Direct and Indirect Speech

Define direct and indirect speech?

Direct speech repeats the exact words the person used, or how we remember their words:

Reported or Indirect speech tells you what someone said, but does not use the person's actual words. It is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense of the words spoken. We use reporting verbs like 'say', 'tell', 'ask', and we may use the word 'that' to introduce the reported words.

It is very common to see direct speech used in books or in a newspaper article.

How do you know if it is direct or indirect speech?

Whether you are repeating or reporting what someone has said.

There are grammatical rules for both.

First, ask yourself if you are repeating what someone has said, it is considered direct speech.

If you are reporting what someone has said, it is indirect speech.

With direct speech it is common to use the verb ‘to say’ (‘said’ in the past). But you can also find other verbs used to indicate direct speech such as ‘ask’, ‘reply’, and ‘shout’.

What are the 5 rules of direct speech?

Direct speech is opened with quotation marks, speech marks, or inverted commas. Each line of speech will start with a capital letter. A reporting clause is used at the end of the sentence. A full stop is placed at the end of the reporting clause.

Rules for Changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech:

In the Indirect speech, no inverted commas are used.

The conjunctions that, if, whether, are generally used after the reporting verb.

The first word of the reported speech begins with a capital letter.

The tense of the reporting verb is never changed.

The reporting verb changes according to sense: it may be told, asked, inquired, etc.

For example:

Direct speech: He said, “I like the book.”
Indirect speech: He said that he liked the book.

Direct speech: He said to me, “Do you like the book?”
Indirect speech: He asked me if I liked the book.

Direct speech: He said, “He likes the book.”
Indirect speech: He said that he liked the book.

Direct speech: Beena said, “I didn't realise it was midnight.”

Indirect speech: Beena said that she hadn’t realised it was midnight.

Direct speech: He said, “I want a pen.”

Indirect speech: He asked for a pen.

Direct speech: Maya said 'I am busy now'.

Indirect speech: Maya said that she was busy then.

Direct speech: He said, "I must leave". 

Indirect speech: He said that he had to go

Direct speech: He said, "I will be there at 3 pm." 

Indirect speech: He said he would be there at 3 pm.

Direct speech: Paul came in and said, “I’m really hungry.”

Indirect speech: Paul came in and said that he was really hungry

Direct speech: The local MP said, “We plan to make this city a safer place for everyone.”

Indirect speech: The Local MP told that they plan to make this city a safer place for everyone

Direct speech: “We’re quite cold in here.”

Indirect speech: They say (that) they’re cold.

Direct speech: “I have a new car.”

Indirect speech: He said he had a new car.

When the reporting or principal verb is in the Past Tense, all Present tenses of the Direct are changed into the corresponding Past Tenses. Thus:-

(a) A simple present becomes a simple past.

Direct - He said, “I am fine.”

Indirect - He said (that) he was fine.

(b) A present continuous becomes a past continuous.

Direct - She said, “My sister is learning Bharatanatyam.”

Indirect - She said (that) her sister was learning Bharatanatyam.

(c) A present perfect becomes a past perfect.

Direct - He said, “I have won the match.”

Indirect - He said (that) he had won the match.

(d) The shall and the will of the Future Tense is changed into should and would.

Direct: She said, “I shall need more money.” [ Future time]

Indirect: She said she would need more money.

Direct: He asked, “ shall I open it?” [ Suggestion]

Indirect: He asked if he should open it.

Direct: The boy said to me, “will you help me?

Indirect: The boy asked if I would help him.

Direct: The girl said, “I shall travel the world.’

Indirect: The girl said that she would travel the world.

(e) The simple past in the Direct becomes the past perfect in the Indirect.

Direct - She said, “The horse died in the night.”

 Indirect - She said that the horse had died in the night.

(f) The tenses may not change if the statement is universal truth.

Direct - The teacher said, “The earth goes round the sun.”

Indirect - The teacher said the earth goes round the sun.

(f) If the reporting verb is in the Present Tense, the tenses of the Direct Speech do not change.

Direct speech: He says, “I will come”.

Reported speech: He says that he will come.

Direct speech: Copernicus: “The planets revolve around the sun.“

Indirect speech: Copernicus stated that the planets revolve around the sun.

Some more examples

We may rewrite the above examples, putting the reporting verb in the Present Tense

Direct speech: He says he is fine.

Indirect speech: He says that he is fine

Direct speech: She said her sister is learning Bharatanatyam.

Indirect speech: She said, “My sister is learning Bharatanatyam.”

Direct speech: He says he has won the match.

Indirect speech: He says that he has won the match.

Direct speech: She says the horse died in the night.

Indirect speech: She says that the horse had died in the night.

Here is an example for all the main tenses:

The same rule of moving the tenses one step back also applies to modal verbs. For example:

Using ‘say’ or ‘tell’

As an alternative to using ‘say’ we can also use ‘tell’ (‘told’ in the past) in reported speech, but in this case you need to add the object pronoun. For example:

He told me he was going to call Arun.

They told her they would arrive a little late.

You told us you’d already finished the order.

Changing Time Expressions

Sometimes it’s necessary to change the time expressions when you report speech, especially when you are speaking about the past and the time reference no longer applies. For example:

Direct speech: “I’m seeing my brother tomorrow.”

Indirect speech: She said she was seeing her brother the following day.

Here are some other examples:

Direct speech: “I had a headache yesterday.”

Indirect speech: You said you’d had a headache the day before yesterday.

Direct speech: “It’s been raining since this afternoon.”

Indirect speech: He said it’d been raining since that afternoon.

Direct speech: “I haven’t seen them since last week.”

Indirect speech: She said she hadn’t seen them since the previous week.

Reporting Questions

There are two types of questions that we can report – questions that have a yes/no response, and questions that begin with a question word like ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘who’ etc. When we report a yes/no question, we use ‘if’.

For example:

Direct speech: “Do they live here?”

Indirect speech: You asked me if they lived here.

As you can see, in the reported version of the question, ‘do’ is eliminated because it is no longer a question, and the verb ‘live’ becomes ‘lived’.

For questions starting with question words like ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘who’, etc., we report the question using the question word but change the interrogative form to the affirmative (interrogative-a word used in questions) (affirmative -request) form. For example:

Direct speech: “Where do they live?”

Indirect speech: You asked me where they lived.

Direct speech: “When are you leaving?”

Indirect speech: He asked us when we were leaving.

Direct speech: “How will they get here?”

Indirect speech: She asked me how they would get here.

Reporting Orders and Requests

When you give someone an order, you use the imperative form, which means using just the verb without a subject.

For example:

“Call me back later.”

“Have a seat.”

“Don’t do that!”

To report an order we use ‘tell’ and the infinitive of the verb. For example:

You told me to call you back later.

He told me to have a seat.

She told us not to do that.

When you make a request, you normally use words like ‘can’, ‘could’, or ‘will’.

For example:

“Could you call me back later?”

“Will you have a seat?”

“Can you not do that please?”

To report a request, we use the verb ‘to ask’ and the infinitive form of the verb.

For example:

You asked me to call you back later.

He asked me to have a seat.

She asked us not to do that.