We use direct and indirect speech (quoted speech) to convey the speaker’s words without any changes or sometimes with some changes. There are two different times/occasions when we need to speak differently. 1st face-to-face. When there are two persons or groups of people talking about anything require active and passive voice sentences. Like I want to speak English. I went to the park yesterday. In these situations, two persons are involved. For Instance:
Direct and indirect speech Definition:
First-person pronoun and second-person pronoun: “I, we & you.”
But sometimes we needed to share stories, describe events, or report something about the past. On such occasions, we use direct and indirect speech. And mostly third-person pronoun is involved.
Third-person Pronoun: he, she, it, they, or a single name.
1) DIRECT SPEECH/QUOTED SPEECH.
Repeating the same words of the speaker without any change is called direct speech. In this situation, mostly we speak About the third person, any other event, or tell any story about the past. These kinds of conversations are listed inside quotation marks.
Ex.
- She said, “She will go to school.”
- “I will find the paper,” he said.
- “They will drink the water,” John said.
- She asked, “Can I open the door?”
- They said, “Open your books.”
- They said, “We may help him.”
2) INDIRECT SPEECH/REPORTED SPEECH
Sharing the words of another person in your own words is called indirect speech. We do not put them in quoted marks that’s why it is called reported speech too.
Ex.
- Ali said that he would make the bag.
- He said that he would find the paper.
- They said that they would drink the water.
- The teacher asked if we could solve the problem.
- They ordered me to open the door.
- They said (that) they might help them.
Special Notes (Rules)
While we change a direct (quoted speech) into an indirect speech (reported speech), the following rules should be kept in mind.
- The reporting verb changes.
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
| She says. | She said. |
| He tells | He told |
| Ask | If / weather |
| said to me | told me |
- Tense changes: We need to go back to one tense while changing into reported speech.
- Pronoun Changes.
| Direct speech | Indirect speech |
|---|---|
| She said, “we read the book.” | She said, “She brings the apples for us.” |
| He said, “I can do my work.” | He said that He could do his work. |
| He said, “You will be lifted by them.” | He said that I would be lifted by them. |
| She said, “She wrote a letter.” | She said that she had written a letter. |
There is a simple formula to remember Pronoun change is everlasting. check out the picture.
Time words change
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
| She said, “They may bring the table tomorrow.” | She said that they might bring the table the next day. |
| They said, “We did our job today.” | He said that they had to solve the matter, then. |
| He said, “I got him, yesterday.” | She said she had gotten him the previous day. |
| They said, “we did our job today.” | They said that they had done their job that day. |
| They said, “We did our job today.” | She said that she would do her M.Sc. the following year. |
| He said, “I found it last week.” | He said that he had found it the previous week. |
| They said, “it is difficult to get him these days.” | They said it was difficult to get him, those days. |
| He said, “A week ago, there was a painting here.” | He said a week before, there had been a painting there. |
How to change a question into reported speech.
Changing the Interrogative sentences (questions) into reported speech has some specific rules.
We have two kinds of questions.
- Yes & No question: use if/whether instead of the auxiliary verb & the question will be changed into a statement. The reporting verb said changes into asked.
- WH questions: The WH word will remain the same. Reporting verb changes into asked.
| Yes/no questions | WH questions |
|---|---|
| Direct speech: He said, “Did you clean the roof?” Indirect speech: He asked if you had cleaned the roof. | Direct speech: She said, “who are you?” Indirect speech: she asked who I was. |
| Direct speech: She asked, “Did you find him” Indirect speech: She asked whether I had found him. | Direct speech: She asked, “How are you?” Indirect speech: she asked how I was. |
| Direct speech: They said, “Why I am late?” Indirect speech: They asked why I was late. | Direct speech: He asked, “What did you find?” Indirect speech: He asked what I had found. |
| Direct speech: She said, “Who are you?” Indirect speech: she asked who I was. | Direct speech: she said, “Can they play football?” Indirect speech: she asked if they could play football. |
When we should not change direct speech into indirect speech.
A) Whenever the reporting verb is in the present tense.
EX.
- He says, “I played football nicely.”
- He said that he played football nicely.
- She has said, “They are united.”
- She said that they are united.
B) When the direct speech talks about universal truth, general truth & gender.
Ex.
- He said, “The wall is white.”
- He said that the wall is white.
- They asked, “Are you a boy?”
- They asked if I was a boy.
Some Exercises
| Direct speech | Indirect speech |
|---|---|
| He said, “I have a lot of work to do.” | He said (that) he had a lot of work to do. |
| She said, “I am checking the homework.” | She said (that) she was checking the homework. |
| They said, “We have changed our thoughts.” | They said (that) they had changed their thoughts. |
| She said, “He has been living here.” | she said (that) he had been living there. |
| He said, “I served my nation.” | He said (that) he had served his nation. |
| He said, “I was paying attention to the lecture.” | He said (that) he had been paying attention to the lecture. |
| She said, “She will apply for the job.” | She said (that) she would apply for the job. |
| They said, “We may help them.” | They said (that) they might help them. |
| He said, “We must get back to work.” | He said (that) they had to get back to work. |