Direct Speech: When a speaker’s words are reported exactly as they were spoken, it is called Direct Speech. In Direct Speech, the statement is usually placed within inverted commas (quotation marks).

Examples:

• He said, “I am ready.”

• Ram said, “I saw him.”

• He said to me, “What is your name?”

Indirect Speech: When a speaker’s words are reported in a way that conveys the meaning but does not use the exact words, it is called Indirect Speech. Indirect Speech does not use commas or inverted commas.

Examples:

• He said that he was ready.

• Ram said that he had seen him.

• He asked me what my name was.

Key Terms

1. Reporting Verb: The verb that is outside the inverted commas. For example, in “He said, ‘I am ready,’” the word ‘said’ is the Reporting Verb.

2. Reported Speech: The words spoken by the speaker, which are placed within inverted commas. In “He said, ‘I am ready,’” the phrase ‘I am ready’ is the Reported Speech.

3. Verb of the Reported Speech: The verb used in the Reported Speech. In “He said, ‘I am ready,’” the word ‘am’ is the Verb of the Reported Speech.

Changing Direct Speech to Indirect Speech

To convert Direct Speech to Indirect Speech, there are some general and special rules.

General Rules:

These rules apply to all types of sentences:

1. Change of Person:

   • First Person changes according to the subject of the Reporting Verb.

   • Second Person changes according to the object of the Reporting Verb.

   • Third Person remains unchanged.

2. Example:

   • He says, “I am your friend.” → He tells me that he is my friend.

3. Change of Tense:

   • The tense usually changes when converting to Indirect Speech, except when the Reporting Verb is in the present or future tense.

4. Change of Other Parts of Speech:

   • Some changes may occur in pronouns and possessive forms.

Notes:

1. If the Reporting Verb is in the present or future tense, the tense of the Indirect Speech does not change.

2. In an assertive sentence, ‘that’ is used instead of inverted commas.

3. If the Reporting Verb is ‘say/says/said’ and followed by an object, it changes to ‘tell/tells/told.’ If there is no object, the Reporting Verb remains unchanged.

Examples:

1. He says to me, “I am your friend.”

   • He tells me that he is my friend.

2. He says to me, “You are my friend.”

   • He tells me that I am his friend.

3. She says to me, “I am his sister.”

   • She tells me that she is his sister.

4. Ram says to me, “I am your friend.”

   • Ram tells me that he is my friend.

5. Sita says to me, “I am your friend.”

   • Sita tells me that she is my friend.

Exceptions

If the Reported Speech expresses a universal truth or a principle, there is no change in the tense, even if the Reporting Verb is in the past tense.

Examples:

1. He said, “The earth is round.”
   → He said that the earth is round.

2. My father said to me, “Honesty is the best policy.”
   → My father told me that honesty is the best policy.

3. He said, “Work is worship.”
   → He said that work is worship.

4. The teacher said, “The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.”
   → The teacher said that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

5. He remarked, “A bad carpenter quarrels with his tools.”
   → He remarked that a bad carpenter quarrels with his tools.

6. He said, “Two and two is four.”
   → He said that two and two is four.

Change of Other Parts of Speech

When the Reporting Verb is in the past tense, all time-related words in the Reported Speech change from proximal (near) terms to distal (far) terms. Here’s how these changes occur:

Proximal to Distal Changes:

Examples:

1. She said, “I am glad to be here this evening.”
   → She said that she was glad to be there that evening.

2. He said, “I am now speaking to this boy.”
   → He said that he was then speaking to that boy.

3. He said, “I will do it tomorrow.”
   → He said that he would do it the next day.

4. She said, “I am starting the day after tomorrow.”
   → She said that she was starting in two days' time.

5. He said, “It is not so foggy today as it was yesterday.”
   → He said that it was not so foggy that day as it had been the day before.

6. “I saw him the day before yesterday,” she said.
   → She said that she had seen him two days before.

7. The girl said to me, “I shall meet you next month.”
   → The girl told me that she would meet me the following month.

8. He said, “She died a year ago.”
   → He said that she had died a year before.

Important Note:

When the situation or object mentioned in the Reported Speech is still present with the speaker, the proximal terms do not change to distal terms.

Examples:

1. He said, “This is my table.”

   • If the table is still present, it remains:
     → He said that this was his table.

2. This morning Ram said to me, “I shall give you money today.”

   • Since it’s still the same morning, it remains:
     → This morning Ram told me that he would give me money today.

  Important Points to Note

A. Sometimes, there may not be an object after the Reporting Verb, and you need to change the second-person pronoun/adjective in the Reported Speech. In such cases, you can choose an appropriate object for the Reporting Verb. For example:

1. He said, "I am waiting for you."
   → He told me that he was waiting for me. or He told her that he was waiting for her.

2. He said, "I do not wish to see any of you."
   → He told us that he did not wish to see any of us. or He told them that he did not wish to see any of them.

3. My father said, "You should take care of your health."
   → My father told me that I should take care of my health.

4. The teacher said, “You should not make a noise in the class.”
   → The teacher told the students/me/him/her that they/I/he/she should not make a noise in the class.

Thus, the choice of the object depends on your discretion. When converting a passage into Indirect Speech, select the appropriate object based on the overall meaning of the passage.

B. If a name is mentioned as a term of address in Inverted Commas, make that name the object of the Reporting Verb. For example:

1. He said, “Ram, I want to help you.”
   → He told Ram that he wanted to help him.

2. Radha said, "I love you very much, Mohan."
   → Radha told Mohan that she loved him very much.

C. If terms of address such as "Ladies and gentlemen," "My dear friends," or "Future of the country" are used, start the sentence with "Addressing + object + as + term of address." For example:

1. The leader said, “Ladies and gentlemen, if you give me a chance to serve you I shall do my best to please you."
   → Addressing the people as ladies and gentlemen, the leader said that if they gave him a chance to serve them, he would do his best to please them.

2. The Prime Minister said to the students, “Future of the country, you are my hope, and so you will be given perfect care and guidance."
   → Addressing the students as the future of the country, the Prime Minister said that they were his hope, and so they would be given perfect care and guidance.

D. If expressions like "O," "Well," or "Okay" are present in Inverted Commas, omit them in Indirect Speech. For example:

He said, "Well, Ram, you can take it."
→ He told Ram that he could take it.

E. The Reported Speech can come at the beginning of the sentence, after the Reporting Verb, or on both sides of the Reporting Verb. However, in Indirect Speech, the part that comes outside the Inverted Commas will come first, as you have been doing. For example:

1. “I shall go with you as soon as I am ready,” replied she.
   → She replied that she would go with me as soon as she was ready.

2. "I have completed my job," he said.
   → He said that he had completed his job.

3. "I am always ready to help you," she said to me, "because you are my neighbour."
   → She told me that she was always ready to help me because I was her neighbour.

Special Rules: Assertive Sentences/Statements

The general rules apply to all types of sentences, while special rules differ for various types of sentences. You have already become familiar with the rules for converting Assertive Sentences in Inverted Commas into Indirect Speech.

When using "say," if there is an object after "say," it can be changed to "tell + object." If there is no object after "to," you can leave it out. You can choose not to change "say + to + object" into "tell + object," but changing it is usually better.

Special Rules: Interrogative Sentences

To convert Interrogative Sentences in Inverted Commas into Indirect Speech, follow these steps:

1. Change the Reporting Verb to "ask."

2. Do not use "that" in place of Inverted Commas. If the sentence starts with a question word (when, what, why, where, who, how, etc.), use that question word directly.

3. If the Interrogative Sentence starts with an Anomalous Finite, use "if" or "whether" instead of Inverted Commas.

4. Change the Interrogative Verb Form to Assertive Verb Form, then apply the general rules for Indirect Speech.

Examples of Changing Interrogative Verb Forms:

1. Do you eat?
   → You eat.

2. Do you not eat?
   → You do not eat.

3. Does he read?
   → He reads.

4. Doesn't she help you?
   → She does not help you.

5. Did you know?
   → You knew.

6. Did they not come?
   → They did not come.

7. Are you poor?
   → You are poor.

8. Have you eaten?
   → You have eaten.

9. Was she dancing?
   → She was dancing.

10. Will you do?
    → You will do.

11. Shan't I get?
    → I shan't get.

12. Can she do?
    → She can do.

13. Should you go there?
    → You should go there.

14. Have you no time?
    → You have no time.

15. Had you a book?
    → You had a book.

16. Where do you live?
    → Where you live.

17. Why don't you play?
    → Why you don't play.

18. When did he come?
    → When he came.

19. Why didn't she dance?
    → Why she didn't dance.

20. How shall I go?
    → How I shall go.

21. How much do you eat?
    → How much you eat.

22. What is your name?
    → What your name is.

23. Who are you?
    → Who you are.

24. What was the name of your friend?
    → What the name of your friend was.

25. Who killed the bird?
    → Who killed the bird.

26. Who can do this?
    → Who can do this.

27. How many boys will come?
    → How many boys will come.

28. Who helps her?
    → Who helps her.

29. Who will go?
    → Who will go.

30. Who has beaten you?
    → Who has beaten you.

Solved Examples:

1. He said to me, "Are you ill?"
   → He asked me if I was ill.

2. She said to Mohan, "Have you a red pen?"
   → She asked Mohan if he had a red pen.

3. She said to me, "Can you kill a bird?"
   → She asked me if I could kill a bird.

4. They said to me, "Will you help me?"
   → They asked me if I would help them.

5. He said to me, "Are you joining tomorrow?"
   → He asked me if I was joining the next day.

6. They said, "Were you present there?"
   → They asked me if I had been present there.

7. She said to me, "Were you not living there?"
   → She asked me if I had not been living there.

8. She said to me, "Do you love me?"
   → She asked me if I loved her.

9. She said to me, "Do you not love me?"
   → She asked me if I did not love her.

10. Ram said to me, "Does he know you?"
    → Ram asked me if he knew me.

11. They said to me, "Do we not help you?"
    → They asked me if they did not help me.

12. Ram said to Sita, "Did you teach my sister?"
    → Ram asked Sita if she had taught his sister.