Direct & Indirect Speech

Put the adverbs of nearness into those of distance.

Direct Speech - Indirect Speech

• now - then
• here - there
• this - that
• these - those
• ago - before
• thus - so
• today - that day
• tonight - that night
• yesterday - the day before
• the previous day tomorrow - the next day (or) the following day
• last week - the week before
• next week - the week after

If the reporting verb is in the Present or Future tense, don't change the tense of the verb in the Indirect speech.

Example

• Direct Speech: Rahul says, “I eat a pineapple.
• Indirect Speech: Rahul says, that he eats a pineapple.

If the reporting verb is in the Past Tense, you need to change the verb in the indirect speech.

1. Present Tense becomes Past Tense.

   • Direct Speech: Jatin said, “I write a letter.
   • Indirect Speech: Jatin said that he wrote a letter.

2. Past Tense becomes Past Perfect or remains unchanged.

   • Direct Speech: Anita said, “I bought a book yesterday.
   • Indirect Speech: Anita said that she had bought a book the day before.

3. Present Continuous becomes Past Continuous.

   • Direct Speech: Pinky said, “I am going to college.
   • Indirect Speech: Pinky said that she was going to college.

4. Past Continuous becomes past perfect continuous.

   • Direct Speech: Neelam said, “I was playing cricket”.
   • Indirect Speech: Neelam said that he had been playing cricket.

5. Present Perfect becomes past perfect.

   • Direct Speech: Kunal said, “I have done my homework”.
   • Indirect Speech: Kunal said that he had done his homework.

6. Present Perfect Continuous becomes past perfect continuous.

   • Direct Speech: He said, “I have been reading a book”.
   • Indirect Speech: He said that he had been reading a book.

7. ‘Will’ and ‘Shall’ are changed to ‘would’.

   • Direct Speech: He said, “I will go to Australia tomorrow”.
   • Indirect Speech: He said that he would go to Australia the next day.

8.  

   • may - might
   • can - could
   • must - had to (or) must

    

   • Direct Speech: Jatin said, “I must go now”.
   • Indirect Speech: Jatin said that she must (or) had to go then.

Statement or Assertive Sentence

Question: Which one of the following statement is incorrect?

• (A) He said that
• (B) He told me that
• (C) He told that

Answer: Option (C) is the incorrect statement.

Example:

1. Direct Speech: “I will work hard to pass the exam” said Lalit.

   Indirect Speech: Lalit said he would work hard to pass the exam.

2. Direct Speech: “I’m going to the hospital now” said Dhruv.

   Indirect Speech: Dhruv said that he was going to the hospital then.

Imperative Sentence (Order or Request)

(1) Use ‘to’: In case of an affirmative sentence (without don’t).

Example:

• Direct Speech: “Be careful” said he to her.
• Indirect Speech: He ordered her to be careful.

(2) Use ‘not to’: If the sentence begins without Don’t.

Example:

• Direct Speech: “Don’t talk in the class” said the teacher to the boys.
• Indirect Speech: The teacher advised the boys not to talk in the class.

Interrogative Sentence (Questions)

(1) Use ‘if’ or ‘whether’: If the sentence inside the quotation marks begins with a helping verb (Auxiliary verb).

Example:

• Direct Speech: Malik said to Salman, “Do you like mangoes?”
• Indirect Speech: Malik asked Salman if he liked mangoes.

(2) Use the given interrogative word (who, what, when, where, why, etc.) if it does not begin with the helping verb.

Example:

• Direct Speech: Mohan said to Sohan, “Why didn’t you attend the meeting yesterday”?
• Indirect Speech: Mohan asked Sohan why he had not attended the meeting the day before.

(3) Changing the reporting verb (say, said) into ‘ask’ or ‘enquire’ in its correct tense.

Example:

• Direct Speech: “Won’t you help me to carry this bag?” said Raju to Shyam.
• Indirect Speech: Raju asked Shyam if he would not help me to carry that bag.

Exclamatory Sentence

(1) Omit the interjections such as Oh, O, Alas, how, what, hurrah.

Example:

• Direct Speech: O, what a beautiful flower that is!” said she.
• Indirect Speech: She exclaimed joyfully that that was a very beautiful flower.

Example:

(2) Add the word ‘very’ to the adjective or adverb if necessary.

Example:

• Direct Speech: “What a horrible sight!” we all exclaimed.
• Indirect Speech: We all exclaimed that it was a very horrible sight.

(3) Change the reporting verb (say, said) to ‘exclaim joyfully’

Example:

• Direct Speech: How beautiful she is!” said Raja.
• Indirect Speech: Raja exclaimed joyfully that she was very beautiful.

(4) Use ‘exclaim’ sorrowfully for sorrowful incidents.

Example:

• Direct Speech: “Alas! I have broken my brother’s watch” said he.
• Indirect Speech: He exclaimed sorrowfully that he had broken his brother’s watch.