DIRECT & INDIRECT SPEECH
DIRECT SPEECH
•The exact words someone uses is called direct
speech.
•In writing, you can recognise direct speech
because of the quotation marks (“...”).
EXAMPLE
• Joey said, “I love your earrings.”
•Richard said, “I am very tired.”
INDIRECT SPEECH
•In Indirect Speech, we report what the speaker has said without
quoting his or her exact words.
EXAMPLE
Ron said that he was very tired that day.
Rules for changing direct speech into indirect
speech -
Rule 1 – Omit all the quotation marks and end the sentence
with a full stop.
Rule 2 – The tense in the direct speech will be
changed into its corresponding tense in the
reported speech.
Direct Speech ➮ Indirect
Speech
Change these sentences from direct to indirect speech-
(Don’t forget to change the tense.)
1. He said, “ I like flying kites.”
A. He said that he liked flying kites.
1. My mother says, “ I go to church every Sunday.”
2. Parul said to me, “I am really hungry.”
3. She said to Rita, “When I was in Delhi, I often met Mini.”
4. The lawyer said, “It is a hopeless case.”
5. I said, “Children are very energetic.”
6. The pilot said to the passengers, “The plane will land in
Kolkata.”
7. The teacher announced, “There will be no class today.”
Statements – From Direct Speech to Indirect Speech
1. I said to my friend, “You are not working hard today.”
A. I told my friend that he/she was not working hard that day.
1. The budding cricketer said to her coach, “I will improve if you guide me.”
2. The lady said to her son, “You are very impatient and lose your
temper for trivial reasons.”
3. I said, “He can be trusted to do this job.”
4. You said to me, “Sandeep should not have criticised his sister.”
5. He said, “I shall talk to you about this tonight.”
Questions- From Direct to Indirect Speech
Case - 1
When the question is introduced by a question word.
• The question mark is removed and a statement is formed.
• No conjunction is used if the question begins with words like who,
whom, whose, which, what, why.
• Reporting verbs like ‘asked’ ,‘enquired’, ‘wondered’ or ‘wanted to know’
must be used.
Example –
Rita said to me, “When will you buy a camera?”
Rita asked me when I would buy a camera.
Case - 2
When the question is not introduced by a question word.
• The question mark is removed and a statement is formed.
• When the question is not introduced by a question word,
the reporting verb is followed by whether or if.
For example –
My friend said to me, “Would you like to go for a movie?”
My friend asked me if I would like to go for a movie.
EXERCISE
Change the following into indirect speech-
1. The stranger said to me, “Have you lost your way?”
2. I said to Remy, “Would you like to have an ice cream?”
3. She said to me, “What would you like to eat, dear?
4. She said to me, “How much money should I take for the
vacation?”
5. She said to the plumber, “Can you fix it in a day?”
The plumber said, “No, I cannot start work before next week.”
6. I said to the man, “Could you direct me to the post office?”
7. I said to my teacher, “Can you explain this to me tomorrow?”
8. Ginny said to his mother, “Why can’t we go to the zoo today?”
Imperatives : From Direct to Indirect Speech
Rules to change commands, requests, advice etc. into indirect speech.
• The reporting verb will have to be changed to ordered, requested,
or advised.
• Other words like asked, invited, encouraged, commanded, urged,
recommended, reminded etc can also be used.
• The reporting verb must be chosen according to who said what and
in what way.
Example –
I said to my friend, “Could you make me a cup of coffee?”
I requested my friend to make me a cup of coffee.
Exclamatory Sentences : From Direct to Indirect Speech
• The reporting verb is changed into wished, prayed, cried, exclaimed, etc.
• Words such as hurrah, alas, oh, etc. are omitted. However, the
feeling expressed must be conveyed appropriately by using expressions
such as exclaimed with joy.
EXAMPLE –
“Alas! The elephant is dead,” he said.
He exclaimed sadly that the elephant was dead.
Exercises from Tune in to Grammar
Page – 138 (Punctuate the sentences)
Page – 140 (Part C)
Page – 141 (Part D)
Try the following Quiz!
[Link]
To open the link, play the slideshow first and then click on the link.
