All about Direct and indirect speech assertive Sentences
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Communication Skills in English For Engineers and Technologists
English Grammar
Direct and Indirect Speech
We can 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 actual words. This is called Indirect (or Reported) Speech.
So we can define:
When the actual words spoken by a person are produced it is said to be in direct speech.
When the words are reported by someone is in his or her words, it is said to be in indirect speech.
Ram said to Mohan, "I am busy today." - Direct Speech
Ram told Mohan that he was busy that day. - Indirect Speech
A sentence in Direct speech has two parts -
- Ram said to Mohan - reporting verb
- "I am busy today" - reported speech
Let's look at the difference between direct speech statements and indirect switch statements.
| Direct speech | Indirect speech |
|---|---|
| They are always enclosed within inverted commas | No inverted commas are used |
| A comma is used to separate the reporting verb and direct speech | No such commas are used |
In converting Direct Speech into Indirect Speech, we have made certain changes :
- The reporting verb 'said to' is changed to 'told'
- The connective 'that' is used to introduce the indirect statement.
- The pronoun 'I' is changed to 'he'.
- The present tense is changed to the past tense.
- The adverb 'now' is changed to 'then'. (The words showing nearness are changed into words showing remoteness.)
1. Reporting verbs and connectives are used according to the kind of sentence given in the inverted commas.
| Kind of sentence | Reporting verb | Connectives |
|---|---|---|
| Assertive sentence (statement) |
say/tell | that |
| Imperative sentence (order/request/ advice, etc.) |
tell/ order/ advise/command/ warn/ suggest, etc. | to/not to |
| Interrogative sentence (question) |
ask/ inquire | if/ whether and WH word |
| Exclamatory sentence | exclaim | that |
2. Changes in Pronouns
Pronouns in the reported speech are changed according to the person of the speaker and the listener.
All the first-person and second-person pronouns in the reported speech are changed according to the gender, number and person of the speaker and the listener.
Instead of 'you'(as a subject) 'he', 'she' or 'they'
and instead of 'your' ', his', 'her' and 'their'
and instead of 'you'(as an object) ', him',' her' or 'them' are used.
- If the speaker is in the first person, all the pronouns coming for the speaker remain in the first person.
E.g.. I said to Monu, "I wrote a letter to you."
I told Monu that I had written a letter to her. - If the speaker is in the second person, all the pronouns that come for the speaker change into second person pronoun.
E. g. You said to Monu, "I wrote a letter to you."
You told Monu that you had written a letter to her. - If the speaker is in the third person, all the pronouns that come for the speaker change into a third-person pronoun.
Eg. He said to Monu, "I wrote a letter to you."
She told Monu that he had written a letter to her. - If the listener is in the first person all the pronouns that stand for the listener change into a first-person pronoun.
Eg. Ramesh said to me, "I wrote a letter to you."
Ramesh told me that he had written a letter to me. - If the listener is in the second person all the pronouns that stand for the listener change into the second person pronoun.
Eg. Ramesh said to you I wrote a letter to you.
Ramesh told you that he had written a letter to you. - If the listener is in the third person all the pronouns that stand for the listener change into the third person pronouns.
Eg. I said to Monu, "I wrote a letter to you."
I told Monu that I had written a letter to her.
3. Changes in Tenses
When direct speech is changed into indirect speech, changes occur in tense.
If the reporting verb in the direct speech statement is in the present tense, then it remains in the present tense in the indirect speech statement too.
For example, My grandmother says, 'If you do good to others, good things happen to you.'
My grandmother says that if you do good to others, good things happen to you.
In the above two sentences, you will notice that the verbs 'says', 'do', and 'happen' remain the same in the indirect speech. This is because the reporting verb 'says' is in the present tense.
Kavita has said, 'We will go to the zoo today'.
Kavita has said that we will go to the zoo today.
In the above sentences, 'will go' remains the same in the indirect speech. This is because the reporting verb 'has said' is in the present perfect tense. (As well as the word 'today' also doesn't change into 'that day'.)
If the reporting verb in the direct speech statement is in the future tense, then it remains in the future tense in the indirect speech statement, too.
For example, Mrs Preethi will say, 'Students, you need to study regularly to get good marks. Mrs Preethi will say that the students need to study regularly to get good marks.
In the above two sentences, the verbs will say', and 'need' remain the same in the indirect speech. This is because the reporting verb 'will say' is in the future tense.
4. If the reporting verb is in the past tense, the verbs within the inverted commas in the direct speech will undergo corresponding changes in the indirect speech statements.
| No. | Direct speech | Indirect speech |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simple present tense V1 |
Simple past tense V2 |
| 2 | Present continuous tense Am/is/are +V1 +ing |
Past continuous tense Was/were + V1+ing |
| 3 | Present perfect tense Have/has + V3 |
Past perfect tense Had + V3 |
| 4 | Present perfect continuous tense Have/has+ been+ing |
Past perfect continuous tense Had been+V1+ing |
| 5 | Simple past tense V2 |
Past perfect tense Had+V3 |
| 6 | Past continuous tense Was /were+V1+ing |
Past perfect continuous tense Had been + V1 + ing |
| 7 | Past perfect tense had+V3 | Remains unchanged |
| 8 | Past perfect continuous tense Had been+V1+ing |
Remains unchanged |
| 9 | Future tense Will/shall can may must |
Conditionals Would could might must/had to |
5. Words expressing nearness are changed into words expressing distance.
| No |
Direct speech | indirect speech |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | this | that |
| 2 | these | those |
| 3 | here | there |
| 4 | now | then |
| 5 | today | that day |
| 6 | tonight | that night |
| 7 | tomorrow | the next day/ The day after |
| 8 | yesterday | the day before/ The previous day |
| 9 | last night | the night before/ The previous night |
| 10 | next week | the following week |
| 11 | last week | the previous week |
| 12 | ago | before |
Direct and indirect speech
Assertive sentence
or
Statement.
Reporting verb - Say or tell /said or told
If the listener is given 'tell' other wise 'say' can be used as it is.
Connective - that
Remaining steps as mentioned above.
For example :
1. Mohan said, "I am giving a party to all my friends this week."
Ans.
Mohan said that he was giving a party to all his friends that week.
2. The doctor said to her, "Youu may have to stay in bed for a week."
Ans.
The doctor told her that she might have to stay in bed for a week.
Exercise
1. I said to my uncle, "I need your help."
2. My teacher said to me, "You are wasting your time"
3. The boy said to his mother, "I have spoken the truth."
4. He said, "My pet dog died last week."
5 . He said to her, "I shall go to Mumbai tomorrow."
6. The hostel warden said to me. "You may stay here."
7. You said to her, "You met me last year."
8. She said to her husband, "The guests will be here soon."
9. Rama said to me, "I can't come next week."
10. Manisha said to her, "I am living in Delhi"
11. He said, "I can come any time next week."
12. The mother said, "They went away yesterday."
13. He said to the doctor, "I fell downstairs."
14. I said to him, "I'll leave it on the table."
15. She said, "I have been very stupid."
16. He said to the teacher, "I'm sorry I'm late."
17. She said, "I have broken my glasses"
18. Mohan said, "I was ill yesterday'
19. The boy said, "I have never been here before."
20. She said to her teacher, "I have done my homework."
Solutions
1. I said to my uncle, "I need your help."
Ans.
I told my uncle that I needed his help
2. My teacher said to me, "You are wasting your time"
Ans.
My teacher told me that I was wasting my time.
3. The boy said to his mother, "I have spoken the truth."
Ans.
The boy told his mother that he had spoken the truth.
4. He said, "My pet dog died last week."
Ans.
He said that his pet dog died the week before.
5 . He said to her, "I shall go to Mumbai tomorrow."
He told her that he would go to Mumbai the next day.
6. The hostel warden said to me. "You may stay here."
Ans.
The hostel warden told me that I might stay there.
7. You said to her, "You met me last year."
Ans.
You told her that you had met her the year before.
8. She said to her husband, "The guests will be here soon."
Ans.
She told her husband that the gas would be there soon.
9. Rama said to me, "I can't come next week."
Ans.
Rama told me that she couldn't come the next week.
10. Manisha said to her, "I am living in Delhi"
Ans.
Manisha told her that she was living in Delhi.
11. He said, "I can come any time next week."
Ans.
He said that he could come anytime the next week.
12. The mother said, "They went away yesterday."
Ans.
The mother said that they had gone away the day before.
13. He said to the doctor, "I fell downstairs."
Ans.
He told the doctor that he had fallen downstairs.
14. I said to him, "I'll leave it on the table."
Ans.
I told him that I would leave it on the table.
15. She said, "I have been very stupid."
Ans.
She said that she had been very stupid.
16. He said to the teacher, "I'm sorry I'm late."
Ans.
He told the teacher that he was sorry for being late.
Or
He apologized to the teacher for being late.
17. She said, "I have broken my glasses"
Ans.
She said that she had broken her glasses.
18. Mohan said, "I was ill yesterday'
Ans.
Mohan said that he had been ill the day before.
19. The boy said, "I have never been here before."
Ans.
The boy said that he had never been there before.
20. She said to her teacher, "I have done my homework."
Ans.
She told her teacher that she had done her homework.
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For exercise questions and worksheets go through the following links.
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