Direct and Indirect speech

             Direct and Indirect speech

Direct speech - When we quote the exact words of the speaker, it is called Direct speech.

For example,  Ram said to Seeta," I am happy. "

Indirect Speech - When we report the same words as a third person, it is called indirect speech or reported speech.

For example, Ram told Seeta that he was happy.

 # Rules for changing direct speech into indirect speech #

1.  The sentence in between the inverted commas is called ' reported speech ' while the outside verb is called ' reporting verb'

2. Remove inverted comma, interrogation mark, comma and exclamation mark in indirect speech.

3. The interrogative, imperative, exclamatory sentences turn into ' Assertive' in indirect speech.

4. Do not use 'to' or 'that ' immediately after the reporting verbs like told, said…

According to the kinds of sentences, use the following reporting verbs and conjunctions in indirect speech.

Kind of sentence	Reporting verb	Conjunction
Assertive	Said to- told, said - said	that
Interrogation	asked	Verbal or yes/ no type question - if / whether Wh question - wh word
Exclamation	exclaimed	that
Imperative	ordered, suggested, requested, advised, commanded etc.	to Don't - not to

Changes in pronoun -

Direct speech	Indirect speech
I	he, she
you	he, she
you	him, her
my	his, her
myself	himself, herself
we	they
us	them
our	their
me	him / her
your	his, her
yourself	himself, herself
Ourselves	themselves

Changes in auxiliaries -

Direct speech	Indirect speech
am, is, are	was, were
has/have	had
was /were	had been
can	Could
will	would
shall	should /would
may	might
must	must / had to

Change of words showing time,position and distance -

Direct	Indirect
this	that
these	those
here	there
today	that day
tonight	that night
tomorrow	the next day
yesterday	the previous day / the day before
ago	before
now	then
thus	so
last night	the night before
last week	the previous week
next week	the following week
next month	the following month
next year	the following year

Examples -

🔸 Assertive sentence -

i) He said to her, "You will get a letter tomorrow."

➡️ He told her that she would get a letter the next day.

ii) She said, "I bought a new dress yesterday."

➡️ She said that she had bought a new dress the day before.

iii) The customs officer said, "I like the old parsi."

➡️ The customs officer said that he liked the old parsi.

iv) The father said to his son, " I shall buy a bicycle for your birthday. "

➡️ The father told his son that he should buy a bicycle for his birthday.

🔸Interrogative / Question Sentence -

i) He said to her, "What do you want?"

 ➡️ He asked her what she wanted.

ii) " Dear students, how did you enjoy your trip?", said the teacher

➡️ The teacher asked students how they had enjoyed their trip.

iii) Sachin said to Sarika, " Will you dance with me? "

➡️ Sachin asked Sarika if she would dance with him.

iv) Saniya said, " What are you doing here? "

➡️ saniya asked her what she was doing there.

v) The clerk said to the man, " Do you wish to open an account?"

➡️ The clerk asked the man if he wished to open an account.

vi) " Have you finished the job, David?" asked John

➡️ John asked David if he had finished the job.

🔸Imperative Sentence

i) His friend said to him, "Please wait here for me till I return."

➡️ His friend requested him to wait there for him till they returned.

ii) The principal said to Rahul, " Obey your teachers. "

➡️ The principal advised Rahul to obey his teachers.

iii) She said, "Don't groan."

➡️ She advised not to groan.

🔸Exclamatory sentence

i) I said, "How amazing it is!"

➡️ I exclaimed that it was very amazing.

ii) He said, "What a foolish job he has done!"

➡️ He exclaimed that he had done a very foolish job.

iii) " How right you are!" the chairman said

➡️ The chairman exclaimed that he/ she was right.

iv) Dr.Singh said, "What a surprise!"

➡️ Dr. Singh exclaimed that it was a great surprise.

                  🔸  Let sentences

Sentences that begin with let also belong to imperative form. Sentences with let are slightly different from other sentences that give order, advice, warning, command etc.

                        Rules

🔸Let is used in a sentence to express a suggestion or proposal. We have to understand from the mood of the sentence if something is suggested or proposed

🔸Reporting verbs such as ‘said’, ‘told’, ‘said to’ change to ‘proposed‘ or ‘suggested‘. 

🔸Here the reporting clause and reported clause can be connected with conjunction ‘that’

🔸Sometime ‘to’ is used. In that case the reporting verb ‘said to’ changes to 'told.'

1. He said to his friends, "Let's go out for a walk."

➡️ He suggested his friends that they should go out for a walk.

2. The man said to the woman, “Let us eat in peace, without talking.”

➡️ The man suggested the woman that they should eat in peace, without talking.

3.I said to my mother, “Let me do the work.”

➡️ I told my mother to let me do the work.

4. The employee said to the boss, “Let me explain the matter to you.”

➡️ The employee told the boss to let him explain the matter to him.

🔸Indirect Narration of Universal Truth

🔸Here we are going to see that the reported statement of each direct narration is a universal truth, that is a statement universally accepted as true.

🔸 Universal truth speeches include - any moral principle, natural phenomena, mathematical equation, scientific statement etc.

1.Direct – The man said, “A barking dog seldom bites.”

Indirect – The man said that a barking dog seldom bites.

2. Direct – They said, “Honesty is the best policy.”

Indirect – They said that honesty is the best policy.

3. Direct – The teacher said to the children, “Water freezes into ice below 0°C.”

Indirect – The teacher told the children that water freezes into ice below 0°C.

4. Direct – “Five and five make ten.” Said the girl.

Indirect – The girl said that five and five make ten.

5.Direct – The teacher said, “The sun gives us light.”

Indirect – The teacher said that the sun gives us light.

6.Direct - He said, “The sun rises in the East.”

Indirect - He said that the sun rises in the East.