D I R EC T AN D I N D I R EC T S P E E C H

D I R EC T S PE E C H M E A NS T HE O R I GI N AL W OR D S O R SE N T E N C E O F T HE O R I GI N AL SP E AK E R.

I NDI R ECT S PEEC H MEA NS T HE W OR DS O R SEN T EN C E O F T HE O R I GI N AL SP EAK ER SP O KEN BY

SO M EO N E E L SE I N HI S O WN L AN GU AGE / O WN PO I N T O F V I E W .
 D IRECT AND I NDIRECT 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

⚫ The teacher said, "I

am teaching now."
⚫ The teacher said that he was teaching then.

 In direct speech we use inverted commas to mark off the exact words of
the speaker. In indirect speech we do not.
 RULES OF CHANGING DIRECT SPEECH INTO
INDIRECT:
• In English, Sentences are categorised under four types on the basis of
function:
1. Declarative :- to provide information, knowledge, declaration.
2. Interrogative :- to ask questions.
3. Imperative :- to give order, advice, request, warning, threatening,
direction.
4. Exclamatory:- to express one’s sudden feelings (surprise, sadness,
happiness, joy etc.)
These four different types of sentences follow different ways to
to be converted into its Indirect Speech.
• While converting Direct Speech into Indirect, we should consider four
important things:
1. The tense of the reporting verb.
2. Tense of the verb in the direct speech.
3. The noun phrase and the adverbials.
4. The reporter and the time of reporting.
If the reporting time is not complete, there will be no change in tense of
the reported speech in indirect.
It means when the speaker’s words remain true or unchanged at the time of
reporting, there will be no change in the tense of the verb in Indirect Speech.
1. Tense of the Reporting Verb:
• If the tense of the reporting verb is in past tense, we have to change the tense form of
the verb in the reported speech in the following ways :
DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH
Present Simple ---------------------- Past Simple
Present Progressive ---------------- Past Progressive
Present perfect -----------------------Past perfect
Present perfect progressive --------Past Perfect Progressive
Past Simple --------------------------- Past Perfect
Past Progressive --------------------- Past Perfect Progressive
Past Perfect -------------------------- Past Perfect
Past Perfect Progressive ----------- Past Perfect Progressive
 CHANGE OF ADVERBIALS IN INDIRECT:
• From Direct Speech to Indirect Speech.
Now -------------------------------then/ at that time
today ------------------------------ that day
yesterday ------------------------- the day before/ the previous day
the day before yesterday ---- -- two days before
tomorrow --------------------------the next day/ the following day
this week ---------------------------that week
the day after tomorrow ---------- in two days’ time
next week/ year ------ -------------the following week/ year
last week/year ---------------------the week before/ the previous week
ago ---------------------------------- before
a year ------------------------------- a year before/ the previous year
here --------------------------------- there
there -------------------------------- there
thus -------------------------------- in that way
Change of Modal Auxiliaries in Indirect
Speech:
Will ------------ Would
Shall ----------- Should/ Would
Can ------------ Could
May ------------ Might
Must ----------- Must/ had to/ would have to
When must is used in the meaning of necessity, it remains unchanged
or changes to had to in indirect speech.
When it refers to the future, it changes to would have to.
Mustn’t ------------- mustn’t/ wasn’t to (future)
Needn’t ------------ needn’t/ didn’t have to

N.B : Should, Would, might, could, used to and ought to do not

generally change in indirect.
Change of Pronouns :
Direct Indirect
I ------------------ He /She ( or “I” when reporting verb is “I”)
We --------------- They or (we when reporting verb is we/ I)
You --------------- he/she/ I
Direct : He said to me, “ you are playing.”
Indirect: He told me that I was playing.

Direct: He said Ramesh, “ You are playing.”

Indirect: He said Ramesh that he was playing.
Direct : I said to Sita, “ I am teaching now.”
Indirect: I told Sita that I was teaching then.
Change of Pronoun/ Demonstratives (
determiners) in Indirect:
Direct Speech. Indirect Speech
this ( time expression) ---------- that
these ( time expression) -------- those
this week --------------------------- that week
these days ------------------------- those days
This, that and these used as pronouns can become it, they/them.
But this and these used as demonstratives (determiners) usually change to
the.
Ex: He said, “ I brought this saree for my mother.”
He said that he had brought the saree for his mother.
1. DECLARATIVES / STATEMENTS IN INDIRECT:
The reporting verb in direct speech in most cases is ‘say’. But in indirect speech we sometimes
replace it by another verb appropriate to the meaning of the statement. Some of the reporting verb
in Indirect Speech are:
tell, state, announce, declare, promise, order, complain, protest, allege, explain, think, realise,
admit, advise, ask, agree, observe, remark etc.
When something is said in continuation of another statement, we generally use the reporting verbs
add, continue and further said.
If something is said in reply to a remark or a question, we use the verbs reply, answer, respond,
deny, refuse etc
N.B : If the reporting verb of direct speech is say to, it is replaced by tell in indirect speech.
While converting the declaratives, we use the conjunction that just before the reported speech
and after the reporting verb
How the Tense Forms Change in Indirect :

Direct speech • Indirect Speech

1. He said, “ I eat rice every day.” 1. He said that he ate rice every day.
2. Mary said to Bean, “ I am watching T.V now.” 2. Mary told Bean that he was watching T.V then.
3. Sita said, “ I have already cooked.” 3. Sita said that she had already cooked.
4. Shyam says to Ram, “ Sita has been playing since 4. Shyam told Ram that Sita had been playing since
morning.” morning.

5. She said to Ram, “ I went to Jaipur last week.” 5. She told Ram that she had gone to Jaipur the
previous week.
6. She said to me, “ I was waiting for you.” 6. She told me that she had been waiting for me.
7. He said to me, “ I had completed my project.” 7. He told me that he had completed his project.
8. He said, “ I had been playing chess for two 8. He said that he had been playing chess for two
hours.” hours.
Future in Indirect Speech :

Direct Indirect
1. Ram said to Meena, “ I shall write a letter.” 1. Ram told Meena he would/ should write a
2. Rahim said to Ram, “ Sita will be waiting for letter.
you.” 2. Rahim told Ram that Sita would be waiting
for him. (Ram)

3. Sita said to Ram, “ I will have completed my 3. Sita told Ram that She would have
completed her homework by the next /
homework by next Monday.
following Monday.
4. Nishad said to me, “ I shall have been
4. Nishad told me that he would have been
reading the book.”
reading the book.
2. Interrogatives in Indirect Speech :
• There are two types of Interrogative sentences: Yes-No Interrogative and Wh-Interrogative. They
follow slightly different ways to be converted into their indirect.
• The tense forms are changed in the same ways as that in the declarative sentences.
• But the difference lies in using the conjunction : In declaratives, the conjunction that is used
before the reported speech.
• In case of yes-no Interrogatives, whether/ if is used before the reported speech and the
interrogatives are written in statement form.
• And in case of wh-interrogatives, wh-questioning word itself is used before the reported speech
and the interrogatives are written in statement form.
• For Ex : She said to me, “Are you going to school?”
She asked me whether/ if I was going to school.
• She said to me, “where are you going?”
She asked me where I was going.
Reporting verb of Interrogatives in Indirect :
• The reporting verb in interrogatives is changed to asked, enquired, inquired,
wanted to know, demanded etc. in its indirect.
For ex: She said to Shyam, “ have you an extra copy?”
She asked Shyam if he had an extra copy.

The teacher said to the students, “ How did you solve the problem?”
The teacher asked the students how they had solved the problem.
or
The teacher wanted to know from the students how they had solved the
problem.
Interrogative Sentence with Reply:
Direct: She said to me, “Can you solve this question?” “No” I said.
Indirect: She asked me if/whether I could solve that question, I
said, I couldn’t/ I replied in negative.

Direct: He said to me, “ Do you know me?” I said, “yes”

Indirect: He asked me if I knew him, I replied in affirmative.
Or I did.
3. Imperative Sentences in Indirect Speech:
• Imperative Sentences are the sentences of order, direction,
command, request, suggestion, advice, warning.
• Reporting verb of imperative sentence is replaced by the verbs
such as: order, command, advice, suggestion, request warn
etc. Depending on the meaning of the reported speech.
• If the reported speech is positive imperative, we use “to” before
the reported speech.
• If the reported speech is negative imperative, we use “not to”
before the reported speech to join it with reporting verb.
Examples of Imperative Sentence:
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
1. She said to Ramu, “ Please bring my 1. She requested Ramu to bring her
book.” book.
2. He said to me, “Give me a glass of 2. She asked me to give him a glass of
milk.” milk.
3. Ram said to Sita, “Take medicines 3. Ram advised Sita to take medicines
regularly.” regularly.
4. I said Hari, “Don’t pluck the 4. I ordered Hari not to pluck the
flowers.” flowers.
Negative Imperatives:
• In negative imperative, we can use not to or we can directly use
negative reporting verb: “forbade” in its Indirect Speech.
For Ex:
Direct: The teacher said to Mahesh, “Don’t write on the table.”
Indirect : The teacher instructed Mahesh not to write on the table.
Or
The teacher forbade Mahesh to write on the table.
Emphatic Imperative in Indirect :
• Emphatic Imperative Sentences are used to say something with
respect and deep interest. Here we use do verb before the main
verb.
Direct: He said to me, “ Do give me a cup of coffee, please.’’
Indirect: he requested me to give him a cup of coffee.

Direct: She said to me, “Do come again.”

Indirect: She requested me to come again.
Imperative Sentences and Tag Questions:
• Tag questions are asked to emphasize the order or request, to
get quick answer or to attract the attention of the listener.
Otherwise it has not that much importance in Indirect Speech.
For ex :
Direct : He said to me, “Open the door, will you?’’
Indirect: He asked me to open the door.

Direct: She said to Ram, “ Bring me a glass of water, won’t you?’’

Indirect: She asked Ram to bring her a glass of water.
Imperative Sentence with ‘Let’ :
• The sentence beginning with ‘let’ is also a type of imperative sentence.
This type of imperative sentence is used for suggestion and proposal.
• Such sentence is converted into Indirect in the following ways:
Direct: She said to me, “Let us go to market.”
Indirect : She suggested to me to go to market.
Or
She suggested to me that we should go to market.
Direct: He said to me, “ Let’s purchase this house.”
Indirect : He proposed to me to purchase that house.
Or
He proposed to me that we should purchase that house.
• If the imperative sentence beginning with ‘let’ express wish, the
reporting verb is replaced by “wish”.
Direct : The students said, “ Let me take food.”
Indirect : The students wished that he should take food.
Direct : The lady said, “ Let me have an ice cream pack.”
Indirect : The lady wished that she should have an ice cream pack.
Direct: She said, “ Let him be my friend.”
Indirect: she wished that he should be her friend.
• If the imperative sentence beginning ‘let’ expresses order or request,
the reporting verb is replaced by order or request.
• If such sentence is used to ask for permission or grant permission,
‘to allow’ or ‘to let’ is used in place of ‘let’.

Direct: The boy said to the teacher, “Let me go home now.”

Indirect: The boy requested the teacher to allow/let him to go home
then.
Direct: The principal said to the peon, “Let the students come in.”
Indirect: The principal ordered the peon to allow/let the students
come in.
Optative Sentence:
• The sentence used to express Good Wishes, Prayer for other, or
Blessings is called Optative Sentence.
• The reporting verb is changed as per the meaning of the sentence.
• ‘That’ is used as the conjunction before the reported speech.
• Reported speech is converted to Assertive/ statement form.
Direct : My mother said to my friend, “ May you live long.”
Indirect: My mother wished my friend that he might live long.
Direct : She said to Sita, “ May God bless you with a son.”
Indirect: She prayed that God might bless Sita with a son.
Direct: He said to the teacher, “ Good morning.”
Indirect: He wished the teacher good morning.

Direct : She said, “Good morning, sir !”

Indirect : She wished the sir good morning.

Direct : I said, “Good afternoon, father!”

Indirect: I wished my father good afternoon.

Direct : She said to me, “ Good bye”.

Indirect: She bade me good bye.
4. Exclamatory Sentences in Indirect:
• The sentence which is used to express one’s sudden feelings such surprise,
happiness, sadness, love, hate, appreciation etc is called Exclamatory
Sentence.
• In its Indirect Speech, the reporting verb is changed in accordance with the
meaning of the sentence such as: exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with
sorrow, exclaimed with surprise, exclaimed in fear and so on.
• In indirect, conjunction ‘that’ is used before the reported speech. And the
tense is changed as if it is changed in Declarative/ Assertive
• Interjections such as: Alas, Bravo, oh, Wow, Wah, Hurrah are omitted in
Indirect Speech.
• Exclamatory Sentence is changed into Assertive/ Statement form.
 Direct Speech into Indirect Speech
1. He said, “ What a beautiful girl 1. He exclaimed with praise that
Sita is!” Sita was a beautiful girl.
2. Ram said, “Alas! I have lost my 2. Ram exclaimed with sorrow
phone.” that he had lost his phone.
3. We said, “ What a nice place it 3. We exclaimed with surprise
is!” that it was a very nice place.
4. The captain said, “ Well done! 4. The captain exclaimed with
My friends.” applause that his friends had
done well.
5. The player said, “ Hurrah, we 5. The player exclaimed with joy
have won the match.” that they had won the match.
Exclamatory Sentence Expressing Sudden
Wish:
Direct Indirect
1. She said, “ If I were a bird!” 1. She wished that she would
be a bird.
2. He said, “If I were young 2. He wished that he would be
again!” young again.
3. Raghu said, I wish I were the 3. I wished that I would be the
Prime Minister!” Prime Minister.
Exclamatory Sentence Seems to Be
Incomplete:
1. He said to me, “ 1. He congratulated me.
Congratulations!”
2. The teacher said to the 2. The teacher called the
student, “Stupid!” student, stupid.
3. She said, “Thank you!” 3. She thanked me.
4. They said to us, “Welcome!” 4. They welcomed us.
5. I said to her, Happy 5. I wished her happy
Christmas!” Christmas.
Miscellaneous Sentences:
A) Name of the person/Sir/Madam within inverted
commas:
Direct Indirect
1. He said, “Rajeev, I am waiting 1. He told Rajeev that he was
for you.” waiting for him (Rajeev).
2. She said, “Take your purse, 2. She asked Tony to take his
Tony.” purse.
3. He said, “ May I leave now, 3. He asked the Madam if he
Madam?” might leave then.
4. She said, “May I come in, Sir?” 4. She asked respectfully if/
5. ‘Okay’, she said, “I will whether she might come in.
consider your proposal.” 5. She said that she would
consider my proposal.
Sentence With “Must”
• If the modal ‘Must’ is used in the sense of present action, ‘Must’ is
converted to ‘had to’ and for future action, ‘would have to’
Direct: She said, “I must leave at once.”
Indirect : She said that she had to/ would have toleave at once.
Direct : Ramesh said, “He must go to Jaipur tomorrow.”
Indirect: Ramesh said that he had to go to Jaipur the next day.
• If the modal ‘Must’ is used in the sense of necessity, it doesn’t change,
rather it remains same.
Direct: I thought, “There must be some mistake.”
Indirect : I thought that there must be some mistake.
Joint Sentences in Indirect :
Direct : She said, “I am a girl. I cannot stay here in night.”
Indirect: She said that she was a girl and added that she could not
there in night.
Direct: Ramesh said, “Sita is going to Puri tomorrow. I can also go
with her.”
Indirect: Ramesh said that Sita was going to Puri and he could go with
her.
Direct: Rajeev said, “I will not play today. I am going to school.”
Indirect: Rajeev said that he would not play that day and further added
that he was going to school.
Indirect Commands/ Advice/
Invitation/Request:
• Some sentences seem to be Negative or Interrogative, but in meaning
they express advice, invitation, request, command like an Imperative
Sentence.
Direct: She said, “If I were you, I’d stop smoking.”
Indirect: She advised me to stop smoking.

Direct: He said, “why don’t you change your clothes?”

Indirect: He advised me to change my clothes.

Direct : Would/ could you show me your ticket, please? The TC said.
Indirect: The TC asked me to show him my ticket.
Some Specific Exceptions :
• There are certain cases where the tense form of the reported speech cannot be changed.
A) Sentence Expressing Universal Truth/Mathematical Proof/ scientific Proof etc.
Direct: Raju said, “The Sun rises in the East.”
Indirect: Raju said that the Sun rises in the East.

B) Sentence with Time Clause:

Direct: He said, “When I saw her, she was playing football.”
Indirect: He said that when he saw her, she was playing
football.
Direct : She said, “ When I left home, it began to rain.”
Indirect: She said that when she left home, it began to rain.
The Sentence Based on Real Fact Which is
not Changed:
• If the facts or data is not changed yet, the tense form remains same.
Direct: He said, “I decided to purchase the house, because it was
near the railway track.
Indirect: He said that he had decided to purchase the house
because it was near the railway track.

Direct: The teacher said, “India got independence on 15th August .

Indirect: The teacher said that India got independence on 15th August.
Unreal Past Action After “Wish” or It is
time:
Direct: He said, “I wish I did not have to take examination.”
Indirect: He said he wished he did not have to take examination.

Direct: “It is time we began planning for our examinations.”, he

said.
Indirect: He said that it was time they began planning for their
examinations.