late.

Exclamatory Sentences

Those sentences, which express our feelings and emotions, are called exclamatory sentences. Mark of exclamation is used at the end of exclamatory sentence. For example:

·         Hurray! We have won the match.

·         Alas! He failed in the test.

·         How beautiful that dog is!

·         What a marvelous personality you are!

To change exclamatory sentences into Indirect Speech, follow the following rules along with the above-mentioned rules:

·         In case, there is an interjection i.e., alas, aha, hurray, aha etc in the Reported Speech, then they are omitted along with sign of exclamation.

·         Reporting verb i.e., said is always replaced with exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with sorrow, exclaimed joyfully, exclaimed sorrowfully or exclaimed with great wonder or sorrow.

·         In case, there is what or how at the beginning of the Reported Speech, then they are replaced with very or very great.

·         In indirect sentence, the exclamatory sentence becomes an assertive sentence.

Examples

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
He said, “Hurray! I have won the match.”	He exclaimed with great joy that he had won the match.
She said, “Alas! My brother failed in the test.”	She exclaimed with great sorrow that her brother had failed in the test.
They said, “What a beautiful house this is!”	They exclaimed that that that house was very beautiful.
I said, “How lucky I am!”	I said in great wonder that I was very lucky.
You said to him, “What a beautiful drama you writing!	You said to him in great wonder that he was writing a beautiful drama.

Optative Sentences

Those sentences, which express hope, prayer, or wish, are called optative sentences. Usually, there is a mark of exclamation at the end of optative sentence. For example:

·         May you succeed in the test!

·         May you get well soon!

·         Would that I were rich!

To change optative sentences into indirect speech, follow the following rules along with the above-mentioned rules:

·         In case, the Reported Speech starts with the word may, then the Reporting Verb said is replaced with the word prayed.

·         In case, the Reported Speech starts with the word would, then the Reporting Verb said is replaced with the word wished.

·         May is changed in might.

·         Mark of exclamation is omitted.

·         In Indirect Speech, the optative sentences become assertive sentences.

Examples

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
He said to me, “May you live long!”	He prayed that I might live long.
My mother said to me, “May you succeed in the test!”	My mother prayed that I might succeed in the test.
She said, “Would that I were rich!”	She wished she had been rich.
I said to him, “Would that you were here on Sunday!”	I wished he had been there on Sunday.
You said to me, “ May you find your lost camera.”	You prayed that I might find my lost camera.

Referensi :

1.       https://owlcation.com/humanities/Indirect-Speech

2.       https://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/reportedspeech.html

EXAMPLE DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH :

1.      Direct              : She says to her friend, “ I have been reading “

Indirect            : She says to her friend that he has been reading

2.      Direct              : He will say, “ The girl wasn’t ugly “

Indirect            : He will tell them that the girl wasn’t ugly

3.      Direct              : Reza said, “ I’m very sleepy “

Indirect            : Reza said that he was very sleepy

4.      Direct              : He has told you, “ I am writing “

Indirect            : He has told you that he is writing

5.      Direct              : Mother said to her son, “ study hard “

Indirect            : Mother advised her son to study hard

6.      Direct              : My friend said to me, “ I don’t like football “

Indirect            : My friend said to me that he didn’t like football

7.      Direct              : She said, “ I didn’t go to campus

Indirect            : She said that she hadn’t gone to campus this morning

8.      Direct              : Rikza says, “ I have seen that movies “

Indirect            : Rikza says that she has seen that movies

9.      Direct              : Mother asked her, “ Don’t go there alone “

Indirect            : Mother asked her not to go there alone

10.  Direct              : Father asked robi, “ Don’t smoke too much “

Indirect            : Father asked robi not to smoke too much

11.  Direct              : He says, “Jack kills a giant.”

Indirect            : He says that Jack kills a giant.

12.  Direct              : He said, “I am a hockey player.”

Indirect            : He said that he was a hockey player.

13.  Direct              : He said to me, “What is your name?”

Indirect            : He asked me what my name was.

14.  Direct              : I said to my friend, “Work regularly.”

Indirect            : I advised my friend to work regularly.

15.  Direct              : He said, “Hurrah! My brother has come.”

Indirect            : He exclaimed with joy that his brother had come.

16.  Direct              : Shoaib said, “Let us go on long drive.”

Indirect            : Shoaib suggested that they should go on long drive.

17.  Direct              : He said, “By God! I am innocent.”

Indirect            : He swore that he was innocent.”

18.  Direct              : She said, “Let me have some coffee.”

Indirect            : She wished that she might have some coffee.

19.  Direct              : I shouted, “Let me do my work.”

Indirect            : I shouted to them to let me do my work.

20.  Direct              : “Call the second witness.” said the Judge.

Indirect            : The judge ordered them to call the second witness.

21.  Direct              : He said, “John will be in London on Tuesday.”.

Indirect            : He said that John would be in London on Tuesday.

22.  Direct              :“I never eat meat”, he explained.

Indirect            : He explained that he never ate meat.

23.  Direct              : He said, “I wish I knew.”.

Indirect            : He said that He wished he knew.

24.  Direct              : She says, “I shall be there.”.

Indirect            : She said that she will be there.

25.  Direct              : He said, “She is coming this week.”.

Indirect            : He said that she was coming that week.

26.  Direct              : He said, “I bought this pearl for my mother.”.

Indirect            : He said that he had bought that pearl for his mother.

27.  Direct              : He said, “Where is she going?”.

Indirect            : He asked where she was going.

28.  Direct              : He said, “Lucy, when is the next bus.”.

Indirect            : He asked Lucy when the next bus was.

29.  Direct              : ”Is anyone there?” she asked.

Indirect            : She asked if anyone was there.

30.  Direct              : The mother said, “Lie down, David.”.

Indirect            : The mother asked David to lie

Referensi :

1.       https://englishsummary.com/10-examples-direct-indirect-speech/  

2.       http://www.weblearn.in/direct_speech/