Direct & Indirect

Narration
Indirect (Reported)
Speech

We use when we want

to tell another person
about a conversation
that took place usually
in the past.
 Reported Speech
• We may report the words of a speaker in two ways:
• “Direct Speech” and “Indirect Speech”.
1. Direct Speech: means to say exactly what the other
one said. The constructions of direct speech in
general consists of two parts of sentences :
a. Main clause which is called “reporting verb”
b. Sub clause which is called “reported words”.
He said, “I am a teacher.”
Main clause Reported words
(Reporting
Verb)
 2. Indirect Narration (Speech)

Indirect speech or reported speech tells

about the main discussion or opinion
of someone that is as a compound sentence
which consists of main clause and sub clause
separated by certain conjunctions and sub
clause by means of some changes.
He said, “I am busy now.”
He said that he was busy then.
 Changes in Indirect Narration
1. We have removed the comma in the indirect
sentence and used conjunction ‘that’ in its place.
2. We have removed the inverted commas of the
reported speech.
3. We have changed the ‘I’ of the reported speech
into he’.
4. We have not used any capital letter in between the
sentence unlike in the direct form where the reported
speech always begins with a capital letter.
[Link] have changed the adverb of time.
Example: Mohan said, “He went to college”.
Mohan told that he had gone to college.
 CHANGE OF ADVERBS OF TIME & PLACE

• DIRECT SPEECH REPORTED SPEECH

• yesterday  the day before
• tomorrow  the next/following day
• next day/week  the following day/week
• today  that day
• now  then
• here  there
• this  that
• these  those
 Change of Personal Pronouns
person 1st 2nd
3rd
singular plural singular plural singular plural
number
common common common common Male female Neuter Male female Neuter
gender
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

myself ourselves yourself yourselves Himself herself

Reflexive
itself themselves
07-05-2009 BCK 7
 Change of Personal Pronouns
 First person pronouns shall change as per subject of
main clause.
She said, “I will go to London.”
She said that she would go to London.
Second person pronouns change as per object of the
main clause.
She said to me, “You are a brilliant student.”
She told me that I was a brilliant student.
Third person pronouns do not have any change.
He said, “She will buy a pen.”
He said that she would buy a pen. 8
 Changes in Indirect Narration
Now, in order to bring about these changes while
converting from direct into indirect or vice-versa,
there are several important but simple rules that
need to be observed. They are :
When the introductory verb (say, tell, inform, state,
claim…) is in the present or future tense, no change
in tense or adverbs of time and place is necessary
Direct speech:
He says: “I don’t understand this question”.
Reported speech:
He says that he doesn’t understand this question.
 Changes in Indirect Narration

• When the introductory verb is in the Past

Tense, there is a change of tense and
adverbs of time and place.
Direct speech:
He said: “I don’t understand this question”.
Reported speech:
He said that he didn’t understand that
question.
CHANGE OF TENSES
 CHANGE OF TENSES
PRESENT SIMPLE changes into PAST SIMPLE

He said, “I write a letter.”

He said that he wrote a letter.

He said, “We do not like computer.”

He said that they did not like computer.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS changes into PAST CONTINUOUS

He said, “He is listening to the music.”
He said that he was listening to the music.
 CHANGE OF TENSES
PRESENT PERFECT changes into PAST PERFECT
She said, “He has finished his work.”
She said that he had finished his work.
He said, “I have started a job.”
He said that he had started a job.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS changes into PAST PERFECT

CONTINUOUS
He said, “I have been studying since 3 O’clock.”
He said that he had been studying since 3 O’clock.
 CHANGE OF TENSES
PAST SIMPLE changes into PAST PERFECT
He said to me, “You answered correctly.”
He said to me that I had answered correctly.

PAST CONTINUOUS changes into PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

He said to me, “ I was waiting for you.”
He said to me that he had been waiting for me.
PAST PERFECT and PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS don’t occur any
change of tense)
She said, “She had visited a doctor.”
She said that she had visited a doctor.
Mohan said, “He had been playing football.”
Mohan said that he had been playing football.
 CHANGE OF TENSES
FUTURE IDEFINITE TENSE: WILL changes into WOULD (Common Rule in
all the future tenses just will changes into would)
She said, “I will buy a computer.”
She said that she would buy a computer.
FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE: WILL BE changes into WOULD BE
I said to him, “ I will be waiting for him.”
I said to him that I would be waiting for him.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE: WILL HAVE changes into WOULD HAVE
He said, “I will have finished the work.”
He said that he would have finished the work.
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE: WILL HAVE BEEN changes into
WOULD HAVE BEEN
Amit said, “He will have been sleeping till evening.”
Amit said that he would have been sleeping till evening.
 Changes in Interrogative Sentences
• There are two types of questions: ‘wh’ questions,
i.e. questions beginning with any of the wh
words, such as ‘who’, ‘which’, ‘what’, ‘how’, etc.
• He said, “Who is your teacher.”
• He asked who your teacher was.
• And ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions, i.e. questions
beginning with any of the auxiliary (helping)
verbs, such as ‘are’, ‘is’, ‘can’, ‘will’, ‘has’, etc.
• Rohan said, “Am I going to Mumbai?”
• Rohan asked if he was going to Mumbai.
 Changes in Yes/No Questions
• 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.
• A woman said to me, “Is she really driving?” (Direct
Speech)
A woman asked me if she was really driving.
(Indirect Speech)
 Sequence of Words in Questions
• The word order of the question sentence is
different from that of the statement sentence.
• In a statement sentence the subject comes first
and the verb comes second, but in interrogative
(question) sentence, the verb comes first and
the subject comes second:
• He is a boy. Statement Sentence
‘He’ – subject – first; ‘is’ – verb – second
Is he a boy? Interrogative (question) sentence
‘Is’ – verb – first; ‘he’ – subject – second.
Changes in Interrogative Sentences
• 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

 Changes in Interrogative Sentences
• He said to her, “What has he done?”
‘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!
• The man said to the boy, “Can you see those stars
or not?” (Direct Speech - ‘can’ – ‘yes’/ ‘no’
question)
The man enquired the boy whether he could see
those stars or not. (Indirect Speech- “whether… or
not”)
 Change in Model Verbs
• Might, should, would, ought to, used to, need, had better
do not change into indirect speech. However, the following
changes occur..
• Can ---- Could
• May---- Might
• Must----Must (if it denotes future meaning, it changes into
‘had to’, ‘would have to’, ‘has to/will have to’)
• He said, “I must go at once.”
• He said that he had to go at once.
• He said, “I must go next week.”
• He said that he would have to go the following week.
• He says, “I must go tomorrow.”
• He says that he has to (will have to) go tomorrow.
• He said, “Children must obey their parents.”
• He said that children must obey their parents.
 Change in Imperative Sentences
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!
The policeman said to the drivers, “Stop!” (Direct )
The policeman shouted at the drivers to stop.
• ‘to stop’ – “to infinitive” form of the main verb
‘stop’
 Imperative Sentences Examples
He requested the visitors to keep quiet.
Indirect Speech
• 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
The mother said, “Don’t cry, baby… Don’t cry.”
Direct Speech

The mother told the baby repeatedly not to cry.

Indirect Speech
 Changes in Exclamatory Sentences
• An exclamatory sentence has a sign of exclamation after it
which changes into a full stop in the indirect speech.
• In indirect speech, the exclamatory phrase or word
(interjection) is replaced by ‘exclaimed with joy, sorrow,
regret, surprise, contempt etc.’
• The connective that has to be supplied in the indirect
speech.
• Examples are given below:
The boy said, ‘Hurrah! We have won the match.’
The boy exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.
The old man said, ‘Alas! I have lost my purse.’
The old man exclaimed with sorrow that he had lost his
purse.
Changes in Sentences Having ‘Let’
• 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!
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
 Exercises
• Sentences are given in the direct speech.
Change them into the indirect speech.
1. He said, “I have got a toothache”.
2. Manu said, “I am very busy now”.
3. “Hurry up,” she said to us.
4. “Give me a cup of water,” he told her.
5. She said, “I am going to college.”
6. She said to me, “Thank you.”
 Exercises
• 7. Raju said, “Gautam must go tomorrow”.
• 8. Geetha says, “My father is an Engineer.”
• 9. He said, “I have passed the physical test.”
• 10. She said to me, “You are my only friend.”
• 11. “I love you,” he told me.
• 12. “Where are you going?” James asked
Mary.
 Exercises of Questions
1. “What do you want?” she asked him.
2. “Are you coming with us?” he asked me.
3. He asked, “When do you intend to make the
payment?”
4. “Do you come from China?” said the prince to the girl.
5. The poor man exclaimed, “Will none of you help me?”
6. “Which way should I go?” asked the little girl.
7. Alladin said to the magician, “What have I done to
deserve so severe a punishment?”
 Exercises of Questions
8. “Don’t you know the way home?” I said to her.
9. “Do you write a good hand?” the teacher said to the
student.
10. “Have you anything to say on behalf of the accused?” said
the judge finally.
11. “Have you anything to tell me, little bird?” asked Ulysses.
12. “Who are you, sir, and what do you want?” they asked.
13. The king was impressed with the magician and asked,
“What can I do for you?”
14. She asked, “What is it that makes you stronger and braver
than other men?”
15. “Can you solve this problem?” he asked me.
 Answers:
• 1. He said that he had got a toothache.
• 2. Manu said that he was very busy then.
• 3. She told us to hurry up.
• 4. He asked her to give him a cup of water.
• 5. She said that she was going to college.
• 6. She thanked me.
• 7. Raju said that Gautam would have to go the following day.
• 8. Geetha says that her father is an Engineer.
• 9. He said that he had passed the physical test.
• 10. She told me that I was her only friend.
• 11. He told me that he loved me.
• 12. James asked Mary where she was going.
• Answers
• 1. She asked him what he wanted.
2. He asked me if I was coming/going with them.
3. He enquired when I/he/she intended to make the payment.
4. The prince asked the girl if she came from China.
5. The poor man exclaimed whether none of them would help him.
6. The little girl asked which way she should go.
7. Alladin asked the magician what he had done to deserve so severe a
punishment.
8. I asked her whether she did not know the way home.
9. The teacher asked the student if he/she wrote a good hand.
10. The judge finally asked whether he/she had anything to say on
behalf of the accused.
11. Ulysses asked the little bird whether it had anything to tell him.
12. They asked who he was and what he wanted.
13. The king was impressed with the magician and asked what he could
do for him.
14. She asked him what was it that made him stronger and braver than
other men.
15. He asked me if I could solve that problem.
Thank You
Any Questions?..