DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

Unit _I

Dr.Shobha

Assistant Professor

PG dept of English

JSSCACS

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

 We may report the words of a speaker in two ways;

 We may quote his actual words. This is called Direct

speech.

 We may report what he said without quoting his exact

words. This is called Indirect speech

 Rama said, ‘I am very busy now’.

 Rama said that he was very busy then.

 In direct speech we use inverted commas to mark off the

exact words of the speaker. In indirect speech we do not.

While changing the above direct speech to

indirect speech certain changes have been

made,

✓ We have used the conjunction that before

the indirect statement

✓ The pronoun I is changed to he (The

Pronoun is changed in Person)

✓ The verb am is changed to was ( Present

tense is changed to past)

✓ The adverb now is changed to then.

RULES FOR CHANGING DIRECT SPEECH

INTO INDIRECT

 When the reporting verb is in the Past Tense, all

Present Tense of the direct are changed into the

corresponding Past Tense

A simple present becomes a simple past.

✓ Direct: He said, ‘I am unwell’

✓ Indirect: He said(that) he was unwell.

A present continuous becomes a past continuous .

✓ Direct: He said, ‘My master is writing letters’

✓ Indirect: He said(that) his master was writing

letters.

 A Present Perfect becomes a Past Perfect

Direct: He said, ‘I have passed the

examination’.

Indirect: He said (that) he had passed the

examination.

Note- The shall of the Future Tense is changed

into should

The will of the Future Tense is changed into would

or should.

As a rule, the Simple past in the Direct becomes

the Past perfect in the indirect.

Direct- He said, ‘The horse died in the night’.

Indirect- He said that the horse had died in the

night.

 Direct –’I know her address’, said Gopi.

 Indirect –Gopi said he knows/knew her address.

 Direct- The teacher said, ‘The earth goes round

the sun’.

 Indirect- The teacher said the earth goes/went

round the sun.

 Direct- ‘German is easy to learn’, she said.

 Indirect- She said German is/was easy to learn.

The past tense is often used when it is uncertain if

the statement is true or when we are reporting

objectively.

 The tenses may not change if the statement is

still relevant or it is a universal truth.

 Direct: ‘I know her address’, said Gopi.

 Indirect: Gopi said he knows/knew her address.

 Direct: The teacher said, ‘The earth goes round

the sun’.

 Indirect: The teacher said the earth goes/went

round the sun.

 Direct: ‘German is easy to learn’, she said.

 Indirect: She said German is/was easy to learn.

 The past tense is often used when it is uncertain

if the statement is true or when we are reporting

objectively.

MODIFICATION OF TENSES

(IN THE TRANSFORMATION –DIRECT TO INDIRECT SPEECH)

 The tense form of the reported verb is changed

when the reporting verb is only in the past tense.

Reported

verb in the

direct speech

Reported verb in the indirect

speech

Simple

present

Simple past

Present continuous

Past continuous

Present perfect

Past perfect

Simple past

Past perfect

Past continuous

Past perfect continuous

 D: Rani said, “I am house wife”.

 ID: Rani told that she was a house wife.

 D: Siva said “My wife is working as an office manager”.

 ID: Siva told that his wife was working as an office manager.

 D:Geetha said, “I have passed IAS exam”.

 ID: Geetha told that she had passed IAS exam.

 D: Hema said,’ I joined the M.Phil course”.

 ID:Hema told that she had joined the M.Phil course.

 D: Arun said ‘mummy, I was sleeping”.

 ID:Arun told his mother that he had been sleeping.

 In the transformation, the modal auxiliaries are changed

as :

 Note: the modal auxiliary ‘would’ is used only to express

futurity and ‘should’ is used only when there is a queried

future

Will

Would

Can

Could

May

Might

Shall

Would

D: Pradeepa said, “we shall come there”.

ID: Pradeepa told that they would come there.

D: Rahul said, “ shall I go tomorrow”.

ID: Rahul said whether she should go the next day.

MODIFICATION OF ADVERBIALS & DEMONSTRATIVES

 Words expressing nearness in time or place are generally

changed into words expressing distance.

ago

before

here

there

today

that day

now

then

tomorrow

the next

day, the day after

yesterday

the previous

day, the day before

thus

last night

the night before

last week

the previous week

The next week

The following week

 The demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative

adjectives are also changed in the Reported speech as

follows:

this

that

these

those

this boy

that boy

these dogs

those dogs

D: Sathi said, “ My sister will come here today.

ID: Sathi said that her sister would come there that day.

D: Vignesh said, “ I’II go to Tanjore the next week.

ID: Vignesh told that he would go to Tanjore the following

week.

D: Rahim said, “ I want this pen now”.

ID: Rahim told that he wanted that pen then.

REPORTING VERBS

 Depending on the mood or meaning of the words

reported, we use different appropriate reporting verbs in

the reported speech.

For statement

Said, told

For interrogatives

questions

enquired

Yes/No questions

Asked, whether , asked if

For commands

Odered

, told, asked

For requests

Requested, asked

For exclamatory

Exclaimed, wondered

Some other verbs used are:- wished, greeted, advised,

warned, threatened, agreed, refused, praised, blamed,

blessed, cursed, complained.

QUESTIONS

 In reporting questions the indirect speech is introduced

by some such verbs as asked, inquired, etc. When the

question is not introduced by an interrogative word, the

reporting verb is followed by whether or if.

 D: He said to me, “what are you doing?”

 ID: He asked me what I was doing.

 D: “Where do you live”? Asked the stranger.

 ID: The stranger enquired where I lived.

 D: The policeman said to us, ‘where are you going?’

 ID: The policeman enquired where we were going.

 D: he said, ‘will you, listen to such a man.

 ID: he asked them whether they would listen to

such a man. (Or) would they, he asked, listen to

such a man?

 D: ‘Do you suppose you know better than your

own father?’ jeered his angry mother.

 ID: His angry mother jeered and asked whether

he supposed that he knew better than his own

father.

 D:My uncle said to me, “ what are you doing?

 ID: My uncle enquired me what I was doing.

 In reporting commands and requests, the Indirect Speech

is introduced by some verb expressing command or

request, and the imperative mood is changed into the

Infinitive.

 D: Ram said to Arjun, ‘Go away.’

 ID: Rama ordered Arjun to go away.

 D: He said to him, ‘Please Wit here till I return.’

 ID: He requested him to wait there till he returned.

 D: ‘Call the first witness’, said the judge.

 ID: The judge commanded them to call the first witness.

 D: He shouted, ‘Let me go’.

 ID: He shouted to them to let him go.

 D: He said, ‘be quiet and listen to my words’.

 ID: He urged them to be quiet and listen to his words.

 D: The officer said to the peon, “ post these letters”.

 ID: The officer ordered the peon to post those letters.

 D: Mr. Moorthy said to his son, ‘Wash your clothes”.

 ID: Mr.Moorthy asked his son to wash his clothes

 D: Mani said, ‘ Father, give me fifty rupees please’.

 ID: Mani requested his father to give him fifty rupees.

 D: The HM said to the peon, ‘Ring the bell’.

 ID: The HM ordered the peon to ring the bell.

 D: Mr.Rajan said, to his grand child, Princy, ‘Wish you

best of luck’.

 ID: Mr.Rajan wished his grandchild, Princy, best of luck.

EXCLAMATIONS AND WISHES

 In reporting exclamations and wishes in the Indirect

Speech is introduced by some verb expressing

exclamation or wish.

 D:He said, ‘Alas! I am undone’.

 ID: He exclaimed sadly that he was undone.

 D: Alice said, ‘How clever I am!’

 ID: Alice exclaimed that she was very clever.

 D: He said, ‘Bravo! You have done well’.

 ID: He applauded him, saying that he had done well.

 D: ‘So help me, haven!; ‘I will never steal again’.

 ID: He called upon Haven to witness his resolve never to

steal again.

 D: Ravi said, ‘What a great man Suresh is!’

 ID: Ravi exclaimed that Suresh was a very great man.

 D: Selvi said, ‘How beautiful the rose is!’

 ID: Selvi exclaimed that the rose was very beautiful.

 D: ‘Happy birthday, my dear Deepa!’, said her grand-

father.

 ID: Deepa’s grand father wished her a happy birthday.