Direct-Indirect Speech

Direct-Indirect Speech 

We are used to recounting a lot of incidents in our lives on a daily basis. A social situation, a  class as well as a business email or presentation, every case requires us to report or reflect on what has happened. Most of the time, we refer to what someone asked, said, or told. To explain all of these circumstances, we use two types of speeches for the purpose of communication: direct and indirect speech.

A direct indirect speech comes with many rules. However, going through a few examples of direct indirect speech will clarify things.

What did he ask? This can be answered in two different ways:

•         Direct speech- by saying the original words that the actual speaker said
•         Indirect or Reported speech- by reporting in your own words what the speaker said

Direct Speech

• In direct speech, the original speaker’s actual words are repeated in the sentence as said by the narrator
• While writing direct speech, we need to use quotation marks to state what the speaker said
• It is a collection of words that haven’t been altered
• Is it basically quoting any information that is currently being said or is told about in the recent or remote past

Examples:

•  Sanjana said, “When will you come back? I will be able to go out only after you come home “
•  He said, “At what time will you reach my aunt’s place?” and she said, “I don’t know! “
• “There is something in my soup! I can’t have it, please take it away” screamed Anuj.
• Chander said, “There’s someone inside the almirah. We need to be very careful while opening it”

Indirect speech

It is information that we create using our own words. It is the action of reporting a statement without altering its meaning. We generally change the tense according to the reporting verb while using reported or indirect speech. WIth reporting verbs such as ‘ask,’ ‘tell,’ and ‘say,’ we use the word ‘that’ to make indirect speech. In indirect speech, sentences do not require inverted commas. 

Examples:

• Arun informed Sneha that Anand did not like the book which was gifted to him on his birthday
• Vineeta was planning something for the evening, so she asked Sheetal what she wanted to do
•  Asha complained about the dust, as she has a severe dust allergy
•  Ashish congratulated Piya when she informed him about her brand new car

Direct and Indirect Speech Rules

Direct and indirect speech come with a set of rules.  It can be noted the way as follows:

Reporting tenses, modals, time, place, pronouns, verbs are all considered when converting a  sentence from direct speech to indirect speech.

Rule 1: Reporting Verbs (How it affects the tense of the indirect speech)

The indirect speech gets changed to the past tense when the reporting verb in direct speech is stated in the past tense.

Example: 

Direct: He said, “I am sad. I cannot take it anymore.”

Indirect: He said that he was sad and he could not take it anymore.

Rule 2: When the words written inside the quotations (“..”) refer to a habitual behaviour, the tense remains the same in indirect speech.

Example: 

Direct: Maria said, “We cannot live without water.”

Indirect: Maria said that we can not live without water.

Rule 3: Reporting verb in Past and Present Tense and its sub-categories within quotation (The Conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech)

Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect.

Example: 

Direct: “I have been to America a lot of times. I love New York city. It is beautiful”, she told me.

Indirect: She told me she had been to America a lot of times and she loves New York city and it is

beautiful

Present Continuous Changes to Past Continuous

Example: 

Direct: “If you want to be fit and fine, you need to exercise regularly.”, Vibhati explained to the

class. 

Indirect: Vibhati explained to the class that to keep fit one needs to exercise regularly.

Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect

Example: 

Direct: Avneeta said to her mother, “I have finished my homework and now I can go and play

with my friends.”

Indirect: Avneeta informed her mother that she had finished her homework. And she can go and

play with her friends now.

• Simple Present Changes to Simple Past

Example:

Direct: “I am unwell, I can’t go out”, Cheshta said.

Indirect: Cheshta said that she was unwell and she won’t be able to go out.

Rule 4: Reporting Verbs in Past and Sub-categories of Past and Past Tense & Future Tense within quotation(The Conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech)

• Simple Past Changes to Past Perfect

Example: 

Direct: She said, “Meeta arrived on Sunday for the brunch at our home”

Indirect: She said that Meeta had arrived on Sunday for brunch at their home.

• Past Continuous Changes to Past Perfect Continuous

Example: 

Direct: “We were playing football when the rain interrupted us,” Rutuja told me.

Indirect: Rutuja told me she was playing football when the rain interrupted them. 

• Future Continuous Changes to Conditional Continuous

Example:

Direct: Amrit said, “I will be selling the old computer next Wednesday.”

Indirect: Amrit said that he would be selling the old computer the following Wednesday.

Conclusion

Both direct and indirect speech are regularly used for reading and writing in English literature. The former comes with quotations and repeats what has been said by a speaker in a manner exactly how it has been said. Indirect speech reports  the statement of the speaker without using the exact words, while removing the quotations.