Direct and Indirect Speech with Examples
Here is a table summarizing the rules for Direct Speech and Indirect Speech along with examples for each:
| Aspect | Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
| Quotation Marks | Uses quotation marks (” “) to enclose the exact words. | No quotation marks; the speech is reported in a different structure. |
| Tense Changes | Tenses remain the same as in the original speech. | Tenses often change (backshift) when reporting speech. |
| Example | She said, “I am going to the store.” | She said that she was going to the store. |
| Pronoun Changes | Uses pronouns as in the original speech. | Pronouns change according to the subject of the reporting sentence. |
| Example | He said, “I will help you.” | He said that he would help me. |
| Reporting Verb | Reporting verb (e.g., said, asked) comes before or after the quoted speech. | Reporting verb (e.g., said, told, asked) comes before the reported speech. |
| Example | He said, “I am tired.” | He said that he was tired. |
| Punctuation | Full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark as in the original speech. | No punctuation mark, except for the ending period. |
| Example | She asked, “Do you need help?” | She asked if I needed help. |
| Time Expressions | Time expressions remain unchanged. | Time expressions (today, tomorrow, now, etc.) change based on the time of reporting. |
| Example | He said, “I will call you tomorrow.” | He said that he would call me the next day. |
| Commands/Requests | Direct commands or requests are used. | In indirect speech, they are transformed into reported commands or requests. |
| Example | She said, “Please close the door.” | She asked me to close the door. |
| Questions | Direct questions are used, often with a question mark. | In indirect questions, the question mark is omitted, and the word order changes. |
| Example | He asked, “What time is it?” | He asked what time it was. |
| Exclamations | Exclamatory sentences are used with an exclamation mark. | Exclamations are turned into a statement with “that” or an exclamation word. |
| Example | “What a beautiful day!” she said. | She exclaimed that it was a beautiful day. |
Tense Changes in Indirect Speech:
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
| Present Simple → Past Simple | She says, “I like chocolate.” → She said that she liked chocolate. |
| Present Continuous → Past Continuous | She is reading. → She was reading. |
| Present Perfect → Past Perfect | She has finished. → She had finished. |
| Past Simple → Past Perfect | He went to the market. → He had gone to the market. |
| Future Simple → Future in the Past | She will call you. → She would call you. |
| Modal Verbs (can, will, may, etc.) | Can → could, Will → would, May → might |
Note: In indirect speech, we usually shift the tense by one step backward, but there are exceptions when the reporting verb is in the present or when the information is still true.
Pronoun changes in reported speech:
Here’s a table outlining the common pronoun changes in reported speech:
| Pronoun in Direct Speech | Pronoun in Reported Speech |
| I | He/She/They |
| You (singular) | He/She/They |
| You (plural) | They |
| He | I |
| She | I |
| They | We |
| We | They |
| Me | Him/Her/Them |
| Him | Me |
| Her | Me |
| Us | Them |
| My | His/Her/Their |
| Your (singular) | His/Her |
| Your (plural) | Their |
| His | My |
| Her | My |
| Their | Our |
| Ours | Theirs |
| Theirs | Ours |
Notes:
- The pronoun changes depend on the subject of the reporting verb and the context.
- Possessive pronouns like “my,” “his,” “her,” “their,” etc., change based on the subject in the reported speech.
- Second-person pronouns (you) change based on the intended meaning in the reported speech.
Time expressions in reported speech:
Here’s a table listing the common changes for time expressions in reported speech:
| Time Expression in Direct Speech | Time Expression in Reported Speech |
| Now | Then |
| Today | That day |
| Tomorrow | The next day |
| Yesterday | The day before / the previous day |
| The day before yesterday | Two days before / two days earlier |
| Next week | The following week |
| Last week | The week before / the previous week |
| A week ago | A week before / a week earlier |
| This week | That week |
| This month | That month |
| This year | That year |
| In a week | In a week’s time / in the following week |
| In two days | In two days’ time / in two days’ time |
| A month ago | A month before / a month earlier |
| A year ago | A year before / a year earlier |
| Here | There |
| Nowhere | Nowhere (no change) |
| Soon | Soon (no change) |
| Lately | Recently |
| In the future | In the future (no change) |
Additional Notes:
- “This” and “next” can shift based on the reference point (e.g., “this week” changes to “that week”).
- “Yesterday” becomes “the day before”, but sometimes it may be reported as “the previous day”.
- When talking about “tomorrow”, it becomes “the next day”.
- Direct and Indirect Speech Rules
- Direct Speech vs Indirect Speech
- Tenses in Indirect Speech
- Indirect Speech Examples
- How to Convert Direct Speech to Indirect Speech
- Direct and Indirect Speech Grammar
- Indirect Speech Reporting Verbs
- Pronoun Changes in Indirect Speech
- Direct and Indirect Speech with Examples
- Rules for Reporting Speech
- Indirect Speech Time Expressions
- Direct Speech Rules with Examples
- Indirect Speech Conversion Chart
- How to Report Questions in Indirect Speech
- Direct to Indirect Speech Tense Changes
- Indirect Speech Commands and Requests
- Indirect Speech Punctuation Rules
- Direct Speech Exclamations
- Direct and Indirect Speech Table
- Examples of Indirect Speech in English