🎓 Direct and Indirect Speech – A Simple Guide
📌 What is Direct and Indirect Speech?
In English grammar, we often report what someone else said. This can be done in two ways:
- Direct Speech: Quoting the speaker’s exact words.
- Indirect Speech: Reporting the speaker’s words without quoting them exactly.
🔄 How to Change Direct Speech into Indirect?
- Remove quotation marks.
- Change the tense of the verb (in most cases).
- Change pronouns according to the context.
- Change time and place words (e.g., today → that day, tomorrow → the next day).
🧪 Examples of Direct & Indirect Speech with Explanations
✅ Example 1:
Direct: He said to him, “I cannot do you a favor.”
Indirect: He told him that he could not do him a favor.
✅ Example 2:
Direct: They said to us, “Let us go out for a walk.”
Indirect: They proposed to us that we should go out for a walk.
✅ Example 3:
Direct: “What do you want?” asked his mother.
Indirect: His mother asked what he wanted.
⚠️ Note: Questions in indirect speech do not use question marks.
📘 Some More Useful Examples:
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
| Did you talk rudely to your sister? | He asked me if I had talked rudely to my sister. |
| My brother reached Quetta yesterday. | Rasheed told Suhail that his brother had reached Quetta the day before. |
| Truth triumphs in the end. | The teacher told us that truth triumphs in the end. |
| Can you speak French? | Nasir asked Raheela if she could speak French. |
| Will you accompany me to the movie? | My friend asked me if I would accompany him to the movie. |
🔄 Time Word Changes:
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| today | that day |
| tomorrow | the next day |
| yesterday | the day before |
| now | then |
| here | there |
🎉 Expressing Feelings in Indirect Speech:
| Expression | Indirect Speech Example |
|---|---|
| Hurrah! It is a holiday tomorrow. | They exclaimed with joy that it was a holiday the next day. |
| Alas! My house has been reduced to ashes. | He exclaimed with sorrow that his house had been reduced to ashes. |
| May you live long! | The beggar prayed that he might live long. |
🗣️ Commands, Requests, and Suggestions:
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
|---|---|
| Put off the light. | The master ordered the servant to put off the light. |
| Let us go to the park. | They suggested that we should go to the park. |
| Do you know how to swim? | I asked her if she knew how to swim. |
🎯 Final Tips:
- Use reporting verbs like said, asked, told, ordered, requested, etc.
- Adjust pronouns and time words carefully.
- Always check the sentence type: Statement, Question, Command, or Exclamation.