DIRECT AND INDIRECT
SPEECH
LLB, Semester-I
DIRECT AND INDIRECT 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
⚫ Rama said, ‘I am very busy now’.
⚫ Rama said that he was very busy then.
In direct speech we use inverted commas to mark off the
exact words of the speaker. In indirect speech we do not.
While changing the above direct speech to
indirect speech certain changes have been
made,
We have used the conjunction that before
the indirect statement
The pronoun I is changed to he
(The Pronoun is changed in Person)
The verb am is changed to was (
Present tense is changed to past)
The adverb now is changed to then.
RULES FOR CHANGING
DIRECT SPEECH INTO
When the reporting verb isINDIRECT
in the Past Tense, all
Present Tense of the direct are changed into the
corresponding Past Tense
A simple present becomes a simple past.
Direct: He said, ‘I am unwell’
Indirect: He said(that) he was unwell.
A present continuous becomes a past continuous .
Direct: He said, ‘My master is writing
letters’
Indirect: He said(that) his master was writing
letters.
A Present Perfect becomes a Past Perfect
Direct: He said, ‘I have passed the
examination’.
Indirect: He said (that) he had passed the
examination.
Note- The shall of the Future Tense is
changed into should
The will of the Future Tense is changed into would or
should.
As a rule, the Simple past in the Direct becomes the
Past perfect in the indirect.
Direct- He said, ‘The horse died in the night’.
Indirect- He said that the horse had died
in the night.
MODIFICATION O F T ENSES
( IN T H E TRANSFORMATI ON – DI REC T TO I N D I R EC T SPEECH )
The tense form of the reported verb is changed
when the reporting verb is only in the past tense.
Reported verb in the Reported verb in the indirect
direct speech speech
Simple present Simple past
Present continuous Past continuous
Present perfect Past perfect
Simple past Past perfect
Past continuous Past perfect continuous
D: Rani said, “I am house wife”.
ID: Rani told that she was a house wife.
D: Siva said “My wife is working as an office manager”.
ID: Siva told that his wife was working as an office manager.
D:Geetha said, “I have passed IAS exam”.
ID: Geetha told that she had passed IAS exam.
D: Hema said,’ I joined the [Link] course”.
ID:Hema told that she had joined the [Link] course.
D: Arun said ‘mummy, I was sleeping”.
ID:Arun told his mother that he had been sleeping.
In the transformation, the modal auxiliaries are
changed as :
Note: the modal auxiliary ‘would’ is used only to
express futurity and ‘should’ is used only when there is a
queried future
Will Would
Can Could
May Might
Shall Would
D: Pradeepa said, “we shall come there”.
ID: Pradeepa told that they would come there.
D: Rahul said, “ shall I go tomorrow”.
ID: Rahul said whether she should go the
next day.
MODIFICATION O F ADVERBIALS &
DEMONSTRATIVES
Words expressing nearness in time or place are generally
changed into words expressing distance.
ago before
here there
today that day
now then
tomorrow the next day, the day after
yesterday the previous day, the day before
thus so
last night the night before
last week the previous week
The next week The following week
The demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative
adjectives are also changed in the Reported speech as
follows:
this that
these those
this boy that boy
these dogs those dogs
D: Sathi said, “ My sister will come here today.
ID: Sathi said that her sister would come there that day.
D: Vignesh said, “ I’II go to Tanjore the next week.
ID: Vignesh told that he would go to Tanjore the following
week.
D: Rahim said, “ I want this pen now”.
ID: Rahim told that he wanted that pen then.
REPORTING VERBS
Depending on the mood or meaning of the words
reported, we use different appropriate reporting verbs in
the reported speech.
For statement Said, told
For interrogatives
Wh questions enquired
Yes/No questions Asked, whether , asked if
For commands Odered, told, asked
For requests Requested, asked
For exclamatory Exclaimed, wondered
Some other verbs used are:- wished, greeted, advised,
warned, threatened, agreed, refused, praised, blamed,
blessed, cursed, complained.
QUESTI
ONS
In reporting questions the indirect speech is introduced
by some such verbs as asked, inquired, etc. When the
question is not introduced by an interrogative word, the
reporting verb is followed by whether or if.
D: He said to me, “what are you doing?”
ID: He asked me what I was doing.
D: “Where do you live”? Asked the stranger.
ID: The stranger enquired where I lived.
D: The policeman said to us, ‘where are you going?’
ID: The policeman enquired where we were going.
D: he said, ‘will you, listen to such a man.
ID: he asked them whether they would listen to
such a man. (Or) would they, he asked, listen to
such a man?
D: ‘Do you suppose you know better than your
own father?’ jeered his angry mother.
ID: His angry mother jeered and asked whether
he supposed that he knew better than his own
father.
D:My uncle said to me, “ what are you doing?
ID: My uncle enquired me what I was doing.
In reporting commands and requests, the Indirect Speech
is introduced by some verb expressing command or
request, and the imperative mood is changed into the
Infinitive.
D: Ram said to Arjun, ‘Go away.’
ID: Rama ordered Arjun to go away.
D: He said to him, ‘Please Wit here till I return.’
ID: He requested him to wait there till he returned.
D: ‘Call the first witness’, said the judge.
ID: The judge commanded them to call the first witness.
D: He shouted, ‘Let me go’.
ID: He shouted to them to let him go.
D: He said, ‘be quiet and listen to my words’.
ID: He urged them to be quiet and listen to his words.
D: The officer said to the peon, “ post these letters”.
ID: The officer ordered the peon to post those letters.
D: Mr. Moorthy said to his son, ‘Wash your clothes”.
ID: [Link] asked his son to wash his clothes
D: Mani said, ‘ Father, give me fifty rupees please’.
ID: Mani requested his father to give him fifty rupees.
D: The HM said to the peon, ‘Ring the bell’.
ID: The HM ordered the peon to ring the bell.
D: [Link] said, to his grand child, Princy, ‘Wish you
best of luck’.
ID: [Link] wished his grandchild, Princy, best of luck.
EXCLAMATIONS
AND WISHES
In reporting exclamations and wishes in the Indirect
Speech is introduced by some verb expressing
exclamation or wish.
D:He said, ‘Alas! I am undone’.
ID: He exclaimed sadly that he was undone.
D: Alice said, ‘How clever I am!’
ID: Alice exclaimed that she was very clever.
D: He said, ‘Bravo! You have done well’.
ID: He applauded him, saying that he had done well.
D: ‘So help me, haven!; ‘I will never steal again’.
ID: He called upon Haven to witness his resolve never
to steal again.
D: Ravi said, ‘What a great man Suresh is!’
ID: Ravi exclaimed that Suresh was a very great man.
D: Selvi said, ‘How beautiful the rose is!’
ID: Selvi exclaimed that the rose was very beautiful.
D: ‘Happy birthday, my dear Deepa!’, said her grand-
father.
ID: Deepa’s grand father wished her a happy birthday.
