Direct / indirect speech

Speech
 The way in which a particular person speaks is called speech .
 There are two types of speech
1. Direct speech (quated speech )
2. Indirect speech ( reported speech)
1.Direct speech:
o It is a speech in which we represent the exact words of the speakers mouth
Example; Ali said, “I am busy.”

2.Indirect speech:
o It is a speech in which we represent the idea of the speaker in our own words
Example ; Ali said that he is busy.

NOTE : Direct speech is consist of two parts

1; Reporting clause / Main clause
2; Reported clause / Noun clause

e.g ; He said. “ I am busy .”

reporting reported

NOTE: while making direct speech we should keep 5 five things in mind.
1; Comma ,
2; Quotation marks “
3; Capitalized the first letter
4; Using full stop [.] or ? according to the sentence
5; Terminal quotation mark “

e.g. She said, “ I am busy . ”

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Changing of direct speech into Indirect speech

o While changing Direct speech into indirect speech we should learn these points

1; Change pronoun

2; Change verb / Tense

3; Change of some words

1. Change pronouns:
A) If the subject of reported clause is I/YOU then it will change to the subject of
reporting clause
Ex ; He said , “ I am busy.” Direct speech

Ex; He said that he is busy . indirect speech

B) If the subject of the reported clause is YOU . then it will change to the object of the
reporting clause .
Ex; He said to me, “ You are intelligent.”

EX; He said to me that I am intelligent.

C) If the subject of reported clause is the ( HE, SHE, IT ,THEY ) then it will unchanged

Ex; Alia said , “ He is sick,”

Ex; Alia said that he is sick.

Changing of Verbs
a) When the verb of reporting clause (said) is in present ,future and perfect then we
won’t change the tense in indirect speech . then we will only change the pronouns .

Ex; She says,” I teach English .”

Ex; She says that she teaches English .

b) When the verb of reporting clause is in past then it has two possibilities .

1; Soon report .

2; Late report .

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1) Soon Report :
o It is a report in which we represent the idea immediately and here tense cannot be changed .

Ex; He said ,” I am watching TV.”

Ex; He said that he is watching TV.

2) Late Report :
o It is a report in which we do not represent the idea immediately and here tense should be
changed.

Ex; He said ,” I am playing cricket.”

Ex; He said that he was playing cricket .

Change of Tenses
1 Simple present tense changes to Simple past tense
Ex; He said, “ I eat beryani.” (direct speech)
Ex; He said that he ate beryani . ( indirect speech )
2)Present continuous tense changes to Past continuous tense
Ex; She said , “ I am cooking the meal.” (direct speech )

Ex; She said that she was cooking the meal. (indirect speech )

3 Present perfect tense changes to Past perfect tense

Ex; They said, “ We have played cricket.”
Ex ; They said that they had played cricket.
4)Present perfect continuous tense changes to Past perfect continuous tense
Ex; She said, “ I have been cleaning the kitchen.”
Ex; She said that she had been cleaning the kitchen.

5) Simple past tense changes to Past perfect tense

Ex; He told me, “ You played well.”
Ex; He told me that I played well.

6) Past continuous tense changes to Past perfect continuous tense

Ex; Tufail said, “ He was hitting the ball.”
Ex; Tufail said that he had been hitting the ball.

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Past perfect tense changes to Past perfect tense

Ex; Sana said, “I had washed the clothes .”
Ex; Sana said that she had washed the clothes.
Past perfect continuous tense changes to Past perfect continuous tense
Ex; Ali said, “I had been learning English.”
Ex; Ali said that he had been learning English.

Changes of different words

While changing direct speech into indirect speech the
following words should be kept in mind.

Direct speech Indirect speech

Can Could
She said, “I can cook beryani.” She said that she could cook beryani.
Shall Should
Ali said, “ I shall wash the car.” Ali said that he should wash the car.
Will Would
Huma said, “I will study hard.” Huma said that she would study hard.
May Might
Ahmad said, “I may come home.” Ahmad said that he might come home.
Be going to Was/were going to
He said, “I am going to watch a movie.” He said that he was going to watch a movie.
Have to/ has to Had to
Naheeda said, “I have to study English .” Naheeda said that she had to study English .
Tomorrow The next day
They said, “ We will come tomorrow.” They said that they would come the next
day.
This That
He said, “ This is my book.” He said that was his book.
These Those
Sana said, “These are grammar notes.” Sana said that those were grammar notes.
Now Then
Muskan said, “ I am studying now.” Muskan said that I was studying then.”
Here There
Sareer said, “I am here.” Sareer said that he was there.
Today That day
Fasih said, “ he is coming today.” Fasih said that he was coming that day.
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Tonight That night

They said, “We will come tonight.” They said that they would come that night.
Yesterday The last day/ the day before
Zuhaib said, “ I went to bazar yesterday.” Zuhaib said that he had gone to bazar the
last day.
Ago Before
Maryam said,”I went to Lahore 2 days ago.” Maryam said that she had gone to Lahore 2
days before.
Sir/ madam Respectfully
He said, “ Sir, I am learning English .” He said respectfully that he was learning
English.
Thus So
Ali said,”I was thirsty thus I fell asleep.” Ali said that he had been thirsty so he had
fallen asleep.

Note: some auxiliary verbs do not changes to indirect speech while changing it we
should just change the pronouns

Eg ( should , would, could, ought to, might, must…. Etc

How to change imperative sentences from direct to indirect speech

To change imperative sentences from direct speech into indirect speech we
should learn the following words ( Order , Request , advise , command ) because
the word( said) will change to these words in indirect speech.

( order , request , advise , command ) + object + infinitive

Example ; Ali said, “ Open the door.” ( direct speech )

Example ; Ali ordered me to open the door. ( Indirect speech )

Example ; Ahmad said to Ali , “ Please give me a pen.”

Example ; Ahmad requested Ali to give him a pen.

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Negative imperative :
Example ; The Teacher said, “ Don’t talk.”

Example ; The Teacher ordered him not to talk.

Changes of let’s :
When you want to change the phrase let’s to indirect speech use the following structure
Structure : Subject + Suggested + gerund

Example ; He said , “ let’s play cricket.”

Example ;He suggested playing cricket.

How to ( WH ) question to indirect speech:

When we change ( WH ) questions from direct speech to indirect speech the ( WH ) word
should be the same and the question order should be changed to simple sentence order.
And the verb (said) changes to ( ask / wanted to know )

Example ; He said , “ Where do you live ?” ( direct speech)

Example ; He asked me where I lived. ( indirect speech )

Example ; He said , “ When did you study English?” ( direct speech )

Example ; He asked me when I had studied English . ( indirect speech )

How to change ( yes/no question ) to indirect speech:

When we change ( yes /no questions ) from direct to indirect speech we use (IF/Whether)
before reported clause and change the question order of reported clause to simple
sentence order.

Example ; He said, “ Do you play cricket?” ( direct speech)

Example ; He asked me if I played cricket. ( indirect speech )

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Example ; Ali said, “Are you busy?”

Example ; Ali asked me whether I was busy.

How to change exclamatory sentences to indirect speech:

Exclamatory sentence :
 The sentence which expresses the state of joy, wonder or sorrow is called
exclamatory sentence.

Example; hurrah! I won the match.

Example;Alas! I failed the test.

Example ; wow! What a nice shirt it is.

 Therefore, to change them from direct to indirect speech , some specific words are
added ( eg. Exclaimed with sorrow, exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with wonder)

Example; He said , “ Hurrah! I won the match.”

Example ; He exclaimed with joy that he had won the match.

Example2; Alia said, “ Alas! I failed the test.”

Example2; Alia exclaimed with sorrow that she had failed the test.

Example3; Sami said, “ Wow! What a nice shirt it is.”

Example3; Sami exclaimed with wonder that what a nice shirt it is.

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