REPORTED SPEECH
Direct and Indirect Speech:
The words spoken by a person can be reported in two ways—Direct and Indirect. When we quote
the exact words spoken by a person, we call it Direct Speech.
Sohan said to Mohan, “I am going to school.” (Direct Speech)
Reporting Clause and Reported Speech
The words which generally come before the inverted commas are called the reporting clause, i.e
Sohan said to Mohan and the verb ‘said’ is called the reporting verb. The words spoken by
Sohan and put within the inverted commas are called reported speech, i.e “I am going to
school.”
The exact words spoken by Sohan are put within inverted commas. But, when we give the
substance of what Sohan said, it is called the Indirect Speech.
Sohan told Mohan that he was going to school. (Indirect Speech)
Rules for Changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech:
● In the Indirect speech, no inverted commas are used.
● The conjunctions that, if, whether, are generally used after the reporting verb.
● The tense of the reporting verb is never changed.
● The reporting verb changes according to sense: it may be told, asked, inquired, etc.
Rules for the Change of Pronouns:
Rule to change subject and object
S O N- RV
1 2 3- RS
1- Person –I, my, me
2- Person—you, your, yours
3- Person—he, she it, they
● The first-person pronouns (I, me, my, we, us, our) in the reported speech change according to
the subject of the reporting verb.
● The pronouns of the second person (you, your, yourself) in the reported speech change
according to the object of the reporting verb.
● The pronouns of the third person do not change.
For example:
He said, “I like the book.”
He said that he liked the book.
Changes in words expressing nearness, time, auxiliaries, etc.
These changes into those
Here changes into there
This changes into that
Now changes into then
Yesterday changes into the previous day
Tomorrow changes into the next day
Today changes into that day
Ago changes into before
Can changes into could
May changes into might
Will changes into would
Must changes into had to
Change in Tenses:
● If the reporting verb is in the present or the future tense, the tense of the
reported speech is not changed:
Direct: Satish says, “I am flying a kite.”
Indirect: Satish says that he is flying a kite.
Direct: Satish will say, “I want a glass of milk.”
Indirect: Satish will say that he wants a glass of milk.
● If the reporting verb is in the past tense, then the tense of the reported speech
will change as follows:
● If the direct speech expresses a historical fact, a universal truth or a habitual
fact. tense of the direct speech will not change:
Direct : He said, “Honesty is the best policy.”
Indirect : He said that honesty is the best policy.
Direct : He said, “The sun rises in the east.”
Indirect : He said that the sun rises in the east.
Direct : Rakesh said, “I am an early riser.”
Indirect : Rakesh said that he is an early riser.
Direct : She said, “God is omnipresent.”
Indirect : She said that God is omnipresent.
Direct : The teacher said, “The First World War started in 1914.”
Indirect : The teacher said that the First World War started in 1914.
Changing Statements/Assertive Sentences into Indirect Speech:
● The reporting verb “said to’ is changed to told.
● The reporting verb is not followed by an object, it is not changed.
● The inverted commas are removed. The conjunction that is used to connect the reporting
clause with the reported speech.
● The rules for the change of pronouns, tenses, etc. are followed.
Direct : Ramu said, “I saw a lion in the forest.”
Indirect : Ramu said that he had seen a lion in the forest.
Direct : Satish said to me, “I am very happy here.”
Indirect : Satish told me that he was very happy there.
Direct : He said, “I can do this work.”
Indirect : He said that he could do that work.
Direct : Renu said to me, “I was washing the clothes.”
Indirect : Renu told me that she had been washing the clothes.
Direct : She said, “I am not well.”
Indirect : She said that she was not well.
Direct : He said to Sita, “I have passed the test.”
Indirect : He told Sita that he had passed the test
IMPERATIVE SENTENCES
Step1.The reporting verb said is changed to ordered, requested, advised,
commanded, proposed, etc.
Step 2. The verb of the reported speech is changed into an infinitive and inverted
comma are removed.
Step 3. Do not is changed to ‘not to’.
● He said to his sister, “Please speak slowly.”
He requested his sister to speak slowly.
● The teacher said, “Keep quiet.”
The teacher ordered to keep quiet.
● He said to me, “Don’t tease the animals.”
He advised me not to tease the animals.
INTERROGATIVES
If the reported speech is a question, the following changes are made.
(A)The reporting verb is changed into ‘asked’.
Says asks
Says to asks
Said asked
Said to asked
(B) The inverted commas are removed and If/whether is used. The question mark is
removed and a full stop is placed.
The direct form is changed to indirect question form.
Place the subject before verb in the reported question.
● I said to Meera, “When are your parents coming?”
I asked Meera when her parents were coming.
● Ramesh said to me, “Are you reading this book?”
Ramesh asked me if/whether I was reading that book.
● He said, “Will you come with me?”
He asked if/whether I would go with him.
Note –if speech begins with – do| does | did
Can| may | shall Was | were
Has | have | had Is| am | are
In all the above case connector ‘if’ or ‘whether’ is used.
Some sentences begin with wh questions like- what, who why, where, how,
whom……, in that case no connector is put rather wh question is retained as it is and
question mark is removed.
Example-
The teacher said, “Why are you late?”
The teacher asked or enquired why he| she was late.
EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES
Here, we remove commas and put ‘that’ as connector and remove exclamatory mark is replaced
by full stop.
Example- The boy said, “Wow! We won the match.”
The boy exclaimed with joy that they had won the match.
NOTE- if in reported verb, subject and object both are given, then ‘said to’ is changed into
‘told’ while changing from direct to indirect speech.
For example- The teacher said to the students,” You will complete your work by today.”
The teacher told the students that they would complete their work by that day itself.
Exercise:
Read the following dialogues and fill in the blanks.
Mother : Where were you?
Daughter : I was on the terrace playing.
Mother : Please do not go without prior permission.
Daughter : This was the first time ever that I went on the terrace.
Mother : Remember, do not go there alone.
Mother asked her daughter(a)__________________. The daughter replied
____________________________. The mother (b)__________________.
The daughter apologised saying that that had been the first time ever that she
had gone on the terrace. The mother warned her saying (c)_____________
(a)(i)where she was
(ii)where she had been
(iii)where had she been
(iv)where she has been
(b)(i)that she has been playing on the terrace
(ii)that she had been playing on the terrace
(iii)that she was playing on the terrace
(iv) that she had played on the terrace.
(c)(i)not to go there alone
(ii)that she should not go there
(iii)that she won’t go there
(iv)not to go here alone
Archna : Do you know swimming?
Rudra : Yes, I do.
Archna : Can you teacher me how to swim?
Rudra : Yes, I will. Come to my swimming club tomorrow.
Archna asked Rudra (a) ………………………….. swimming. Rudra replied
in the affirmative. Then, Archna further asked him (b)
………………………….. how to swim. Rudra replied in the affirmative. He
also asked Archna to (d) …………………………..
