DIRECT SPEECH & INDIRECT SPEECH MADE EASY

DIRECT SPEECH & INDIRECT SPEECH MADE EASY

When we use the exact words of the speaker, it is called the "Direct Speech."

When we report the speech in our own words, it is called the "Indirect Speech" or "Reported Speech".

RULES

We have to incorporate FOUR major changes while tranforming a Direct Speech sentence into an Indirect Speech sentence.
1. Change of Reporting Verb:
Reporting verb, i.e. the verb outside the inverted commas, has to be changed depending upon the sentence within the inverted commas. (TheTense of these verbs doesn’t change.)

If the sentence within the inverted commas is "Assertive" the reporting verb (said) changes as : told, replied, answered, stated, declared, narrated, described, communicated, reported etc.

If the sentence within the inverted commas is "Interrogative" the reporting verb (said) changes as : asked, questioned, enquired, inquired, interrogated etc.

If the sentence within the inverted commas is "Imparative" the reporting verb (said) changes as : requested, ordered, advised, commanded, appealed, directed, guided, etc.

If the sentence within the inverted commas is "Exclamatory" the reporting verb (said) changes as : exclaimed with joy /surprise/ wonder or cried with pain / sorrow

2. Change of Personal Pronouns:

When the reporter uses "I", it refers to him. If he uses other pronouns, they refer to different persons. So there is a need to change the persons. They change as :

______Direct Speech __Indirect Speech

I Person ___(I / We) _____He / She / It / They
II Person___(You / You) ____He / She / It / They /I / We / You
III Person __(He / She) _____He (....) / She (....)/ (It / They) It (....) / They(.....)

3. Change of Tense Forms:

If the Reporting Verb is in the Present Tense or Future Tense then there is no change in the tense of the Reported Speech.

Suma says to Samarth , "I write letters."
Suma tells Samarth that she writes letters.

Suma will say to Samarth , "I write letters."
Suma will tell Samarth that she writes letters.

If the Reporting Verb is in the Past Tense then the tense of the Reported Speech will change as :
Simple Present _________to_________ Simple Past
Present Continuous _________to ______Past Continuous
Present Perfect_________ to_________ Past Perfect
PresentPerfectContinuous ___to _______Past Perfect Continuous

Simple Past _________to _________Past Perfect
Past Continuous _________to _________Past Perect Continuous
Past Perfect _________remains _________Past Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous ___-"- _________Past Perfect Continuous

Suma said to Samarth , "I write letters."
Suma told Samarth that she wrote letters.

In Future Tense "Will" and "Shall" change into "Would" and sometimes in "Should". "Can" into "Could" and"May" into "Might". No other change.

There is an exception to this rule. If the sentence is a UNIVERSAL TRUTH then the tense should not be changed. e.g.,

Suma said to Samarth , "Blood is red."
Suma told Samarth that blood is red.

4. Change of Nearness to Remoteness:

When the reporter refers to a thing near to him it is certainly in a distance to us. So, the things which are near in the Direct Speech may become far in the Reported Speech as:
Direct Speech Reported Spech
This / That _________That
These / Those _________Those
Here / There _________There
Now / Then _________Then
Thus _________So
Today _________That day
Tonight _________That night
This week _________That week
Yesterday _________The day before /The previous day
Last week _________The previous week
Tomorrow _________The following day
Next week _________The following week

ASSERTIVE SENTENCES

Suma said to Samarth , "I write letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she wrote letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I am writing letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she was writing letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I have written letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she had written letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I have been writing letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she had been writing letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I wrote letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she had written letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I was writing letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she had been writing letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I had written letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she had written letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I had been writing letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she had been writing letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I shall write letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she would write letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I shall be writing letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she would be writing letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I shall have written letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she would have written letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I shall have been writing letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she would have been writing letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I can write letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she could write letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth , "I have to write letters to my friends."
Suma told Samarth that she had to write letters to her friends.

Suma said to Samarth,"This is our house.You can come here whenever you want"
Suma told Samarth that that was their house and he could go there whenever he wanted.

Tapan said , "I did not lead the ox into the classroom."
Tapan said that he had not led the ox into the classroom.

Tapan said , "It is true that I threw stones at Haren’s shop."
Tapan said that it was true that he had thrown stones at Haren’s shop.

Bob said to the policeman , "I am waiting for my friend."
Bob told the policeman that he was waiting for his friend.

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

Sudha said to Sumanth , "Why are you laughing loudly?"
Sudha asked Sumanth why he (Sumanth) was laughing loudly.

Andy said to the postmaster, "Will you give me the letter?"
Andy asked the postmaster if he (postmaster) would give him (Andy) the letter.

The postmaster said to Andy,"Who do you want it for?"
The postmaster asked Andy who he wanted it for.

"Do you think I am a fool ?" said Andy to the postmaster.
Andy asked the postmaster if he (postmaster) thought that he (Andy) was a fool.

Mr Durfy said to the postmaster, "Have you one for me?"
Mr Durfy asked the postmaster if he had one for him.

The author said to the cricketer, "Which is your greatest test match?"
The author asked the cricketer which his greatest test match was.

"Do you have any answer?" said the King to his courtiers.
The king asked if they (courtiers) had any answer.

Daksha said to her father, "What nice thing did you have to offer to the king?"
Daksha asked her father what nice thing he had had to offer to the king.

Jeejabai said to Thanaji , " Can you give me the Lion-Fort?"
Jeejabai asked Thanaji whether he could give her the Lion-Fort.

He said , "Does God really exist?"
He asked whether God really eisted.

"Do you write some examples now?" asked the class teacher.
The class teacher asked if they wrote some examples then.

Tapan said to Granny , " Will you hold on to me?"
Tapan asked Granny whether she would hold on to him.

Robert A. Lewis said , "What have you done?"
Robert A. Lewis asked what they had done.

"Can you swim ?" asked the coach.
The coach enquired (the person) whether he could swim.

{ NOTE : While transferring interrogative sentences the Question Word "Wh" word has to be retained. If there is no "Wh" word, that is, if the question is an Inverted (Yes / No type) Question, then we have to use "if " or "whether" in place of the question word.
The word order of the sentence "Wh + Ax. + S + V.........= (?)" changes into "Wh + S + Ax. + V......=(.)" }

Where you are going. (Assertive Sentence)
Where are you going? (Interrogative Sentence)

Geethanjali said to me, "Where are you going?"
Geethanjali asked me where I was going.

IMPERATIVE SENTENCES

Asha said to Vishwanath , " Give me a pen."
Asha requested Vishwanath to give her a pen.

Rowland said , " Bring the poker here."
Rowland ordered Jove to bring the poker there.

The headmaster said to Mohan , " Bring Tapan of class V."
The headmaster ordered Mohan to bring Tapan of class V.

Tapan said , " Don’t hurt dumb animals."
Tapan requested (them) not to hurt dumb animals.

The policeman said , " Take out your identity card. I want to see it."
The policeman ordered (the student) to take out his ( the student’s) identity card because he (the policeman) wanted to see it.

Mohan said , "Ravi, Give up driniking. You will be healthy."
Mohan advised Ravi to give up drinking so that he (Ravi) would be healthy.

EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES

Suhail said , "Hurrah! India has won the series against England."
Suhail exclaimed with joy that India had won the series against England

Miss Spoorthy said , "Aah! I cut my finger."
Miss Spoorthy cried with pain that she had cut her finger.

Kareena said , "Oh! It is very cold outside."
Kareena exclaimed with surprise that it was very cold outside.

Priya said , "What a cold night it is !" (It is a cold night.)
Priya exclaimed with wonder that it was a cold night.

Veeresh said , "Wah! She is very beautiful."
Veeresh exclaimed with surprise that she was very beautiful.

Girish said , "How beautiful she is !" (She is very beautiful.)
Girish exclaimed with wonder that she was very beautiful.

A FEW EXAMPLES FOR

SSLC & PUC STUDENTS

"I have come for that letter," he (Andy) said.
Andy told (the postmaster) that he had come for that letter.

"I am glad to hear it," said the postmaster.
The postmaster replied that he was glad to hear it.

"That old cheat wanted to charge double for it," said Andy.
Andy complained that that old cheat had wanted to charge double for it.

The postmaster said to Andy, "You have to pay me eleven - pence."
The postmaster told Andy that he(Andy) had to pay him (the postmaster) eleven - pence.

Squire Egan said, "It may be a double letter."
Squire Egan said that it might be a double letter.

"Here’s a letter for the squire," said the postmaster.
The postmaster said that there was a letter for the squire.

The postmaster said to Andy, "Is there anyone in the town who knows you?"
The postmaster enquired Andy if there was anyone in the town who knew him (Andy)"

Andy said, "My master will murder if I am not back soon."
Andy said that his master would murder if he was not back soon.

Andy said to his master, "I don’t like to be troublesome, sir."
Andy said to his master (politely) that he did not like to be troublesome.

The postmaster said to Andy, "I’ll attend to you by and by."
The postmaster told Andy that he (postmaster) would attend to him (Andy) by and by.

Andy said to the postmaster, "Have you anything to say about it."
Andy asked the postmaster if he (postmaster) had anything to say about it.

Daksha said to her father, "Didn’t the guards stop you at the gates?"
Daksha asked her father if the guards had not stopped him at the gates.

The King said, "Is there no one who can venture an answer?"
The king asked if there was no (any) one who could venture an answer.

The king said to the farmer, "Come to the court with your daughter tomorrow."
The king ordered / asked the farmer to come to the court with his daughter the following day.

The courtiers said, "We shall certainly solve it."
The courtiers said that they would certainly solve it.

Daksha said to her father, "I will give you some boiled beans tomorrow."
Daksha told her father that she would give him some boiled beans the following day.

The King said, "Daksha, my whole kingdom is proud of you!"
The King (appreciated and) told Daksha that his whole kingdom was proud of her.

The King said, "Daksha, I’ll permit you to take away anything you like as a prize."
The King told Daksha that he would pemit her to take away anything she liked as a prize.

Daksha said, "I am taking away my prize."
Daksha said that she was taking away her prize.

The King said, "Where has all your wit gone, my dear ministers?"
The King asked his dear ministers where all their wit had gone.

The King said to the lady, "What are you doing?"
The King asked the lady what she was doing.

Daksha said, "Father, why did you go to the palace?"
Daksha asked her father why he had gone to the palace.

"Did the king talk to all who you went with?’ said Daksha to her father.
Daksha asked her father if / whether the king had talked to all who he (the famer) had gone with.

Daksha said to her father, "Don’t worry."
Daksha asked / advised her father not to worry.

Passerby - 2 said, "How ridiculous!" (It is ridiculous.)
Passerby - 2 exclaimed with wonder that it was ridiculous.

Passerby - 3 said, "How stupid of him to say that!"
(It was stupid of him to say that.)
Passerby - 3 exclaimed with surprise that it was very stupid of him to say that.

Kashibai said, "I will use it for drying cow dung cakes."
Kashibai said that she would use it for drying cow dung cakes.

The collector said to Kashibai, "If you refuse to handover the car, I will cancel its registration."
The collector warned Kashibai that If she refused to handover the car, he would cancel its registration.

The author said to the cricketer, "Which is your greatest test match?"
The author asked the cricketer which his greatest test match was.

Chandrashekar said to the young cricketers, "Have an aim in life. Work hard with dedication."
Chandrashekar advised the young cricketers to have an aim in life and to work hard with dedication.

The author said to Chandrashekar, "Who do you think is the finest batsman at the moment?"
The author asked Chandrashekar who he thought was the finest bastman at the moment.

Chandrashekar said, "I have a passion for the game. That led me to persever."
Chandrashekar said that he had a passion for the game and that had led him to persever.