DIRECT SPEECH AND INDIRECT SPEECH
She said, “I have won the first prize.”
(Direct Speech)
She said that she had won the first prize.
(Indirect Speech)
in the first sentence, the reporter conveys the message of the girl
using her actual
words
i.e., (“I have won the first prize.”)
In the second sentence, the reporter conveys her message but in his
own words
In direct speech, we reproduce the actual words of the speaker. We
place spoken
words within inverted commas (“ ”).
In indirect speech (also called Reported Speech), we report the
words of the speaker
with a few changes.
Some verb forms where they remain the same
in the direct and indirect speech in the following cases
·
If the reporting verb is in the
present tense
Example: I am enjoying my holiday
Krishna
says that he is enjoying the holiday
·
When we report a universal
truth
Example: Asia is the largest continent
Balun said that Asia is the largest continent
With modal verbs
Would, might, could, should, ought to, used to
Example: I might come
Vinoth
said that he might come
·
With would rather had better
Example: I would rather fly
Chitra said she would rather
fly
·
In if clauses and time clauses
Example: if I tidied my room, my dad would
be happy
Sriram said that if he tided his room his dad
would be happy
We do not
usually change the modal verbs Must and need not. But must can become had to or
would have to and need not can become she did not have to or would not have to
If we want to express an obligation.
Would/would not have to or used to talk about future obligation.
Example: I must wash up
She said that she must watch up/
she had to wash up
Key terminology
Direct speech
She said, “I have won the first prize”
Reporting statements
We make the following changes when
reporting the statements.
1 change the pronouns
2 reporting verbs followed by “that”
3 change the tense, time and place
Examples:
Kausalya said, “we watched a film yesterday”
Kausalya said that they watched a film the
day before
Reporting imperatives
To report an imperative, use the pattern
1 request/order/suggest +someone to
infinitive
Example:
Karthik said to Ram, “please, switch on the
fan”.
Karthik requested Ram to switch on the fan
Reporting question
Asked/wanted to know +question + pronoun + verb
Example:
She said to me, “where did you go?”
She asked me where I went
Note:
If the “WH” question is missing, “IF” or
“Whether” is added
Example:
Praveen a asked, “have you watered the
plants?”
Praveen a asked if I had watered the plants
Sometimes it is not necessary to report
everything that is said word by word. It may be better to use “reporting verbs”
which summarise what was communicate some of the most common used verbs of
these kind
1 accept – advice, apologies, ask, assure,
blame
Complain – complement, congratulate,
explain, greet, hope
Invite – offer, order, persuade, promise,
remind
Regret – say, suggest, tell, thank, answer
Warm – encourage, regret, sympathize,
refuse, instruct
Remember the rules of change
Pronouns
Direct speech – indirect
speech
Subject – Masculine, Feminine, plural
I – He, She, -
You –
he, She, they
You – him, her, them
Your – his, her, their
My – his, her,
their
Myself – himself, herself, themselves
We
–
- - they
Us – - - them
PRONOUNS
DIRECT
SPEECH INDRECT SPEECH
SUBJECT
MASCULINE FEMININE PLURAL
I
he she -
You
(Subject)
he
she they
you (Object)
him
her
them
your
his her their
my
his
her
their
myself
himself herself themselves
we
- - they
us - - them
Denoting time and position
Direct
– indirect
This – that
These – those
Now – then
Ago – before
Last night – the
previous night
Next day – the
following day
Denoting time and position
Direct – indirect
Today – that
day
Yesterday – the
previous day
Tomorrow – the next day
Next week – the following week
Last week – the previous week
Here – there
Let us understand reported speech with some
examples:
1 “What can I do for you?” the person asked
the client
The person asked the client what he could do for him
2 The watchman said to the boys, “Where do
you want to go?”.
The watchman asked the boys where they wanted
to go
3 “What a beautiful shot it is!” said my
friend.
My friend exclaimed that it was a very beautiful shot.
4 The people said, “Alas! We have missed
our leader”.
The
people exclaimed with sorrow that they had missed their leader.
5 He said, “I will be in Paris on Sunday”.
He said that He would be in Paris on Sunday.
6 Shaker said to Manoj, “I don’t agree with
you”.
Shaker told Manoj that he didn’t agree with him.
7 Swathi said to Rose, “Please give me your
tab”.
Swathi requested rose to give her her tab.
8 Manikandan said, “Hurrah! I have scored
491 marks”.
Manikandan exclaimed joyfully that he had
scored 491 marks.
9 Dayanidhi wanted to know if tickets were available
in the concern.
Dayanidhi said to himself, “Are tickets
available for the concern”.
10 “Who gave you the pen?”.
They asked me who had given me the pen.
11 “Did you go to movie together?”.
She asked us if/whether we had gone to movie together.
12 You can collect it by noon.
Kumar
told him that he could collect it by noon.