Direct and Indirect Speech

-
6) Direct and Indirect Speech
There are two ways of reporting a speech.
ctual words spoken by a person.
a
1. We can repro duce .the .
. nd Naman were watching a cricket match between I d'
Let us suppose Dh n0 a n 1a
and England.
Dhriti said, "India is playing extremely well."
Here, the exact words spoken by Dhriti are reproduced.
► When the exact words spoken by someone are reproduced, we call it direct

speech.

► Direct speech is put within inverted commas.

► A comma is used to separate the direct speech from the rest of the sentence.
► The first word of the direct speech begins with a capital letter.
► The verb used to introduce the direct speech is called reporting verb:

r Inverted commas--\
Dhriti said,\ndia is la in extreme! well."

1 comma capital 1
reporting verb reported speech

.
2. Somebody else can report the words spoken bYa person.
This form of reporting is called indirect or report d
Dh · · 'd e speech
ritl sa1 that India was playing extremely well. .
► When the words spoken by a person are v
own words, it is called indirect eported by someone else, in their
Note the following points: or reported speech.

► Indirect speech forms part of a 1onger sente

►
(
It is not separated by a nee or passage).
comma and it is not put within
. inverted commas.
1,1In the indirect form of speech (or narration). the speaker·s words undergo some
11 changes. \\le have to be careful about the following:
• tenses,
• personal pronouns (I, me, we, us, you, he, etc.),
• possessive adjectives (my, our, your, etc.), and
• words denoting nearness of time and position (this, today, here, etc.).

C, Tenses
1. Reporting verb in a present No change in the tense of the
or a future tense verbs in the reported speech
• Shuchita says, "Cashless transactions are preferred".
t
simple present
Shuchita says that cashless transactions are preferred.
t
(unchanged)
• Madhur will say, "Our players now pay a lot of attention to their fitness."
t
simple future
Madhur will say that our players now pay a lot of attention to their fitness.
t
(unchanged)

2. Reporting verb in a past tense

This is how tenses in the reported speech change.

(a) Simple present ➔ simple past (do/does ➔ did)

Anu said "The train gains speed very quickly."

, +
Anu said that the train gained speed very quickly.

(b) Present continuous ➔ past continuous (is/are/am doing➔ was/were doing)

Anu said "The train is gaining speed very quickly." ·

, +
Anu said that the train was gaining speed very quickly.

(c) Present perfect ➔ past perfect (has/have done ➔ had done)

Anu said "The train has gained speed very quickly."

, +
Anu said that the train had gained speed very quickly.
 (d) Simple past ➔ past perfect (did ➔ had done)

Anu said, "The train gained speed very quickly."

. ~ • d peed very quickly.
Anu said that the train had game s

(e) Past perfect ➔ no change

Grandma said, "Nights had bect me rather cold."

Grandma said that nights had become rather cold.

can ➔ could
(f) Will ➔ would may ➔ might

I said, "There may be snowfall at night."

I said that there ~ ight be snowfall at night.

(g) Reported speech expressing a universal truth or a habitual fact ➔ no change

Mr Kaushik said, "December nights in India a~ g and chilly." (habitual factJ

Mr Kaushik said that December nights in India are long and chilly.

4:) Personal Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

(a) I, my, me, mine, we, our, ➔ according to the subject of
us, ours (first person) the reporting verb
• I said, "I have done my duty."
~ ~
I said that I had done my duty.
• You said, "I have done my duty."
~ ~
You said that you had done your duty.
• She said, "l~ ve done my duty."

She said that she had do~ er duty.

(b) You, your, yours (second person) ➔ according to the object of the reporting verb
• Kunal said to me, "iu have done your duty."

Kuna! told me that I had done m/4 uty.

(When t~e reporting verb has an object, said to is changed into told.)
• Kunal said to you, "V1uhave done your duty."
+ d uty.
Kunal told you that you had done your
 Kunal said to him, "You ha d
,
i ve one your duty."

Kunal told him that he had done 1s duty. hi

h h
) He, his, him, she, her, hers ' it ' ·t
1 s, t ey, them, theirs (third person) ➔ no c ange
(c
,,
, The teacher said to the cla ss, "G aurav has done his duty sincerely.
i
The teacher told the cl ass th at Gaurav had done his duty sincerely.
ition
(I Words Den_oting N~a~ness of Time and Pos
time and position
If the reporting ver? is a past tense, words denoting nearness of
in
distance:
are replaced by suitable words denoting
this/these ... that/those
here ... there
speech)
now ... then (usually omitted from the indirect
ago ... before
today ... that day
tonight ... that night
yesterday ... the previous day/the day before
tomorrow ... the following day
last night ... the previous night
next week ... the following week
• Garima said, "It is very hot today."
Garima said that it was very hot that day.
last evening."
• Har"preet said, "I celebrated my birthday
birthday the previous evening.
Harpreet said that she had celebrated her

@ Reporting Statements
said is not changed
► Reporting verb said without an object
said ➔ told
Reporting verb said with an object
(other useful words can also
be used in place of told)

► That is used as a conjunction .

, as already stat ed.
► Other rules about tenses, pronouns, etc.

you for your kindness."

• Manasi said to Varun, "I am grateful to
Varun said, "I did only my duty."
to him for his kindness.
Manasi told Varun that she was grateful
.
Varun said that he had done only his duty
 • Krishnan said to me, HI liked your dance at th e annual day programme
last
evening."
I said, "Thank you for your encouragement."
Krishnan told me that he had liked my dance at th e annual day Progran
,rne
the previous evening.
I thanked him for his encouragement.

0 Exercise 1. Put the follow ing in the indirect form of narration:

1. Anvita said, "I cannot finish the projec t today."

2. The teache r said, "Plastic bags are a great threat to the enviro nment
."

3. I said to Ankita, "Papa has ordered online some toys for you .
,,

4. Mrs Jha said to Ankur, "There is no suitable role for you in th is

play."

5. He said to you, "I am accepting this job for _your · sake."

6. Mrs Rawat says, "All the children will have to do this exercise."

7. The old woman said to her son, "I am always praying for your good
health."

{D Changing Questions into Indirect Speech

► Said ➔ asked, enquired (of), wanted to know, etc.

► Questions beginning with question worc!sl ➔ No conjunctions used,
like who, which, when, what, where, etcj the questi on word retained
► Questions that can be answered ml ➔ If/whether used as a conjunction
yes or no J
► Question form ➔ Statement form; the question mark is dropped
► Other rules as already stated

□ Satyam sat to me, "What mistake did you make?"

Satyam asked me what mistake I had made.

 , said to ➔ asked
, what retained

• th ~ queSti On form (what mistake did you make) ➔ the statement form (what
mistake I had made)
, You ➔ I (according to the object)
• did make (simple past) ➔ had made (past perfect)
CJ she said to me, "Shall I get you some coffee?"
I said, "Thank you."

She asked me if she should get me some coffee. I thanked her for her offer.
, said to ➔ asked
, if used as a conjunction (Shall/ get you some coffee? can be answered in yes
or no.)

• the question form (Shall I get...?) ➔ the statement form (if she should ... )
• I ➔ she (according to the subject)
• you ➔ me (according to the object).
• shall get ➔ should get
• I said, "Thank you." (The sentence is paraphrased, that is, its idea is given.)

OExercise 2. Change these sentences into the indirect form of narration:

1. His father said to him, "Which books do you need immediately?"

2. Anshu's mother said to her, "When did you come back?"

3. Mr Sehgal said, "Children, why are you feeling so excited?"

4. The teacher said to me, "Why are you late for the class?" I said, "I missed the
bus."

5. Saloni said to me, "Do you have change for five hundred rupees?"

6. I said to the stranger, "Does this road lead to the airport?"

7. Suhel said to me, "Did you go for boating in the backwaters?" I said, "No I did
not get time."

8. Juhi said to me, "Will you get an Al grade in this paper?"

 ts Ad"ice
O •IR~e:p:o:rt:in:g~C~o:m:m:a:n:d:s~,.R:e:q:u;e:S•;~::~==~:-.:~:~:::"::~
d\fiSed, or other suitable wo;;j
any
ded requested, a
► said ➔ ordered, comman ' . ➔ to-form
. ntence begins
► The verb with which the given se
► Other rules as already stated
solve these questi ons."
D He said to Prashant, "Please help me h questio ns.
I him solve t ose
He requested Prashant to h e P
• said to ➔ requested
• help ➔ to help
• me ➔ him (according to the subject)
• these ➔ those th
. ,,
Father said to me "Use a credit card to pay for ese items.
D ' th .
Father advised me to use a credit card to pay for ose it em s.
• II

D I said to Nishant, "Don't forget your promise.

I urged/requested Nishant not to forget his promise.
• said to ➔ urged/requested
• don't forget ➔ not to forget
• your ➔ his
D The manager said to Divyabh, "Finish the project report by tomorrow."
The manager commanded (ordered) Divyabh to finish the project report by the
following day.
0 Exercise 3. Put the following in the indirect speech :
1. The student said to the teacher, "Please lend me your pen for a while."

· 2. Mother said, "Pooja, go to the market immediately and bring half a dozen eggs."

I ems on 1·ine.,,
3. Mrs Kumar said to the assistant, "Buy these stati·one ry ·t

4. The farmer said, "Sons, don't quarrel over silly matters."

5. The young man said to his father "P d

' ar on me for my misbehaviour."

• -. «.
-134 .L....._
 "Do t
Karan's fa th er said to him ' no go to bed so late at
night."
6.
,,
.
sumati said to Mr s Ray'
"M a' ipate in the spellathon
am, a11 ow me to partic
7.

ssrooms."
th stu de nts , "D o no t foo l around. Go to your cla
e
s. The princ ipal said to

eous)
t th e following in the indirect speech : (Miscellan
@ Exercise 4. Pu
ck."
pr inc ipa l said to me, "W ait here till I come ba
1. The

hosiery goods."
les as sis tan t said to her, "We do no t deal in
2. The sa

w school?"
to Lokesh, "A re yo u comfortable in your ne
3. I said

tes."
me, "T he tra in stops here for only tw o minu
4. The po rte r said to

illy or spicy foo d."

e do cto r said to th e patient, "Do no t eat ch
5. Th

?"
ey said to her, "W ha t brings you to our office
6. Th

also."
"It is im po rta nt to control noise po llu tio n
7. Mr Nagar said,

y pr ob lem ?"
I said to Priya, "H ow did you solve this tri ck
8.

saying."
I said to th e boys, "Please listen to wh at I am
9.

'd7 "
you no t af ra1 •
10. He said to me, "Are
I said, "N o."