English Grammar - Narrations - Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct and Indirect Speech

Narrations are divide into two parts or the ways of reporting ( بیان) people's words.

1. Direct Speech:

   It is someone's actual words. It is always written in quotation marks or inverted commas ("  "). And begin with capital letters.
   e.g:
   He says, " I am hungry." (Direct speech)
   

2. Indirect Speech:

   If someone's actual words. are narrated by another  or third person without quoting actual words or if we may report someone's actual words in our own words. It is called indirect speech or reported speech. In indirect speech commas and inverted commas are replaced by that ( or if / whether for questions) .
   The verb introducing the reporting speech is called reporting verb and it is written before reported speech
   e.g:
   He says that he is hungry.
   In this example He says is reporting verb while that he is hungry is reported speech.

Rules to Change Direct speech into Indirect speech

AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES

Rule 1: Changing the punctuation. To change direct speech into indirect (reported) speech:

• We remove the inverted commas in the direct speech and
• Commas after the reporting verbs.

e.g:
1- She says, "I have read this book."(Direct speech)
Ans: She says that she has read that book. (Indirect speech)

Rule 2: Changing the time and place expression.

Direct	Indirect
come	go
here	there
these	those
today	that day
tomorrow	next day or following day
yesterday	the day before or the previous day
ago	before
thus	so
this	that
now	then
last week	the week before or the previous week
next day or week etc	the following day or week etc
the day after tomorrow	in two days time
last night	the night before

e.g:
1- She says, " I have read this book." (Direct speech)
Ans: She says that she has read that book. (Indirect speech)

2- He said," It may rain today." (Direct speech)
Ans: He said that it might rain that day. (Indirect speech)

Rule 3:Changing the person:

• First person pronoun "I" and "We" and first person possessive adjective "me". "my", "us" and "our" change according to the subject  ( جو بات کرے) of the reporting verb.
  e.g:
  1- She says, " These are my books." (Direct speech)
  Ans: She says that those are her books. (Indirect speech)
  
  2- They said, " We have completed our work." (Direct speech)
  Ans: They said that they had completed their work. (Indirect speech)
  
  
• Second person pronoun "you" and second person possessive adjective "your" change according to the object( جس سے بات کی جاۓ) of the reporting verb.
  e.g:
  1- He will say to her," You are not a good friend."  (Direct speech)
  Ans: He will tell her that she is not a good friend. (Indirect speech)

1st, 2nd and 3rd person in direct speech	Change as in Indirect speech
I, my , me	Subject reporting verb
We, us our	Subject reporting verb
you, your	Object of reporting verb
He, She, it, They	No change

• Sometime there is no object after reporting verb and speaker says "you" in a sentence. It is assume that the speaker is talking to me ( آپ سے بات کر رہا ہے) so change You into I/me or we /us.
  e.g:
  1. They says, " you are good in English grammar." (Direct speech)
  Ans: They says that I am good in English grammar. (Indirect speech)
  
  
• Third person pronouns "he", "she", "it", "they" or name of a person and third person possessive adjective "his /him ", "her", "its" and "their/ them" never change.
  e.g :
  1. You say to me," She will pass her exam." (Direct speech)
  Ans: You tell me that she will pass her exam. (Indirect speech)

Rule 4: Change of Reporting verb:

• If reporting verb is say to / says to / will say to / said to than according to the sentence it will change as;

say to → tell
says to → tells
will say to → will tell
said to → told

e.g:
1- You say to me, " She will pass her exam." (Direct speech)
Ans: you tell me that she will pass her exam. (Indirect speech)

2- She says to her daughter," you are lazy." (Direct speech)
Ans: She tells her that she is lazy. (Indirect speech)

3- They will say to him, "We can do it." (Direct speech)
Ans: They will tell him that they can do it. (Indirect speech)

4- He said to her sister," You have made a great mistake." (Direct speech)
Ans: He told her sister that she had made a mistake. (Indirect speech)

Rule 5: Changing the tenses:

• If the reporting speech is in present tense, present perfect or future indefinite tense (Simple future), there is no change of tenses in the reported speech.
• If the reporting verb is in past tense, than reported speech will also change in past.

(i) A Reporting Verb is in present

e.g

1. Saba says, " I have read this story." (Direct speech)
   Saba says that she has read that story. (Indirect speech)
   
   
2. He says to me," you are wasting your money."(Direct speech)
   He tells me that I am wasting my money.(Indirect speech)
   
   
3. They say, It is going to rain today."(Direct speech)
   They say that it is going to rain that day.(Indirect speech)

(ii) A Reporting Verb is in present perfect

e.g:

1. Saba has said, " I have read this story." (Direct speech)
   Saba has said that she has read that story.(Indirect speech)
   
   
2. She has said to me," he will help her." (Direct speech)
   She has told me that he will help her. (Indirect speech)
   
   
3. Ahmed and Raza have said to their sister,"You do not work hard." (Direct speech)
   Ahmed and Raza have told their sister that she does not work hard. (Indirect speech)

(iii) A Reporting Verb is in Simple Future tense

e.g:

1. We will say," we can do it." (Direct speech)
   We will say that we can do it.(Indirect speech)
   
   
2. He will say to him," you are not a good friend." (Direct speech)
   He will tell him that he is not a good friend. (Indirect speech)
   
   
3. We will say, " they are good students." (Direct speech)
   We will say that they are good student. (Indirect speech)

Note: There is no change in the tenses of reporting apeech

B - Reporting Verb is in Past tense

If the reporting verb is in past tense, following changes takes place in reported speech:

1. Present Indefinite Tense → Past Indefinite Tense.
   e.g:
   He said to me," I change my subject now" (Direct speech)
   He told me that he changed my subject then.(Indirect speech)
   
   
2. Present Continuous Tense → Past Continuous Tense
   e.g:
   She said to her," You are not doing well in your studies." (Direct speech)
   She told her that she was not doing well in her studies. (Indirect speech)
   
   
3. Present Perfect Tense → Past Perfect Tense
   e.g:
   He said to John,"You have made a great mistake." (Direct speech)
   He told John that he had made a great mistake. (Indirect speech)
   
   
4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense → Past Perfect Continuous Tense
   e.g:
   She said to her sister,"You have been wasting your time for three days." (Direct speech)
   She told her sister that she had been wasting her time for three days. (Indirect speech)
   
   
5. Past Indefinite Tense → Past Perfect Tense
   e.g:
   She said to me," You made a good decision (Direct speech)
   She told me that I had made a good decision. (Indirect speech)
   
   
6. Past Continuous Tense → Past Perfect Continuous Tense
   e.g:
   He said to her," You were wearing a red dress."(Direct speech)
   He told her that she had been wearing a red dress.(Indirect speech)
   
   
7. Past Perfect Tense → No change
   e.g:
   She said," I had not met him before." (Direct speech)
   She said that she had not met him before. (Indirect speech)
   
   
8. Past Perfect Continuous Tense → No change
   e.g:
   My friend said to me," I had been living in Dubai for two years." (Direct speech)
   My friend told me that he had been living in Dubai for two years. (Indirect speech)
   
   
9. Will / Shall → would / should
   e.g:
   They said to us," You will get reward." (Direct speech)
   They told us that we would get reward. (Indirect speech)
   
   
10. will be (ing) → would be (ing)
    e.g:
    Nadir said to me," He will be playing in the ground." (Direct speech)
    Nadir told me that He would be playing in the ground.  (Indirect speech)
    
    
11. Must → had to e.g:
    He said to me," You must take care of your health." (Direct speech)
    He told me that I had to take care of my health. (Indirect speech)
    
    
12. Can → could
    e.g:
    He said to me,"I can speak English." (Direct speech)
    He told me that he could speak English. (Indirect speech)
    
    
13. May → might
    e.g:
    He said," It may rain today." (Direct speech)
    He said that it might rain today. (Indirect speech)
    
    
14. Have to / has to → had to
    e.g:
    She said," You have to hurry." (Direct speech)
    She said that I had to hurry. (Indirect speech)
    
    
15. Would/ should / might / could / had to / had better / ought to / used to → No change
    e.g:
    She said," I used to live here." (Direct speech)
    She said that she used to live here. (Indirect speech)

Rule 6: NoChange In Universal Truth:

• If the reported speech is universal truth in Direct speech, than there is no change in tense in indirect speech whether reporting verb is in present, past or future .
  e.g:
  He said," Earth is round."
  He said that earth is round.
  
  He said," Honesty is the best policy."
  He said that honesty is the best policy.
  
  My teacher said," Aid is caused by a virus."
  My teacher said that aid is caused by a virus.

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

Rule 7: Changing Simple Interrogative Sentences:

• Change the reporting verb to ask / asked.
• Instead of that , "If " or "Whether" is used. "If" is more common / popular.
• The simple interrogative sentence is changed into an affirmative sentence.
• The simple interrogative sentence begins with an auxiliary / helping verbs or modals e.g am / is / are / was / were /shall / will / can / could / may / might / must / should / would etc.
• It also begins with do  / does /did .
• Rule 5: change the tense also apply on Interrogative sentences.
  e.g:
  He says to me," Do you help the poor?"
  He asks me if I help the poor.
  
  They said to her," Did you find your book?"
  They asked her if she had found her book.
  
  She said to Zain," Can you speak English?"
  She asked Zain if he could speak English.
  
  Maria said to him," Are you not taking the exam?"
  Maria asked him if he was not taking the exam.
  
  Nadia said to me," Were you sleeping all the time?"
  Nadia asked me if I had been sleeping all the time

Rule 8: Changing Real Interrogative Sentences:

• Like simple interrogative sentences, change the reporting verb to ask / asked.
• Do not use if / whether but the given interrogative word is used.
• The real interrogative sentence is changed to an affirmative sentence.
• Real interrogative sentences begin with interrogative words (Wh). e.g: what / when / who / which / whose / why / where / how / whom, etc.
  e.g:
  He said," What do you do?"
  He asked what I did.
  
  " Where did you go?". they said to me.
  They asked me where I had gone.
  
  She said to him," Why are you late?"
  She asked him why he was late.
  
  He said," What I will do?"
  He asked what I would do.
  
  We said to her," Who was making a noise?"
  We asked her who had been  making a noise.

IMPERATIVE SENTENCES(COMMANDS AND REQUESTS

Rule 9: Changing Imperative Sentences:

• An imperative sentence make a request or give a command.
• The reporting verb is changed to order / ordered, tell / told, beg / begged, warn / warned, advise / advised / remind / reminded, ask / asked, forbid / forbade, request / requested etc
  We can use ,
  tell or order for command
  ask or request for requests
  forbid or told for restrictions
• Positive imperative sentences start with "to" and negative imperative sentences with "not to".
  e.g:
  COMMAND
  He said to me," Shut the door."
  He ordered (told) me to shut the door.
  
  He said to them," Stop talking."
  He ordered (told) them to stop talking.
  Note: Command sentence begins with verb.
  
  REQUEST
  She said," Please find me a job."
  She requested (asked) me to find her a job.
  
  RESTRICTION
  They said to us," Don't go there."
  They told us not to go there. OR
  They forbade us to go there.
  
  He said to me,"Don't pluck the flower.
  He told me not to pluck the flower OR
  He forbade me to pluck the flower.

Note: In restriction sentence
if tell / told is used in reporting verb, reporting speech begins with "not to".
if forbid / forbade is used in reporting verb, reporting speech begins with " to".

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
said + exclamation mark	exclaimed
said + wish	wished
said + hope	hoped
said + promise	promised

EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES

Rule 10: Changing Exclamatory Sentences:

• An exclamatory sentence expresses a thought with strong emotions.  Exclamatory sign "!" show that the given sentence is exclamatory.
• "that" is used in exclamatory sentence to change in indirect speech.
• reporting speech is changed to affirmative sentence.
• The reporting verb is "expressed with sorrow / joy" OR "tell".
  e.g:
  He said," Alas! I am ruined."
  He exclaimed with sorrow that he was ruined.
  
  The boys said," Hurrah! We have won the match."
  The boys exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.
  
  They said," Thank you."
  They thanked me
  
  She said,"What a silly mistake!."
  She exclaimed that it was a silly mistake.
  
  He said,"What a hot day!"
  He exclaimed that it was a hot day

Note: If exclamatory sentence begins with "what " than reporting speech is start with "it".

OR

By Sir Khalid Khan (Anees Hussain)

OR

By Practical Center