16th World Congress on Clinical Nutrition at India Habitat Centre from 12th to

14th September.

Name of the Name of the Name of the Award Name of awarding Date/month & Year of AwardCer
Awardee Institute agency

Definition of Indirect Speech

Indirect speech is also known as Reported Speech, Indirect Narration or Indirect Discourse. In
grammar, when you report someone else’s statement in your own words without any change in the
meaning of the statement is called indirect speech. Quoting a person’s words without using his own
word and bringing about any change in the meaning of the statement is a reported speech. Look at
the following sentences:

Direct Speech: She says, “I am a little bit nervous.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she is a little bit nervous.

In the first sentence, the reporter conveys the message of the girl using her actual words i.e., “I am a
little bit nervous.” In the second sentence, the reporter conveys her message but in his own words
without any change in the meaning. Thus, both direct and indirect speeches are two different ways
of reporting a statement of person. In simple words, quoting a person using your own words is called
an indirect speech.
Reported Speech | Source

Key Terminology
During the process, you will come across many important terms that you need to know better so that
to convert any direct speech into indirect speech easily and without any hassle. Consider the
following sentences:

Direct Speech: She says, “I am a little bit nervous.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she is a little bit nervous.

Reporting Speech:

The first part in the direct speech is called REPORTING SPEECH.

Reported Speech:

The second part of the sentence, which is closed in inverted commas, is called REPORTED
SPEECH.

Reporting Verb:

Verb of the reporting speech is called REPORTING VERB.

Reported Verb:

Verb of the reported speech is called REPORTED VERB.

Basic Rules
Before proceeding ahead, it is mandatory to memorize these rules:

Changes in Person of Pronouns:

 1st Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are always changed according to the SUBJECT of
the Reporting Speech.
  2nd Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are always changed according to the OBJECT of the
Reporting Speech.
 3rd Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are not changed.
Changes in Verbs:

 In case, the Reporting Speech is in PRESENT TENSE or FUTURE TENSE, then no change is
required to be made in the VERB of Reported Speech. This verb could be in any tense i.e.,
Present, Past or Future. For example:
Direct Speech: He says, “I am ill.”

Indirect Speech: He says that he is ill.

Direct Speech: She says, “She sang a song.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she sang a song.

Direct Speech: You say, “I shall visit London.”

Indirect Speech: You say that you will visit London.

 If Reporting Verb is in Past Tense, then Reported Verb will be changed as per following
criterion:
 Present Indefinite Tense is changed into Past Indefinite Tense. For example:
Direct Speech: They said, “They take exercise every day.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they took exercise every day.

 Present Continuous is changed into Past Continuous Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They are taking exercise every day.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they were taking exercise every day.

 Present Perfect is changed into Past Perfect Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They have taken exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.

 Present Perfect Continuous Tense is changed into Past Perfect Continuous Tense.
Direct Speech: They said, “They have been taking exercise since morning.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had been taking exercise since morning.

 Past Indefinite is changed into Past Perfect Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They took exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.

 Past Continuous Tense is changed into Past Perfect Continuous Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They were taking exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had been taking exercise.

No changes are required to be made into Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous Tenses.
Direct Speech: They said, “They had taken exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.

 In Future Tense, while no changes are made except SHALL and WILL are changed
into WOULD.
Direct Speech: They said, “They will take exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they would take exercise.

Changes in Tense | Source

Important Words Changes

Indirect
Words Changed Into Direct Speech
Speech

He says, “He He says that he

This That wants to buy wants to buy
this book.” that book.

He says, “He He says that he

These Those wants to buy wants to buy
these books.” those books.

She says, She says that

Here There “Everybody was everybody was
here.” there.

They say, “It’s They say that

Now Then ten o’clock it’s ten o’clock
now.” then.

Sir Respectfully They said, “Sir, They said

the time is respectfully that
 Indirect
Words Changed Into Direct Speech
Speech

the time was

over.”
over.

They said
They said,
respectfully that
Madam Respecfully "Madam, the
the time was
time is over."
over.

She said that

She said, “I am
she was going
Today That Day going to London
to London that
today.”
day.

She said that

She said, “I
she had visited
The Previous visited Oxford
Yesterday Oxford
Day University
University the
yesterday.”
previous day.

She said that

She said, “I am
Following Day or she was going
Tomorrow going to London
Next Day to London the
tomorrow.”
next day.

She said that

She said, “I am
she was going
Tonigh That Night going to see
to see him that
him tonight.”
night.

Good Morning, She said, “Good

She greeted Sir
Good Evening, Greeted morning, Sir
David.
Good Day David.”
The above-mentioned rules are mandatory for converting a Direct Speech into an Indirect Speech.
Hence, they should be memorized thoroughly. The following examples cover all the afore-mentioned
rules. So, focus on every sentence to know how the above-mentioned rules have been used here.

Examples of Indirect Speech

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

She says that she eats an apple a

She says, “I eat an apple a day.”
day.

He will say, “My brother will help He will say that his brother will
her.” help her.
 Direct Speech Indirect Speech

We said, “We go for a walk every We said that went for a walk every
day.” day.

You say, “I went to London You say that you went to London
yesterday.” the previous day.

He said, “My father is playing He said that his father was playing
cricket with me.” cricket with him.

They said, “We have completed They said that they had completed
our homework.” their homework.

She said, “I have been waiting for She said that she had been
him since last morning.” waiting for him since last morning.

She said that she had bought a

She said, “I bought a book.”
book.

They said, “We were celebrating They said that they had been
Eid yesterday.” celebrating Eid the previous day.

We said, “We had been waiting We said that we had been waiting
since morning.” since morning.

He said to me that he would not

He said to me, “I will not give you
give me any medicine without
any medicine without prescription.”
prescription.

Rafiq said, “I shall leave for Rafiq said that he would leave for
London tomorrow.” London the next day.

She said, “I shall be visiting my She said that she would be visiting
college tomorrow.” her college the following day.

They said, “It will have been They said that it would have been
snowing since morning.” snowing since morning.

Assertive Sentences
Those sentences, which make a statement, are called assertive sentences. These sentences may
be positive, negative, false or true statements. To convert such like sentences into indirect narration,
use the rules as mentioned above except SAID is sometimes replaced with TOLD. Look at the
following examples:

Direct Speech: She says, “I am writing a letter to my brother.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she is writing a letter to her brother.

Direct Speech: She says, “I was not writing a letter to my brother.”

 Indirect Speech: She says that she was not writing a letter to her brother.

Direct Speech: She said to me, “I am writing a letter to my brother.”

Indirect Speech: She told me that she was writing a letter to her brother.

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Imperative Sentences
Imperative sentences are those sentences, which give an order or a direct command. These
sentences may be in the shape of advice, entreaty, request, or order. Mostly, it depends upon the
forcefulness of the speaker. Thus, full stop or sign of exclamation is used at the end of the sentence.
For example:

 Shut the door!

 Please shut the door.
 Repair the door by tomorrow!
To convert such like sentences into indirect speech, follow the following rules along with the above-
mentioned rules:

 Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into ORDER in case the sentence
gives a direct command. For example:
Direct Speech: The teacher said to me, “Shut the door.”

Indirect Speech: The teacher ordered me to shut the door.

 Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into REQUEST in case the sentence
makes a request. For example:
Direct Speech: He said to me, “Shut the door.”

Indirect Speech: He requested me to shut the door.

 Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into ADVISE in case the sentence
gives an advice. For example:
Direct Speech: He said to me, “You should work hard to pass the exam.”

Indirect Speech: He advised me that I should work hard to pass the exam.
  Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into FORBADE in case the sentence
prevents someone from doing something. For example:
Direct Speech: He said to me, “Not to smoke.”

Indirect Speech: He forbade me to smoke.

Examples
Direct Speech Indirect Speech

We said to him, “Mind your own We urged him to mind his own
business.” business.

She said to him, “Consult a She suggested him to consult a

doctor.” doctor.

He said to me, “Write it again.” He asked me to write it again.

You said to your father, “Please You requested your father to grant
grant him leave for some time.” him leave for some time.

My mother said to me, “Never tell

My mother forbade me to tell a lie.
a lie.”

Interrogative Sentences
Those sentences, which ask questions, are called interrogative sentences. Every interrogative
sentence ends at a sign of interrogation. For example:

 Do you live here?

 Have you ever watched Terminator III movie?
 Is it raining?
To convert interrogative sentences into Indirect Speech, follow the following rules along with the
above-mentioned rules:

 Reporting Verb SAID To is changed into ASKED.

 If Reporting Speech is having Reporting Verb at it its start, then IF is used in place of THAT.
 If the Reporting Speech is having interrogative words like who, when, how, why, when then
neither IF is used nor any other word is added.
 Full Stop is placed at the end of the sentence instead of mark of interrogation.

Examples:
Direct Speech Indirect Speech

I said to her, “When do you do I asked her when she did her
 Direct Speech Indirect Speech

your homework?” homework.

We said to him, “Are you ill?” We asked him if he was ill.

You said to me, “Have you read You asked me if I had read the
the article?” article.

He said to her, “Will you go to the He asked her if she would go to

Peshawar Radio Station?” the Peshawar Radio Station.

She says, “Who is he?” She says who he was.

Rashid says to me, “Why have Rashid says to me why I had got
you got late?” late.

Exclamatory Sentences
Those sentences, which express our feelings and emotions, are called exclamatory sentences. Mark
of exclamation is used at the end of exclamatory sentence. For example:

 Hurray! We have won the match.

 Alas! He failed in the test.
 How beautiful that dog is!
 What a marvelous personality you are!
To change exclamatory sentences into Indirect Speech, follow the following rules along with the
above-mentioned rules:

 In case, there is an interjection i.e., alas, aha, hurray, aha etc in the Reported Speech, then
they are omitted along with sign of exclamation.
 Reporting verb i.e., said is always replaced with exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with sorrow,
exclaimed joyfully, exclaimed sorrowfully or exclaimed with great wonder or sorrow.
 In case, there is what or how at the beginning of the Reported Speech, then they are replaced
with very or very great.
 In indirect sentence, the exclamatory sentence becomes an assertive sentence.

Examples
Direct Speech Indirect Speech

He said, “Hurray! I have won the He exclaimed with great joy that
match.” he had won the match.

She said, “Alas! My brother failed She exclaimed with great sorrow
in the test.” that her brother had failed in the
 Direct Speech Indirect Speech

test.

They said, “What a beautiful They exclaimed that that that

house this is!” house was very beautiful.

I said in great wonder that I was

I said, “How lucky I am!”
very lucky.

You said to him in great wonder

You said to him, “What a beautiful
that he was writing a beautiful
drama you writing!
drama.

Optative Sentences
Those sentences, which express hope, prayer, or wish, are called optative sentences. Usually, there
is a mark of exclamation at the end of optative sentence. For example:

 May you succeed in the test!

 May you get well soon!
 Would that I were rich!
To change optative sentences into indirect speech, follow the following rules along with the above-
mentioned rules:

 In case, the Reported Speech starts with the word may, then the Reporting Verb said is
replaced with the word prayed.
 In case, the Reported Speech starts with the word would, then the Reporting Verb said is
replaced with the word wished.
 May is changed in might.
 Mark of exclamation is omitted.
 In Indirect Speech, the optative sentences become assertive sentences.

Examples
Direct Speech Indirect Speech

He said to me, “May you live long!” He prayed that I might live long.

My mother said to me, “May you My mother prayed that I might

succeed in the test!” succeed in the test.

She said, “Would that I were rich!” She wished she had been rich.

I said to him, “Would that you were I wished he had been there on
here on Sunday!” Sunday.
 Direct Speech Indirect Speech

You said to me, “ May you find You prayed that I might find my
your lost camera.” lost camera.

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Passive Voice with Detailed Explanation