Quick summary
Direct speech gives the exact words of the speaker inside inverted commas: Rahul said, "I am happy." Indirect (reported) speech gives the same meaning in our own words, without inverted commas: Rahul said that he was happy. This is also called Narration.
Hindi help: Direct Speech = प्रत्यक्ष कथन, Indirect Speech = अप्रत्यक्ष कथन. Marathi help: प्रत्यक्ष कथन / अप्रत्यक्ष कथन.
Main rules
- Remove the inverted commas and use a joining word: that (statements), if/whether (yes-no questions), the wh-word itself (wh-questions), to (orders and requests).
- If the reporting verb (said) is in the past, the tense of the reported words goes one step back.
- Change pronouns according to who is speaking and to whom.
- Change words of time and place (now → then).
- If the reporting verb is in the present or future (says, will say), the tense does not change.
- Universal truths and habits do not change tense: Teacher said, "The earth is round." → Teacher said that the earth is round.
Tense change (when reporting verb is past)
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| Simple present (go) | Simple past (went) |
| Present continuous (is going) | Past continuous (was going) |
| Present perfect (has gone) | Past perfect (had gone) |
| Simple past (went) | Past perfect (had gone) |
| will | would |
| can | could |
| may | might |
| shall | should |
Time and place words
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| now | then |
| today | that day |
| tomorrow | the next day |
| yesterday | the previous day |
| here | there |
| this / these | that / those |
| ago | before |
Examples
- Statement: Priya said to me, "I will help you." → Priya told me that she would help me.
- Yes-no question: He said to me, "Are you ready?" → He asked me if I was ready.
- Wh-question: Mother said, "Where are you going?" → Mother asked where I was going.
- Order: The teacher said to us, "Sit down." → The teacher ordered us to sit down.
- Request: She said, "Please give me water." → She requested to be given water / She requested me to give her water.
- Exclamation: He said, "What a lovely day!" → He exclaimed that it was a very lovely day.
Key points
- "said to" becomes "told" (statements) or "asked" (questions).
- In indirect questions, the sentence becomes a statement: no question mark, subject comes before verb (asked where I was going, NOT where was I going).
- Negative order: "Don't run." → He told me not to run.
Practice questions
Q1. Change into indirect speech: Amit said, "I am reading a book."
Amit said that he was reading a book.
Q2. She said to me, "Do you like tea?"
She asked me if I liked tea.
Q3. The doctor said to him, "Take this medicine twice a day."
The doctor advised him to take that medicine twice a day.
Q4. Ravi said, "I went to Nagpur yesterday."
Ravi said that he had gone to Nagpur the previous day.
Q5. The boy said, "Where is my bag?"
The boy asked where his bag was.
Q6. Change into direct speech: She told me that she was tired.
She said to me, "I am tired."
Exam tip
Do the changes in this order: joining word → pronoun → tense → time/place words. Check that the final sentence has no inverted commas and no question mark.