Direct and Indirect Speech

Introduction 

The direct speeches are written in the form of quotations and using inverted commas. These kinds of speeches are written down in speech marks and quoted with quotations. The texts or stories with Direct speech assist the readers in better understanding and communicating. Indirect speeches are the reported form of another’s speech and conduction of the sentence in an indirect form. 

Discussion 

Direct and Indirect Speech Rules 

Direct speech rules are conducted by open speech with the utilization of quotations and commas. The introduction of speech marks and inverted commas are the features of direct speech and its conduction. According to the rule of Direct speech, each new character should be started with a new line. The speech line should be started with a capital letter and it should be ended with a stop, question mark, or exclamation sign. Utilization of proper punctuation before starting the quotation and ending the sentence is the primary rule of direct speech. The incorporation of “reporting clauses” is used in the direct speech and proper punctuation should be used before and after the reporting verb.  

On the other side, in the case of indirect speech, the exact words should not be used and utilization of speech marks is banned in this. The necessary change in the tenses should be implemented to convert the direct speech into an indirect one. The reported verbs should be changed like the utilisation of “say” should be changed into “tell”. The expression of time should be changed in the case of indirect speech. The tense within the quotation should be changed when it is converted into indirect speech. Unnecessary use of commas, inverted commas, and quotations are prohibited in the case of indirect speech. The conversion of question form into the reporting forms is the primary rule of indirect speech. The change in the form of interrogative speech into the affirmative sentence is the rule of indirect speech.

Examples of Direct and Indirect speech 

A direct speech example is: “Does he stay here”? 

Where the indirect speech example will be: you asked me if he stayed here.

Direct speech: “Where does she live?”

Indirect speech: You asked me where she lived. 

Direct speech: “What are you doing here?”

Indirect speech: He asked me what I was doing here. 

Direct speech: “Could you call me back again?”

Indirect speech: He asked me to call him back again.

Direct speech: He says, “ I am sick.”

Indirect speech: He says that he is sick.

Direct speech: “I will do that”, Jack said

Indirect speech: Jack said that he will do that.

Direct speech: John said, “This work is not easy.”

Indirect speech: John said that the work was not easy.

Direct speech: “I bought a pen yesterday.”

Indirect speech: He said that he bought a pen yesterday. 

Direct speech: “I was walking in the middle of the street.”

Indirect speech: He said that he had been walking in the middle of the street. 

Direct speech: He said, “He has taken his meal.”

Indirect speech: He said that he had taken his meal. 

Conversion from Direct to Indirect Speech 

Indirect speech conversions are done by reporting the words of others in an indirect form. The exact repetition of words is not done in the case of indirect speech conversion. The conveying of messages or speech of the speakers is the way of conducting indirect speech. The reporting verbs and the tenses are changed in case of the transformation of speech. Indirect speech conversions are dependent on the modals, time, tenses, and places provided in the direct speech. The word “can” indirect speech should be transformed into “could” and “may” should be converted into “might”.  The word “must” indirect speech should be transformed into “have to” or “would have to” in case of speech conversion. 

Contrarily, the utilization of “should” will not be changed into any other word, it will remain the same in indirect speech transformation. Simultaneously, the word “might” will not be changed into another word, and “could”, “would”, and “ought to” will remain the same. Additionally, the verb with past tense will remain the same in case of the speech conversion into indirect form. The future tense will be also the same as the past tense, that is no conversion will be done in case of indirect speech.

Conclusion 

Thus, it can be concluded that open speech with speech marks, and quotations are the rules of direct speech. Additionally, the utilization of reporting verbs and reporting tenses are the indirect speech rules in English grammar. It has been analyzed that the present tense of the direct speech should be converted into the past as the rule of direct to indirect speech transformation. Direct speech proficiency can be conducted by an exact copy of the words and the exact repetition of words. Incorporation of commas and inverted commas are banned, and reporting verb utilization is the primary rule.