A speech or conversation that is reported or passed on to a third party is known as indirect speech or reported speech. A report of what someone else said or wrote without using that person’s precise words is known as indirect communication or indirect speech.  As one normally recounts a dialogue between two (or more) parties that have already occurred, the reporting verb is usually in the past tense.

Difference between Direct and Indirect Speech 

A person’s actual words are placed in quotation marks and separated by a comma and a reporting verb, such as “said” or “asked,” in direct speech. Direct speech may be used in fiction writing to convey the emotion of a key incident in great detail, both via the words of the characters themselves and by the description of how something was said. Direct speech can be used to accentuate a point in nonfiction writing or journalism by using the exact words of a source.

Paraphrasing someone’s words or writings is known as indirect speaking. It moves work forward in writing by distilling points provided by an interview source. Indirect speech, unlike direct speech, is not enclosed in quotation marks. 

Conversion of Direct Speech into Indirect Speech 

Rules of Indirect Speech 

• Indirect speech does not employ inverted commas. After the Reporting Verb, there is no comma (the words within the inverted commas- Reported Speech)
• Reporting Verb is the verb that introduces the Reported Speech
• In the case of statements, the conjunction ‘that’ is used after the reporting verb
• The reporting verb’s tense is never modified
• The tense of the quoted speech gets modified based on the reporting verb
• Different types of present tenses of direct speech are converted into the appropriate past tenses when the reporting verb is in the past tense
• Wherever required, the pronouns in direct speech are modified to make it clear who said what to whom and about whom

Examples

Convert into Indirect Speech

•  He said, “I don’t understand you.” (Direct)
• He said that he didn’t understand me. (Indirect)

• ”I don’t like potatoes”, she explained. (Direct)
• She explained that she didn’t like potatoes. (Indirect)

• ”I’m waiting for the bus”, She said. (Direct)
• She said She was waiting for the bus. (Indirect)

Exception Rules 

• The tense of the verb in the reported utterance does not alter if the reporting verb is in the present or future tense
• The tense of the reported utterance does not alter if it conveys a universal fact or a habit
• When a time clause is used in reported speech and both the main verb and the time clause verb are in the simple past, the verbs stay intact
• The tense of the reported speech remains unchanged if it depicts a situation that still exists at the time the speech is reported
• There is no change in the tense of the verb in the reported speech when the quoted speech is in the past perfect tense

Conclusion

Indirect speech, also known as reported speech, is a technique of reporting or communicating your purpose through questions, remarks, or other words without directly quoting them, as is the case with indirect speech. We usually employ the past form of the verb in reported discourse. The present tense is employed in direct communication. A content clause or infinitival is used to convey indirect conversation. Reported or indirect speech has become a crucial part of our everyday conversation due to its extensive use.