REPORTED SPEECH:

ORDERS, REQUESTS &

SUGGESTIONS
REPORTING ORDERS AND REQUESTS
When we want to report an order or request, we can use a verb like 'tell' with a to-clause: He
told me to go away. The pattern is verb + indirect object + to-clause. The indirect object is the
person spoken to. Other verbs used to report orders and requests in this way are: command,
order, warn, ask, advise, invite, beg, teach, & forbid.

EXAMPLES

Direct speech Indirect speech

The doctor said to me, "Stop smoking!". The doctor told me to stop smoking.

"Get out of the car!" said the policeman. The policeman ordered him to get out

"Could you please be quiet," she said. She asked me to be quiet.

The man with the gun said to us, "Don't move!" The man with the gun warned us not t

REQUESTS FOR OBJECTS

Requests for objects are reported using the pattern "asked for" + object.

EXAMPLES

Direct speech Indirect speech

"Can I have an apple?", she asked. She asked for an apple.

"Can I have the newspaper, please?" He asked for the newspaper.

 Direct speech Indirect speech

"May I have a glass of water?" he said. He asked for a glass of water.

"Sugar, please." She asked for the sugar.

"Could I have three kilos of onions?" He asked for three kilos of onions

SUGGESTIONS
Suggestions are most often reported using the verbs suggest, insist, recommend, demand,
request, and propose followed by a that clause. 'That' and 'should' are optional in these clauses,
as shown in the first two examples below. Note that suggest, recommend, and propose may
also be followed by a gerund in order to eliminate the indirect object (the receiver of the
suggestion) and thus make the suggestion more polite. This usage of the gerund is illustrated in
the fourth and fifth examples below.

EXAMPLES

Direct speech Indirect speech

She said, "Why don't you get a mechanic to look at the car?" She suggested that I should get a m
car. OR
She suggested I should get a mecha
She suggested that I get a mechanic
She suggested I get a mechanic to lo

"Why don't you go to the doctor?" he said. He suggested I go to the doctor. OR

He suggested that I go to the doctor
He suggested I should go to the doc
He suggested that I should go to th

"It would be a good idea to see the dentist", said my mother. My mother suggested I see the dent

The dentist said, "I think you should use a different toothbrush". The dentist recommended using a d

You said, "I don't think you have time to see the dentist this You suggested postponing my visit
week."
 Direct speech Indirect speech

I said, "I don't think you should see the dentist this week." I suggested postponing your visit to

My manager said, "I think we should examine the budget My manager proposed that we exa
carefully at this meeting." at the meeting.

"Why don't you sleep overnight at my house?" she said. She suggested that I sleep overnigh

Direct and Indirect Speech

with Detailed Explanation
Definition of Indirect Speech
Indirect speech is also known as Reported Speech, Indirect Narration or Indirect Discourse.
In grammar, when you report someone else’s statement in your own words without any
change in the meaning of the statement is called indirect speech. Quoting a person’s words
without using his own word and bringing about any change in the meaning of the statement
is a reported speech. Look at the following sentences:
Direct Speech: She says, “I am a little bit nervous.”
Indirect Speech: She says that she is a little bit nervous.
In the first sentence, the reporter conveys the message of the girl using her actual words
i.e., “I am a little bit nervous.” In the second sentence, the reporter conveys her message
but in his own words without any change in the meaning. Thus, both direct and indirect
speeches are two different ways of reporting a statement of person. In simple words,
quoting a person using your own words is called an indirect speech.
Reported Speech | Source

Key Terminology
During the process, you will come across many important terms that you need to know
better so that to convert any direct speech into indirect speech easily and without any
hassle. Consider the following sentences:

Direct Speech: She says, “I am a little bit nervous.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she is a little bit nervous.

Reporting Speech:
The first part in the direct speech is called REPORTING SPEECH.
Reported Speech:
The second part of the sentence, which is closed in inverted commas, is called
REPORTED SPEECH.
Reporting Verb:
Verb of the reporting speech is called REPORTING VERB.

Reported Verb:
Verb of the reported speech is called REPORTED VERB.

Basic Rules
Before proceeding ahead, it is mandatory to memorize these rules:

Changes in Person of Pronouns:

 1st Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are always changed according to the
SUBJECT of the Reporting Speech.
  2nd Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are always changed according to the
OBJECT of the Reporting Speech.
 3rd Person Pronouns in Reported Speech are not changed.
Changes in Verbs:

 In case, the Reporting Speech is in PRESENT TENSE or FUTURE TENSE, then no

change is required to be made in the VERB of Reported Speech. This verb could be in
any tense i.e., Present, Past or Future. For example:
Direct Speech: He says, “I am ill.”
Indirect Speech: He says that he is ill.
Direct Speech: She says, “She sang a song.”

Indirect Speech: She says that she sang a song.

Direct Speech: You say, “I shall visit London.”

Indirect Speech: You say that you will visit London.

 If Reporting Verb is in Past Tense, then Reported Verb will be changed as per
following criterion:
 Present Indefinite Tense is changed into Past Indefinite Tense. For example:
Direct Speech: They said, “They take exercise every day.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they took exercise every day.

 Present Continuous is changed into Past Continuous Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They are taking exercise every day.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they were taking exercise every day.

 Present Perfect is changed into Past Perfect Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They have taken exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.

 Present Perfect Continuous Tense is changed into Past Perfect Continuous Tense.
Direct Speech: They said, “They have been taking exercise since morning.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they had been taking exercise since morning.

 Past Indefinite is changed into Past Perfect Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They took exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.

 Past Continuous Tense is changed into Past Perfect Continuous Tense.

Direct Speech: They said, “They were taking exercise.”
Indirect Speech: They said that they had been taking exercise.

No changes are required to be made into Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous
Tenses.
Direct Speech: They said, “They had taken exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they had taken exercise.

  In Future Tense, while no changes are made except SHALL and WILL are changed
into WOULD.
Direct Speech: They said, “They will take exercise.”

Indirect Speech: They said that they would take exercise.

Changes in Tense | Source

Important Words Changes

Words Changed Into Direct Speech Indirect Speech

He says, “He He says that he

This That wants to buy this wants to buy that
book.” book.

He says, “He He says that he

These Those wants to buy wants to buy
these books.” those books.

She says, She says that

Here There “Everybody was everybody was
here.” there.

They say, “It’s ten They say that it’s

Now Then
o’clock now.” ten o’clock then.

They said
They said, “Sir, respectfully that
Sir Respectfully
the time is over.” the time was
over.
 Words Changed Into Direct Speech Indirect Speech

They said
They said,
respectfully that
Madam Respecfully "Madam, the time
the time was
is over."
over.

She said, “I am She said that she

Today That Day going to London was going to
today.” London that day.

She said, “I She said that she

visited Oxford had visited
Yesterday The Previous Day
University Oxford University
yesterday.” the previous day.

She said that she

She said, “I am
Following Day or was going to
Tomorrow going to London
Next Day London the next
tomorrow.”
day.

She said, “I am She said that she

Tonigh That Night going to see him was going to see
tonight.” him that night.

Good Morning, She said, “Good

She greeted Sir
Good Evening, Greeted morning, Sir
David.
Good Day David.”

The above-mentioned rules are mandatory for converting a Direct Speech into an Indirect
Speech. Hence, they should be memorized thoroughly. The following examples cover all
the afore-mentioned rules. So, focus on every sentence to know how the above-mentioned
rules have been used here.

Examples of Indirect Speech

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

She says that she eats an apple a

She says, “I eat an apple a day.”
day.

He will say that his brother will help

He will say, “My brother will help her.”
her.
 Direct Speech Indirect Speech

We said, “We go for a walk every We said that went for a walk every
day.” day.

You say, “I went to London You say that you went to London the
yesterday.” previous day.

He said, “My father is playing cricket He said that his father was playing
with me.” cricket with him.

They said, “We have completed our They said that they had completed
homework.” their homework.

She said, “I have been waiting for him She said that she had been waiting
since last morning.” for him since last morning.

She said, “I bought a book.” She said that she had bought a book.

They said, “We were celebrating Eid They said that they had been
yesterday.” celebrating Eid the previous day.

We said, “We had been waiting since We said that we had been waiting
morning.” since morning.

He said to me, “I will not give you any He said to me that he would not give
medicine without prescription.” me any medicine without prescription.

Rafiq said, “I shall leave for London Rafiq said that he would leave for
tomorrow.” London the next day.

She said, “I shall be visiting my She said that she would be visiting
college tomorrow.” her college the following day.

They said, “It will have been snowing They said that it would have been
since morning.” snowing since morning.

Assertive Sentences
Those sentences, which make a statement, are called assertive sentences. These
sentences may be positive, negative, false or true statements. To convert such like
sentences into indirect narration, use the rules as mentioned above except SAID is
sometimes replaced with TOLD. Look at the following examples:
Direct Speech: She says, “I am writing a letter to my brother.”
Indirect Speech: She says that she is writing a letter to her brother.
Direct Speech: She says, “I was not writing a letter to my brother.”
Indirect Speech: She says that she was not writing a letter to her brother.

Direct Speech: She said to me, “I am writing a letter to my brother.”

Indirect Speech: She told me that she was writing a letter to her brother.

Imperative Sentences
Imperative sentences are those sentences, which give an order or a direct command.
These sentences may be in the shape of advice, entreaty, request, or order. Mostly, it
depends upon the forcefulness of the speaker. Thus, full stop or sign of exclamation is
used at the end of the sentence. For example:

 Shut the door!

 Please shut the door.
 Repair the door by tomorrow!
To convert such like sentences into indirect speech, follow the following rules along with the
above-mentioned rules:

 Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into ORDER in case the
sentence gives a direct command. For example:
Direct Speech: The teacher said to me, “Shut the door.”

Indirect Speech: The teacher ordered me to shut the door.

 Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into REQUEST in case the
sentence makes a request. For example:
Direct Speech: He said to me, “Shut the door.”
Indirect Speech: He requested me to shut the door.

 Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into ADVISE in case the
sentence gives an advice. For example:
Direct Speech: He said to me, “You should work hard to pass the exam.”
Indirect Speech: He advised me that I should work hard to pass the exam.

 Reporting Verb is changed according to Reported Speech into FORBADE in case the
sentence prevents someone from doing something. For example:
Direct Speech: He said to me, “Not to smoke.”
Indirect Speech: He forbade me to smoke.

Examples
Direct Speech Indirect Speech

We said to him, “Mind your own We urged him to mind his own
business.” business.

She suggested him to consult a

She said to him, “Consult a doctor.”
doctor.
 Direct Speech Indirect Speech

He said to me, “Write it again.” He asked me to write it again.

You said to your father, “Please grant You requested your father to grant
him leave for some time.” him leave for some time.

My mother said to me, “Never tell a

My mother forbade me to tell a lie.
lie.”

Interrogative Sentences
Those sentences, which ask questions, are called interrogative sentences. Every
interrogative sentence ends at a sign of interrogation. For example:

 Do you live here?

 Have you ever watched Terminator III movie?
 Is it raining?
To convert interrogative sentences into Indirect Speech, follow the following rules along
with the above-mentioned rules:

 Reporting Verb SAID To is changed into ASKED.

 If Reporting Speech is having Reporting Verb at it its start, then IF is used in place
of THAT.
 If the Reporting Speech is having interrogative words like who, when, how, why,
when then neither IF is used nor any other word is added.
 Full Stop is placed at the end of the sentence instead of mark of interrogation.

Examples:
Direct Speech Indirect Speech

I said to her, “When do you do your I asked her when she did her
homework?” homework.

We said to him, “Are you ill?” We asked him if he was ill.

You said to me, “Have you read the You asked me if I had read the
article?” article.

He said to her, “Will you go to the He asked her if she would go to the
Peshawar Radio Station?” Peshawar Radio Station.

She says, “Who is he?” She says who he was.

Rashid says to me, “Why have you

Rashid says to me why I had got late.
got late?”
Exclamatory Sentences
Those sentences, which express our feelings and emotions, are called exclamatory
sentences. Mark of exclamation is used at the end of exclamatory sentence. For example:

 Hurray! We have won the match.

 Alas! He failed in the test.
 How beautiful that dog is!
 What a marvelous personality you are!
To change exclamatory sentences into Indirect Speech, follow the following rules along
with the above-mentioned rules:

 In case, there is an interjection i.e., alas, aha, hurray, aha etc in the Reported
Speech, then they are omitted along with sign of exclamation.
 Reporting verb i.e., said is always replaced with exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with
sorrow, exclaimed joyfully, exclaimed sorrowfully or exclaimed with great wonder or
sorrow.
 In case, there is what or how at the beginning of the Reported Speech, then they are
replaced with very or very great.
 In indirect sentence, the exclamatory sentence becomes an assertive sentence.

Examples
Direct Speech Indirect Speech

He said, “Hurray! I have won the He exclaimed with great joy that he
match.” had won the match.

She said, “Alas! My brother failed in She exclaimed with great sorrow that
the test.” her brother had failed in the test.

They said, “What a beautiful house They exclaimed that that that house
this is!” was very beautiful.

I said in great wonder that I was very

I said, “How lucky I am!”
lucky.

You said to him, “What a beautiful You said to him in great wonder that
drama you writing! he was writing a beautiful drama.

Optative Sentences
Those sentences, which express hope, prayer, or wish, are called optative sentences.
Usually, there is a mark of exclamation at the end of optative sentence. For example:

 May you succeed in the test!

 May you get well soon!
 Would that I were rich!
To change optative sentences into indirect speech, follow the following rules along with the
above-mentioned rules:

 In case, the Reported Speech starts with the word may, then the Reporting
Verb said is replaced with the word prayed.
 In case, the Reported Speech starts with the word would, then the Reporting
Verb said is replaced with the word wished.
 May is changed in might.
 Mark of exclamation is omitted.
 In Indirect Speech, the optative sentences become assertive sentences.

Examples
Direct Speech Indirect Speech

He said to me, “May you live long!” He prayed that I might live long.

My mother said to me, “May you My mother prayed that I might

succeed in the test!” succeed in the test.

She said, “Would that I were rich!” She wished she had been rich.

I said to him, “Would that you were I wished he had been there on
here on Sunday!” Sunday.

You said to me, “ May you find your You prayed that I might find my lost
lost camera.” camera.

Reported Speech
1. Direct Speech
In direct speech, we convey the message of the speaker in his own actual words
without any change to another person.

2. Indirect Speech
In indirect speech, we convey the message of the speaker in our own words to
another person.
3. Procedure of changing direct speech into indirect speech
1. Remove comma and inverted commas.
2. Put "that" between the reporting and reported speeches.(it is optional to put
"that" between the reporting and reported speech)
3. Change the 1st letter of reported speech into small letter except for "I"
4. Change the pronoun of the direct speech according to the rules described in
table 2
5. Change the tense of the direct speech appropriately according to rules
described in table 3.
6. Change the words expressing nearness in time or places of the direct speech
into its appropriate words expressing distance as per table 1

4. Rules for changing Direct into Indirect Speech

1. The past tense is often used when it is uncertain if the statement is true or
when we are reporting objectively.

Indirect Speech Conversion

Present Tenses in the Direct Speech are changed into Past Tense. If the reporting o

If in direct speec

Do Not Change Tense of reported Speech in Indirect Speech sentence Direct speech th

The reporting ve

2. When there are two sentences combined with the help of a conjunction and
both sentences have got different tenses. then change the tenses of both
sentences according to the rule.
3. Words expressing nearness in time or places are generally changed into
words expressing distance.

Direct Speec
Change of place and time
Here
 Today

this morning

Yesterday

Tomorrow

next week

next month

Now

Ago

Thus

Last Night

This

These

Hither

Hence

Come

5.
6. Change in Pronouns
The pronouns of the Direct Speech are changed where necessary, according to their
relations with the reporter and his hearer, rather than with the original speaker. If we
 change direct speech into indirect speech, the pronouns will change in the following
ways.

Rules

The first person of the reported speech changes according to the subject of reporting She says,
speech.

The second person of reported speech changes according to the object of reporting He says to
speech. job."

The third person of the reported speech doesn't change. She says,

7. Change in Tenses
The past perfect and past perfect continuous tenses do not change.

Rules Direct Speech

Simple Present Changes "I always drink coffee", she said

To
Simple Past

Present Continuous Changes "I am reading a book", he explained.

To
Past Continuous

Present Perfect Changes She said, "He has finished his work"
To
Past Perfect

Present Perfect Continuous Changes "I have been to Spain", he told me.
To
Past Perfect Continuous

Simple Past Changes "Bill arrived on Saturday", he said.

To
Past Perfect
 Past Perfect Changes "I had just turned out the light," he explained.
To
Past Perfect (No Change In Tense)

Past Continuous Changes "We were living in Paris", they told me.
To
Past Perfect Continuous

Future Changes "I will be in Geneva on Monday", he said

To
Present Conditional

Future Continuous Changes She said, "I'll be using the car next Friday."
To
Conditional Continuous

8. Changes in Modals

Rules Direct Speech

CAN changes into COULD He said, "I can drive a car".

MAY changes into MIGHT He said, "I may buy a computer"

MUST changes into HAD TO He said, "I must work hard"

These Modals Do Not Change: Would, could, might, should, ought to.

Would They said, "we would apply for a visa"

Could He said, "I could run faster"

Might John said, "I might meet him".

Should He said, "I should avail the opportunity"

 Ought to He said to me, "you ought to wait for him"

9.
10. Changes for Imperative Sentences
Imperative sentences consist any of these four things:

o Order
o Request
o Advice
o Suggestion

Most commonly used words to join clauses together are ordered, requested,
advised and suggested. Forbid(s)/ forbade is used for the negative sentences.

Mood of Sentence in Direct Speech

Order ordered

Request requested / entreated

Advice advised / urged

Never told, advised or forbade (No n

Direction directed

Suggestion suggested to

Warning warn

(If a person is addressed directly) called

11. Exclamatory Sentences

 Exclamatory sentences expresses emotions. Interjections such as Hurrah, wow,
alas, oh, ah are used to express emotions. The word "that" is used as join clause.

. Rules for conversion of Exclamatory Direct Speech Sentences

into Indirect Speech Sentences
1. Exclamatory sentence changes into assertive sentence.
2. Interjections are removed.
3. Exclamation mark changes into full stop.
4. W.H words like , "what" and "how" are removed and before the
adjective of reported speech we put "very"
5. Changes of "tenses" , "pronouns" and "adjectives" will be according
to the previous rules.

Mood of Sentence in Direct Speech

sorrow in reported speech Exclaimed with sorro

happiness in reported speech exclaimed with joy/ d

surprise in reported speech exclaimed with surp

appreciation and it is being expressed strongly applauded

12. Interrogative Sentences

Interrogative sentences are of two types:

0. Interrogative with auxiliaries at the beginning.

1. Interrogatives with who, where, what, when, how etc., i.e. wh questions.

B. Rules for conversion of Interrogative Direct Speech Sentence

into Indirect Speech Sentences
There are some rules to change direct to Indirect speech of Interrogative
sentence:

RULES
 Changes Direct Speech Condition

Reporting Verb said/ said to Asked, enquired

If sentence begins with auxiliary verb joining clause s

Joining Clause
If sentence begins with "wh" questions then no conjunc

Punctuation Question Mark Full Stop

sentences is expressing positive feeling do/does is remo

Helping Verbs if 'No' is used in interrogative sentences do/does is chan

Did or has/have Had

o Helping verbs (is, am, are, was, were) are used after the subject.
o Adverbs and pronouns are converted according to the table 1 and table 2
respectively.

13. Punctuation in Direct Speech

In direct speech, various punctuation conventions are used to separate the quoted
words from the rest of the text: this allows a reader to follow what's going on.
Here are the basic rules:

RULES

The words that are actually spoken should be enclosed in inverted commas

Start new paragraph every time when a new speaker says something.
 Comma, full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark must be present at the end of reported senten
inverted comma or commas.

If direct speech comes after the information about who is speaking, comma is used to introduce the p
inverted comma.

If the direct speech is broken up by information about who is speaking, comma (or a question mark or
the two reported speech

14. Rules for conversion of Indirect Speech to Direct Speech

To change from Indirect to Direct Speech, keep the rules of the Direct Speech are
applied in the reverse order.

0. Use the reporting verb, "say" or "said to" in its correct tense.
1. Remove the conjuctions "that, to, if or whether etc". wherever necessary.
2. Insert quotation marks, question mark, exclamation and fullstop, wherever
necessary.
3. Put a comma before the statement.
4. Write the first word of the statement with capital letter.
5. Change the past tense into present tense wherever the repoting verb is in the
past tense.
6. Convert the past perfect either into past tense or present perfect as found
necessary.
7. Be careful about the order of words in the question.

The following table will enable to find the kind of sentence:

Indirect (Conjunction)

That Statement (or) Exclamatory sentence

to, not to Imperative

requested + to Begin the imperative sentence with "please"

 if or whether Interrogative sentence (Helping Verb + Subject +

What, When, How etc., (Wh or How + Helping Verb + Subject + Main Verb

Estilo indirecto en inglés

El estilo indirecto se utiliza para hablar del pasado por lo que implica
una modificación de los tiempos verbales. Utilizamos verbos: “say”, “tell”, "advise",
"promise" o “ask” seguidos normalmente de la palabra “that”, para presentar el discurso
que se ha dicho.

Ejemplos:
 "I will be late": She told that she would be late - "Llegaré tarde". Ella me dijo que
llegaría tarde.
 "Do you have plans for today? : He asked me if I had plans for that day -
"¿Tienes planes para hoy?" Él me preguntó si tenía planes para ese día.

Pasar de estilo directo a indirecto en inglés

El tiempo verbal de una oración cambia cuando pasamos de estilo directo a estilo indirecto.
Tiene sentido, pues en español también se modifica el tiempo verbal. En la siguiente tabla se
recoge la conversión de los tiempos verbales a estilo indirecto:

Estilo directo Estilo indirecto

Presente simple "He is a teacher", she said. Pasado simple She said that he was a tea

Presente continuo He said, "I am making dinner". Pasado continuo He said that he was makin

They asked, "Have you been to They asked me if I had be

Presente perfecto Pasado perfecto
Australia?" Australia.

Presente “I’ve been studying Italian for four Pasado perfecto He said he’d been studyin
perfecto continuo years,” he said. continuo four years.

Mary said: “I didn’t go to school Mary said that she hadn’t

Pasado simple Pasado perfecto
yesterday". school the day before.

He said, "I was having a shower Pasado perfecto He said that he had been
Pasado continuo
when you called". continuo shower when I called.

"I had prepared something special Pasado perfecto (no He said that he had
Pasado perfecto
for you", he said. cambia) prepared something spec
Pasado perfecto She said, “I had been repairing the Pasado perfecto She said that she had bee
continuo car before we went.” continuo (no cambia) repairingthe car before th

Futuro simple He said, "I will go tomorrow" Auxiliar would He said that he would go

En algunos verbos modales el tiempo verbal también se modifica:

Estilo Estilo
directo indirecto

Can “Can you open the door, please?”, he asked. Could He asked me if I could open the d

Must “You must wear your seat belt,” the police said. Had to The police said that I had to wea

Shall "Shall we go to the beach today?” Mom asked. Should Mom asked if we should go to th

Might/
May "May I help you?", he asked. He asked me if he could help me
could

Hay expresiones de tiempo o lugares que también sufren modificaciones al pasar de estilo
directo a indirecto:

Estilo directo Estilo indirecto

Here There

Now Then

Today That day

Tomorrow The following day

A week ago/ last week A week before/ the previous week

Last month The month before/the previous month

Next year The following year

In four years Four years from then

This That

These Those