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Reported speech

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7 views19 pages

Reported speech

Uploaded by

stevegoorogers.15
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Direct

and
Indirect Speech
Brief Outline
• Introduction
• Direct Speech
• Indirect Speech
• Rules for changing Direct into Indirect
Speech
• Exceptions to General Rules
• Summary
Introduction
• There are two ways by which
we may report or narrate what
a speaker said.
• Direct Speech
• Indirect Speech.
Direct Speech
• Definition: In direct speech the words of the
speaker are placed within inverted commas.

For Example:-
• The teacher says to me, “ You are a good
boy.”
• He said to his friend, “ I shall help you.”
• He said to me, “ I am your friend.”
Cont….
• It may be noted that part of a
sentence outsides the inverted
commas is called the “Reporting
Speech” and the verb of the reporting
speech is called “Reporting Verb”.
• The word within inverted commas are
said to be in the “Reported Speech”
and the verb of the reported speech
is called the “Reported Verb”.
Reporting Verb Reported Verb

You said to me, “ He is my Friend”

Reporting Speech Reported Speech


Indirect Speech
• Definition: In indirect speech the word
spoken by the speaker are not expressed
but only the meaning of the speaker is
conveyed by making some grammatical
changes.
For Example:-
• The teacher tells me that I am a good boy.
• He told his friend that he would help him.
• He told me that he was my friend.
RULES FOR CHANGING
DIRECT
INTO
INDIRECT SPEECH
Rule 1: If the reporting verb is in the past tense,
the tenses inside the quotation marks changes
into their corresponding past tenses.
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
• Simple present tense • Simple past tense
• Present continuous • Past continuous tense
tense • Past perfect tense
• Present perfect tense • Past perfect tense
• Simple Past tense • Past perfect
• Past continuous tense continuous tense
• No Change
• Past perfect tense • Future conditional
• Future tense tense
Rule 2: If the reporting verb is in the
present or future tense, the tense of the
verb within the quotes observes no change
in indirect speech.
For Example:-
1. Shalini Says, “I write a letter everyday.”
(Direct)
Shalini says that she writes a letter
everyday. (Indirect)
2. She says to me, “I am unwell.” (Direct)
She tells me that she is unwell (Indirect)
Rule 3: The first and Second person in the
direct speech should become third person
indirect speech
For Example:-
1. He said, “I watched a film.” (Direct)
He said that he had watched a film. (Indirect)
2. She said to the audience, “ You are patient.”
(Direct)
She said to the audience that they were
patient. (Indirect)
Rule 4: If the speech to be converted in the
form of a statement, the conjunction ‘that’
is used after the reporting verb in indirect
speech.

For Example:-
• Seema said, “I am unwell.” (Direct)
• Seema said that she was unwell.
(Indirect)
Rule 5: If the person addressed to, reports
the speech, the second person in the direct
speech becomes the first person in indirect
speech.
For Example:-
1. He said, “You are a liar.” (Direct)
He said that I was a liar. (Indirect)
2. My teacher said to me, “ You have done
well in the paper.” (Direct)
My teacher said to me that I had done well in
paper. (Indirect)
Rule 6: Words expressing nearness in time
and place are generally change into words
expressing distance.
For Example:-
1. She said, “I will come here now.” (Direct)
She said that she would come there then.
(Indirect)
2. He said, “ I visited the temple yesterday.”
(Direct)
He said that he had visited the temple the
day before. (Indirect)
Changes in time and place words
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
• Now • Then
• This • That
• These • Those
• Here • There
• Ago • Before
• Thus • So
• Today/ tomorrow • That day/The next day,
following day
• The day before, the
• Yesterday/last night previous day/The night
before

• Next week/year • The following week/ Year


• Last week/year • The previous week/ Year
Rule 7: When a question is reported in
direct speech the reporting verb is change
into ‘asked’ , ‘enquired.’

For Example:-
1. Mother said, “ Where are you going?”
(Direct)
Mother enquired where I was going.
(Indirect)
2. She said, “ What is his problem?” (Direct)
She asked what his problem was. (Indirect)
Rule 8: If the question is being reported in a
yes/no answer type, then if or whether is
used after the reporting verb.

For Example:
1. He said, “ Are you happy?” (Direct)
He asked if I was happy. (Indirect)
2. She asked him, “ Will you stay?” (Direct)
She asked him whether he would stay.
(Indirect)
Rule 9: If a command is being reported,
the reporting verb changes into ‘told’,
‘ordered’, ‘commanded.’
For Example:-
1. Rishi said to Preeti, “ Do as I say.” (Direct)
Rishi ordered Preeti to do as he said.
(Indirect)
2. She asked him, “ Will you stay?” (Direct)
She asked him whether he would stay.
(Indirect)
Thank U
Thank U

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