Direct & Indirect
What is Direct & Indirect Speech?
Direct speech – reporting the message of the speaker in the exact words as spoken by him.
Direct speech example: Maya said ‘I am busy now’.
Indirect speech: reporting the message of the speaker in our own words
Indirect speech example: Maya said that she was busy then.
Direct And Indirect Speech Rules
Rules for converting Direct into Indirect speech
To change a sentence of direct speech into indirect speech there are various factors that are
considered, such as reporting verbs, modals, time, place, pronouns, tenses, etc.
Rule 1 – Direct To Indirect Speech Conversion – Reporting Verb
1. When the reporting verb of direct speech is in past tense then all the present tenses are
changed to the corresponding past tense in indirect speech.
Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: She said, ‘I am happy’.
Indirect: She said (that) she was happy.
1. In indirect speech, tenses do not change if the words used within the quotes (‘’) talk
of a habitual action or universal truth.
Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: He said, ‘We cannot live without air’.
Indirect: He said that we cannot live without air.
1. The tenses of direct speech do not change if the reporting verb is in the future
tense or present tense.
Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: She says/will say, ‘I am going’
Indirect: She says/will say she is going.
Rule 2 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech conversion – Present Tense
Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect.
Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: “I have been to Boston”, she told me.
Indirect: She told me that she had been to Boston.
Present Continuous Changes to Past Continuous
Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: “I am playing the guitar”, she explained.
Indirect: She explained that she was playing the guitar.
Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect
Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: He said, “She has finished her homework“.
Indirect: He said that she had finished her homework.
Simple Present Changes to Simple Past
Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: “I am unwell”, she said.
Indirect: She said that she was unwell.
Rule 3 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech conversion – Past Tense & Future Tense
Simple Past Changes to Past Perfect
Direct to indirect speech example:
Direct: She said, “Irvin arrived on Sunday.”
Indirect: She said that Irvin had arrived on Sunday.
Past Continuous Changes to Past Perfect Continuous
Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: “We were playing basketball”, they told me.
Indirect: They told me that they had been playing basketball.
Future Changes to Present Conditional
Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: She said, “I will be in Scotland tomorrow.”
Indirect: She said that she would be in Scotland the next day.
Future Continuous Changes to Conditional Continuous
Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: He said, “I’ll be disposing of the old computer next Tuesday.”
Indirect: He said that he would be disposing of the old computer the following Tuesday.
Rule 4 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Interrogative Sentences
No conjunction is used, if a sentence in direct speech begins with a question
(what/where/when) as the “question-word” itself acts as a joining clause.
Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: “Where do you live?” asked the boy.
Indirect: The boy enquired where I lived.
If a direct speech sentence begins with an auxiliary verb/helping verb, the joining
clause should be if or whether.
Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: She said, ‘Will you come for the party’?
Indirect: She asked whether we would come for the party.
Reporting verbs such as ‘said/ said to’ changes to enquired, asked, or demanded.
Direct to indirect speech example
Direct: He said to me, ‘What are you wearing’?
Indirect: He asked me what I was wearing.
Rule 5 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Changes in Modals
While changing direct speech to indirect speech, the modals used in the sentences change like:
1. Can becomes could
2. May becomes might
3. Must becomes had to /would have to
Check the examples:
Direct : She said, ‘She can dance’.
Indirect: She said that she could dance.
Direct: She said, ‘I may buy a dress’.
Indirect: She said that she might buy a dress.
Direct: Rama said, ‘I must complete the assignment’.
Indirect: Rama said that he had to complete the assignment.
There are modals that do not change – Could, Would, Should, Might, Ought to
Direct: She said, ‘I should clean the house’
Indirect: She said that she should clean the house.
Rule 6 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Pronoun
1. The first person in direct speech changes as per the subject of the speech.
Direct speech to indirect speech examples-
Direct: He said, “I am in class Twelfth.”
Indirect: He says that he was in class Twelfth.
1. The second person of direct speech changes as per the object of reporting speech.
Direct speech to indirect speech examples –
Direct: She says to them, “You have done your work.”
Indirect: She tells them that they have done their work.
1. The third person of direct speech doesn’t change.
Direct speech to indirect speech examples –
Direct: He says, “She dances well.”
Indirect: He says that she dances well.
Rule 7 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Request, Command, Wish,
Exclamation
Indirect Speech is supported by some verbs like requested, ordered, suggested and
advised. Forbid-forbade is used for negative sentences. Therefore, the imperative
mood in the direct speech changes into the Infinitive in indirect speech.
Direct: She said to her ‘Please complete it’.
Indirect: She requested her to complete it.
Direct: Hamid said to Ramid, ‘Sit down’.
Indirect: Hamid ordered Ramid to sit down.
1. In Exclamatory sentences that express grief, sorrow, happiness,
applaud, Interjections are removed and the sentence is changed to an assertive
sentence.
Direct: She said, ‘Alas! I am undone’.
Indirect: She exclaimed sadly that she was broke.
Rule 8 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Punctuations
1. In direct speech, the words actually spoken should be in (‘’) quotes and always begin
with a capital letter.
Example: She said, “I am the best.”
1. Full stop, comma, exclamation or question mark, are placed inside the closing inverted
commas.
Example: They asked, “Can we sing with you?”
1. If direct speech comes after the information about who is speaking, a comma is
used to introduce the speech, placed before the first inverted comma.
Direct speech example: He shouted, “Shut up!”
Direct speech example: “Thinking back,” he said, “she didn’t expect to win.” (Comma is used
to separate the two direct speeches and no capital letter to begin the second sentence).
Rule 9 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Change of Time
1. In direct speeches, the words that express nearness in time or place are changed to
words that express distance in indirect speech. Such as :
Now becomes then
Here becomes there
Ago becomes before
Thus becomes so
Today becomes that day
Tomorrow becomes the next day
This becomes that
Yesterday becomes the day before
These become those
Hither becomes thither
Come becomes go
Hence becomes thence
Next week or month becomes following week/month
Examples:
Direct: He said, ‘His friend came yesterday.’
Indirect: He said that his friend had come the day before.
1. The time expression does not change if the reporting verb is in the present tense
or future tense.
Examples:
Direct: He says/will say, ‘My friend came yesterday.’
Indirect: He says/will say that his friend had come the day before.
Rules of converting Indirect Speech into Direct Speech
The following rules should be followed while converting an indirect speech to direct speech:
1. Use the reporting verb such as (say, said to) in its correct tense.
2. Put a comma before the statement and the first letter of the statement should be in
capital letter.
3. Insert question mark, quotation marks, exclamation mark and full stop, based on the
mood of the sentence.
4. Remove the conjunctions like (that, to, if or whether) wherever necessary.
5. Where the reporting verb is in past tense in indirect, change it to present tense in the
direct speech.
6. Change the past perfect tense either into present perfect tense or past tense, as
necessary.
Check the examples:
Indirect: She asked whether she was coming to the prom night.
Direct: She said to her, “Are you coming to the prom night?”
Indirect: The girl said that she was happy with her result.
Direct: The girl said. “I am happy with my result.”
The conversion of English Grammar direct to indirect speech and vice versa are
predetermined. Here’s an easy way to remember them using direct and indirect speech rules.
Rule #1
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Present Simple Tense do /does V1 Past Simple Tense did + V1 V2
Present Progressive Tense is/am/are + V4 Past Progressive Tense was /were + V4
Present Perfect Tense has /have + V3 Past Perfect Tense had + V3
Present Perfect Progressive has been /have been + V4 Past Perfect Progressive had been + V4
Past Simple Tense did + V1 V2 Past Perfect Tense had + V3
Past Perfect Tense had + V3 Past Perfect Tense had + V3
Past Perfect Progressive had been + V4 Past Perfect Progressive had been + V4
Future Simple Tense will + V1 would + V1
Future Progressive Tense will be + V4 would be + V4
Future Perfect Tense will have + V3 would have + V3
Future Perfect Progressive will have been + V4 would have been + V4
Rule #2: If the reporting verb is given in present or future tense, then there shall be no change
in the tense of reported speech in direct and indirect speech rules.
Reported Verb Reported Speech
Subject First person (I, we) Changes according to the subject of the reported verb
Object Second person (you) Changes according to the object of the reported verb
No Change Third person (he, she, it, they) No change
Example:
1. He said,” I will go.“
2. “I” will change according to the subject of the reported verb that is “he”
3. So in place of “I“, “he” will be used for Indirect speech.
Rule #3
Learn about the direct indirect speech rules below!
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Direct and Indirect Speech examples
He had said to me, “We play.” He had said to me that they played.
He had said to me, “We are playing.” He had said to me that they were playing.
He had said to me, “We have played.” He had said to me that they had played.
He had said to me, “We have been playing.” He had said to me that they had been playing.
He had said to me, “We played.” He had said to me that they had played.
He had said to me, “We were playing.” He had said to me that they had been playing.
He had said to me, “We had played.” He had said to me that they had played.
He had said to me, “We had been playing.” He had said to me that they had been playing.
Rule #4: Changing Certain Words
Use of Direct and Indirect Speech in Different Types of Sentences
Here are tips on how to use Direct and Indirect Speech in different sentences form using direct
indirect rules.
Interrogative Sentences
Those sentences, which ask questions, are called interrogative sentences. Every interrogative
sentence ends at a sign of interrogation.
Example:
1. Do you live here?
2. Have you ever watched the Terminator III movie?
3. Is it raining?
o To convert interrogative sentences into Indirect Speech, follow the following rules
along with the above-mentioned rules:
o Reporting Verb said to is changed into asked.
o If reporting speech is having reporting verb at it its start, then if is used in place of
that.
o 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 the mark of interrogation.
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Direct and Indirect Speech examples
I said to her, “When do you do your homework?” I asked her when she did her homework.
We said to him, “Are you ill?” We asked him if he was ill.
You said to me, “Have you read the articles?” You asked me if I had read the article.
He said to her, “Will you go to the Peshawar He asked her if she would go to the Peshawar
Radio Station?” Radio Station.
She says, “Who is he?” She asked who he was.
Rashid says to me, “Why are you late?” Rashid said to me why I was late.
Exclamatory Sentence
Those sentences, which express our feelings and emotions, are called exclamatory sentences.
Mark of exclamation is used at the end of an exclamatory sentence.
Example:
1. Hurray! We have won the match.
2. Alas! He failed the test.
3. How beautiful that dog is!
4. What a marvellous personality you are!
To change exclamatory sentences into Indirect Speech using direct indirect rules, follow the
following rules along with the above-mentioned rules:
o In case, there is an interjection i.e., alas, aha, hurray, aha etc in the reported speech,
then they are omitted along with the sign of exclamation using reported speech rules.
o 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.
o In case, there is what or how at the beginning of the reported speech, then they are
replaced with very or very great.
In an indirect sentence, the exclamatory sentence becomes an assertive sentence.
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Direct and Indirect Speech examples
He said, “Hurray! I have won the match.” He exclaimed with great joy that he had won the
match.
She said, “Alas! My brother failed the test.” She exclaimed with great sorrow that her brother had
failed the test.
They said, “What a beautiful house this is!” They exclaimed that that house was very beautiful.
I said, “How lucky I am!” I said that I was very lucky.
You said to him, “What a beautiful drama You said to him in great wonder that he was writing a
you are writing! beautiful drama.
Optative Sentence
Those sentences, which express hope, prayer, or wish, are called optative sentences. Usually,
there is a mark of exclamation at the end of an optative sentence.
Example:
1. May you succeed in the test!
2. May you get well soon!
3. Would that I were rich!
To change optative sentences in direct to indirect speech, follow the following rules along
with the above-mentioned rules:
o In case, the reported speech starts with the word may, then the reporting verb said is
replaced with the word prayed.
o In case, the reported speech starts with the word would, then the reporting verb said is
replaced with the word wished.
o May is changed to might.
o Mark of exclamation is omitted.
In Indirect Speech, the optative sentences become assertive sentences.
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Example:
He said to me, “May you live long!” He prayed that I might live long.
My mother said to me, “May you succeed in the My mother prayed that I might succeed in the
test!” test.
She said, “Would that I were rich!” She wished she were rich.
I said to him, “Would that you were here on I wished he had been here on Sunday.
Sunday!”
You said, “I pray you find your camera!” You prayed that I might find my lost camera.
