Direct-Indirect Speech

In English Grammar

SK.khadarbhi
Lecturer in English
Andhra Loyola
College.

07-05-2009 1
Direct speech is a report of the exact words
used by a speaker or writer. The words spoken
appear within inverted commas “......”

Examples

"Where is your textbook?" the teacher asked me

Jerry said, " Iam going to buy a new car."

07-05-2009 2
 Indirect speech is a report on what
someone else said or wrote without using that
person's exact words

Examples ( Indirect speech)

The teacher asked me where my textbook was.

She said (that) she was going to the mall.

07-05-2009 3
 Rule no 1

Simple Present Changes to Simple Past

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: “I am unwell”, she said.

Indirect: She said that she was unwell.

07-05-2009 4
 In indirect speech, tenses do not change if the
words used within the quotes (‘’) talk of a habitual
action or universal truth.

Example:

Direct: He said, ‘We cannot live without air’.

Indirect: He said that we cannot live without air.

07-05-2009 5
 Rule no 2

● She said to him, “They are boxing.” Direct

‘are boxing’ – main verb – present continues tense

She told him that they were boxing. Indirect

‘were boxing’ – main verb – PAST continues tense

07-05-2009 6
 Rule 3

• She said to me, “He has given me some medicine.”

Direct Speech
‘has given’ – main verb – present perfect tense

She told me that he had given her some medicine.

Indirect Speech
‘had given’ – main verb – PAST perfect tense

07-05-2009 7
 Rule 4

Kate said, “I have been waiting here for an hour.”

Direct Speech
‘have been waiting’ - main verb - present perfect continues
Kate said that she had been waiting there for an hour.
Indirect Speech
‘had been waiting’ - main verb - PAST perfect continues

07-05-2009 8
 Rule 5
● He said, “She played golf in the morning.”
Direct Speech
‘played’ -- main verb -- simple past tense

He said that she had played golf in the morning.

Indirect speech
‘had played’ -- main verb -- past perfect tense

07-05-2009 9
 Rule 6

She said to me, “He was swimming in the pool.”

Direct Speech
‘was swimming’ -- main verb -- past continues tense

She told me that he had been swimming in the pool.

Indirect Speech
‘had been swimming’ -- main verb -- past perfect continues tense
Past continues tense becomes PAST PERFECT CONTINUES TENSE

07-05-2009 10
 Rule 7

▪ The Modal Auxiliary (helping) Verbs are

changed into their past forms:
can could; may might; will would;
shall should

07-05-2009 11
• She said to me, “They will take their test tomorrow.”
Direct speech

She told me that they would take their test the next day.
Indirect Speech
‘will’ becomes ‘would’!

07-05-2009 12
 Direct-Indirect Speech – Changes –
Personal Pronouns(Rule 8)
person 1st 2nd
3rd
singular plural singular plural singular plural
number
common common common common Male female Male female Neuter
gender Neuter

Nominative I We you you He she it They they they

(subjective)
case
Objective me us you you Him her it Them them them
(accusative)
case

Possessive My Our Your Your His her its Their their their
(genitive)
mine ours yours yours His hers its Theirs theirs theirs
case

Reflexive myself ourselves yourself yourselves Himself herself

itself themselves

07-05-2009 BCK 13
 Direct-Indirect Speech -- changes -- Personal Pronouns

■ The girl said to the spider, “You have eaten my pie.”

Direct Speech

■ The girl told the spider that it had eaten her pie.

Indirect Speech

07-05-2009 BCK 14
 Direct-Indirect speech – changes – Personal Pronouns

• Jane said to Paul, “I can’t help you.” Direct Speech

• Jane told Paul that she couldn’t help him.

Indirect Speech

07-05-2009 15
 Direct-Indirect Speech – changes – personal Pronouns

■ The boy said to me, “You aren’t my friend.” Direct

■ The boy told me that I wasn’t his friend. Indirect

07-05-2009 16
 Direct-Indirect Speech – Changes –
Conjunction (Rule 9)
◆ While changing a Direct Speech Sentence
into an Indirect Speech Sentence, we use a
conjunction to join both the clauses -- the
introductory clause and the ‘actual spoken
words’, subordinate clause.
◆ To join the two clauses in a statement
sentence, we use the conjunction ‘that’.
◆ (The conjunction ‘that’ is normally not
mentioned as it is understood.)

07-05-2009 17
 Direct-Indirect Speech – changes – Personal Pronouns

■ The mouse said, “Mother, I am hungry.” Direct

■ The mouse told its mother that it was hungry.

Indirect
■

07-05-2009 18
 Rule 10

• When we change an ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question

sentence from direct into indirect, we use
the conjunction ‘if ’ or ‘whether ’.

• Though there is some difference between

the conjunctions ‘if’ and ‘whether’, at this
basic level, using just ‘if’ for all the ‘yes’ or
‘no’ questions is justified.

07-05-2009 BCK 19
• A woman said to me, “Is she really driving?”
Interrogative sentence – ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question – Direct Speech

A woman asked me if she was really driving.

Indirect Speech

07-05-2009 20
• The man said to the boy, “Can you see those stars or not?”
Direct Speech
‘can’ – ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question

The man enquired the boy whether he could see those stars or not.
Indirect Speech
“whether… or not”

07-05-2009 21
■ While changing an interrogative sentence
from direct to indirect, the main verb in the
introductory clause, usually ‘said’, is changed
into ‘asked’, ‘enquired’, ‘wanted to know’ etc.
And the word order is inversed:
■ He said to her, “Is this bag yours?” – Direct

■ He asked her if that bag was hers. -- Indirect

07-05-2009 22
 Rule 11 (Wh Questions) Direct-Indirect Speech –
Changes

▪ He said to her, “What has he done?” Direct

‘wh’ question – direct speech

He asked her what he had done. Indirect

For ‘wh’ questions, no conjunction is used; the ‘wh’ word

in the direct speech sentence is used as it is!

07-05-2009 23
● She said to them, “Who wants to help me?”
Direct Speech

● She asked them who wanted to help her.

Indirect Speech

07-05-2009 24
She said to the students, “Who knows the answer?”
Direct Speech

She asked the students who knew the answer.

Indirect Speech

07-05-2009 25
 Rule 12 Direct-Indirect

⮚ While changing the Imperative Sentences

from direct to indirect, we do not use any
conjunctions at all; we change the verb of
the subordinate clause (actual spoken
words) to its ‘to infinitive’ form, and the main
verb in the introductory clause is changed
into ‘requested’, ‘ordered’, ‘wanted to know’,
‘warned’, ‘shouted’, etc. depending on the
context!
07-05-2009 26
The policeman said to the drivers, “Stop!” Direct
Speech

The policeman shouted at the drivers to stop.

Indirect Speech

‘to stop’ – “to infinitive” form of the main verb ‘stop’

07-05-2009 27
■ He said to the visitors, “Keep quiet, please.”
Direct Speech

He requested the visitors to keep quiet.

Indirect Speech

07-05-2009 28
 Rule 13 ( Neagtive imperative sentence)

• The manager said to him, “Don’t postpone your work.”

Direct Speech
‘Don’t’ = ‘do not’ – negative

The manager warned him not to postpone his work.

Indirect Speech

07-05-2009 29
The mother said, “Don’t cry, baby… Don’t cry.”
Direct Speech

The mother told the baby repeatedly not to cry.

Indirect Speech

07-05-2009 BCK 30
 Rule 14

□ When the verb “let” in the subordinate

clause (actual spoken words) of the direct
speech sentence expresses a suggestion,
we use the verb word ‘suggested’ in the
introductory clause of the indirect speech
sentence, and the word ‘let’ is not
mentioned in the indirect speech sentence,
instead we use the helping verb ‘should’
with the main verb!

07-05-2009 31
She said to her friends, “Let’s go for a picnic.” --
Direct
‘Let’ – suggestion

She suggested to her friends that they should go for a

picnic.
Indirect
07-05-2009 32
 Thank you

07-05-2009 33