Direct and Indirect Speech

This sample essay on Direct Essay provides important aspects of the issue and arguments for and against as well as the needed facts. Read on this essay’s introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

Topic: Direct and Indirect Speech We may report the words of a speaker in two ways:- (i). we may quote his actual words. This is called Direct Speech. (ii). We may report what he said without quoting his exact words. This is called Indirect Speech. For example: Direct:Ahmed said, “I am very busy now”.

Indirect:Ahmed said that he was busy then. Direct Speech is that form of narration in which the actual words of a speaker are reported. It may be divided into two parts: the reported speech, i. e. the actual words of the speaker (its VERB is called Reported Verb); and the reporting speech, i. . the introductory words added to the reported speech (its VERB is called Reporting Verb). The reported speech is marked off by inverted commas.

The reporting speech comes before or after the commas. Indirect Speech is that form of speech in which what one speaker says is reported by another with utmost accuracy but without using his actual words. It will be noticed that in Direct Speech, we use inverted commas to mark off the exact words of the speaker. In Indirect Speech we do not. It will be further noticed that in changing the above Direct Speech into Indirect certain changes have been made.Thus: (i). we have used the conjunction that before the Indirect statement.

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(ii). The pronoun I is changed to he. (The 1st Person Pronoun is changed into 3rd Person Pronoun). (iii). The verb am is changed to was . (Present Tense is changed to Past). (iv). The adverb now is changed to then. 1. ASSERTIVE SENTENCES Definition: An assertive sentence makes a positive (Affirmative), negative or forceful statement. For example: 1. Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan. (Affirmative or positive) 2. Death is not the end of life. (Negative) 3. She did go to school. (Emphatic) or forceful statement.When Assertive Sentence is changed from the Direct into the Indirect Speech, all changes explained earlier take place. EXAMPLES: | | | | |Sr. No. |DIRECT SPEECH |INDIRECT SPEECH | |1 |She says, “I do not like this dress” |She says that she does not like that dress. | |2 |He will say, “My father has bought these books for me. He will say that his father has bought those books for him. | |3 |The lion said to the fox, “Many animals come here every day. ” |The lion said to the fox that many animals came there every day. | |4 |The teacher said to us, “It is 9 o’clock by my watch now. ” |The teacher said to us that it was 9 o’clock by his watch then. | |5 |The monitor says to the teacher, “Sir, the bell has gone. ” |The monitor says to the teacher respectfully that the bell has gone. | |6 |The boys said, “It is the Quaid’s birthday today. ” |The boys said that it was the Quaid’s birthday that day. |7 |I shall tell my friends, “Tomorrow is a holiday. ” |I shall tell my friends that the next (coming or following) day is a | | | |holiday. | |8 |She said, “I did not go to school yesterday. ” |She said that she had not gone to school the previous day. | |9 |He said, “It will rain tonight. ” |He said that it would rain that night. | |10 |He will say to you, “All right, I shall come. ” |He will say to you that he will come. |11 |She said tome, “well, you may go now. ” |She said to me that I might go then. | |12 |You said to him, “Yes, she is ill. ” |You said to him that she was ill. | |13 |He said to me, “No, you are not at fault. ” |He said to me that I was not at fault. | |14 |She said, “Good morning, Miss Naghma. ” |She greeted Miss Naghma. | |15 |He said, “Good-bye (farewell), my friends. ” |He said good-bye (farewell) to his friends. | |16 |They said, “Hullo! Mr. Salman, we are very glad to see you. |They said to Mr. Salman that they were very glad to see him. | |17 |He said to him, “I did my duty, sir. ” |He told him respectfully that he had done his duty. | RULES FOR CHANGING ASSERTIVE SENTENCES FROM DIRECT SPEECH INTO INDIRECT. A. CHANGES IN THE TENSES OF VERB: 1. If the REPORTING VERB is in the PRESENT TENSE, the tenses of the REPORTED SPEECH do not change. For example: Direct:He says, “I am unwell”. Indirect:He says that he is unwell. 2. If the REPORTING VERB is in the FUTURE TENSE, the tenses of the REPORTED SPEECH do not change. For example:Direct:He will say, “I have passed the examination”. Indirect:He will say that he has passed the examination. 3. When the REPORTING VERB is in the PAST TENSE, the Tenses of the REPORTED SPEECH are changed as under: (I). All Present Tenses of the Reported Speech are changed into the corresponding Past Tenses. Thus: (a). A Simple(Indefinite) Present Tense becomes a Simple (indefinite) Past Tense. For example: Direct:He said, “I am unwell”. Indirect:He said that he was unwell. (b). A Present Continuous Tense becomes a Past Continuous Tense. Direct:He said, “My master is writing letters”.Indirect:He said that his master was writing letters. (c). A Present Perfect Tense becomes a Past Perfect Tense. Direct:He said, “I have passed the examination”. Indirect:He said that he had passed the examination. (d). A Present Perfect Continuous Tense becomes Past Perfect Continuous Tense. Direct:He said, “I have been doing a lot of hard work since yesterday”. Indirect:He said that he had been doing a lot of hard work since the previous day. (II). When the REPORTING VERB is in the PAST TENSE, Tenses of the REPORTED SPEECH are changed as under: (a).A Simple (Indefinite) Past Tense becomes Past Perfect Tense. Direct:He said, “My brother did a splendid job today”. Indirect:He said that his brother had done a splendid job that day. (b). A Past Continuous Tense becomes Past Perfect Continuous Tense. Direct:They said, “We were going to school on foot. Indirect: They said that they had been going to school on foot. (c). A Past Perfect Tense remains unchanged Direct: The doctor said, “I had already seen many patients. Indirect: The doctor said that had already seen many patients (d). A Past Perfect Continuous Tense remains unchanged.Direct: We said, “We had been working since morning”. Indirect: We said that we had been working since morning. (III)“WILL” and “SHALL” of All four Forms of Future Tense are changed into “WOULD”. No other change in tenses is done. a. Direct: The doctor said to him, “She will not test my eyes”. Indirect: The doctor said to him that she would not test his eyes. b. Direct: Faisal said, “I shall leave for Karachi tomorrow”. Indirect: Faisal said that he would leave for Karachi next day. c. Direct: He said, “I shall be doing my duty without fail. Indirect: He said that he would be doing his duty without fail. d. Direct:She said, “It will have been raining in Lahore since night. ” Indirect:She said that it would have been raining in Lahore since night. 4. The tenses may not change if the statement is still relevant or if it is a universal truth. We can often choose whether to keep the original tenses or change them. Direct: The teacher said, “The earth goes round the sun. ” Indirect: The teacher said that earth goes/went round the sun. NOTE 1:IT MAY BE NOTED THAT IF “THIS”, “THESE”, “HERE” AND “NOW”, ETC.REFER TO SOME PLACE, OBJECT OR TIME THAT IS PRESENT TO THE SPEAKER AT THETIME HE OR SHE SPEAKS, THEN THESE WORDS REMAIN UNCHANGED; AS, 1. DIRECT:She said, “This pen is mine. ” INDIRECT:She said that this pen was hers. 2. DIRECT:He said, “I cannot stay here. ” INDIRECT:He said that he could not stay here. NOTE 2:IT MAY ALSO BE NOTED THAT IN CHANGING AN ASSERTIVE SENTENCE FROM DIRECT INTO THE INDIRECT SPEECH, “SAID TO” MAY; IF DESIRED, BE CHANGED INTO “TOLD”; AS, DIRECT:I said to him, “I do my duty. ” INDIRECT:I told him that I did my duty. NOTE 3:THE COMMA BETWEEN REPORTING AND REPORTED SPEECHES IS REPLACED WITH THE WORD “THAT”.EXERCISE : Put into the Indirect form of Speech: (A): 1. He said, “I eat apples. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 2. He said, “I am eating apples. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 3. He said, “I have eaten apples. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 4. He said, “I have already been eating apples. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. . She said, “I ate apples. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 6. She said, “I was eating apples. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 7. She said, “I had already eaten apples. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 8. She said, “I had been eating apples since morning. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 9. You said, “I shall eat apples. ————————————————————————————————————-. 10. They said, “We shall be eating apples. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 11. They said, “We shall have eaten apples. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 12. They said, “We shall have already been eating apples. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 13. They said, “The sun rises in the east. ————————————————————————————————————-. 14. You said to me, “I was playing tennis with her. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 15. He said to us, “You played a match against my school. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. (B): 1. He said, “I go out for a walk in the morning. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 2.He said, “I am going for a walk to the river. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 3. He said, “I have taken a ball. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 4. They said, “We went to the zoo on our bicycles. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 5. They said, “We were going to the zoo on our bicycles. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. . She said to me, “I had changed my clothes before I went to school. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 7. She said to us, “I shall change my clothes before I go to school. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 8. Father said to us, “I shall be going to Murree to see your uncle. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 9. He said to her, “You did not help me in learning my lesson. ————————————————————————————————————-. 10. They said to him, “We had been living in your house for three years. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 11. I said to them, “God helps those who help themselves. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 12. She said to me, “I shall look after my mother. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 3. He said, “Man is mortal. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. 14. The teacher said to the students, “History repeats itself. ” ————————————————————————————————————. 15. She said, “The earth moves round the sun. ” ————————————————————————————————————-. B. CHANGES INT THE PERSON OF PRONOUNS: The Pronouns in the REPORTED SPEECH are to be changed when necessary as per rules as under: (i).Some other words in the REPORTED SPEECH are also changed, when a sentence is changed from the Direct into the Indirect Speech. | | | | |Sr. No. |Words in Reported Speech |Changed into Indirect Speech | |1 |This |That | |2 |These |Those | |3 |Here |There | |4 |Now Then | |5 |Today |That day | |6 |Tonight |That night | |7 |Yesterday |The previous (last) day | |8 |Tomorrow |The next (following) day | |9 |Last night |The previous night | |10 |Ago |Before | |11 |Thus |So | |12 |Sir or madam |Respectfully | |13 |Good morning , good evening, good noon or good day |Greeted | |14 |Words like “well”, “all right,” “yes”, “hullo” and |—– | | |“no” are omitted. | | EXAMPLES: | | | | |Sr. No. DIRECT SPEECH |INDIRECT SPEECH | |1 |She says, “I do not like this dress” |She says that she does not like that dress. | |2 |He will say, “My father has bought these books for me. |He will say that his father has bought those books for him. | |3 |The lion said to the fox, “Many animals come here every day. ” |The lion said to the fox that many animals came there every day. | |4 |The teacher said to us, “It is 9 o’clock by my watch now. ” |The teacher said to us that it was 9 o’clock by his watch then. | |5 |The monitor says to the teacher, “Sir, the bell has gone. ”