In General, Speech is a tool for expressing our thoughts to someone but the speech may vary from direct to indirect speech. Knowing the direct indirect speech rules in depth is indispensable for anyone willing to convert from one form to another impeccably. There are a set of rules for these two types of speeches. In the terms, direct speech means repeating "what someone else has said directly", whereas indirect speech means that is used to "report what others have said".Direct to indirect speech is one of the important topics in English grammar that every aspirant should know because this will help them get good scores on the examination. In this article the direct to indirect speech we are going to see the meaning of direct speech, indirect speech with their examples, and also with the rules of direct and indirect speeches with the difference between them and finally, we have the faq section. If there are any queries check the FAQ section. We have also attached the link for the PDF of Direct to Indirect speech rules for download.

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What is Direct Speech?

Direct speech is used to quote the same phrases. To write in direct speech, we simply leave the words "said" alone and enclose them in quotation marks. (" "). We could be recording what is being said (during a phone call, for example) or asking later about a previous discussion inverted commas.

Direct Speech Examples

• “Where do they live?”
• You asked me where they lived.
• “When are you leaving?”
• He asked us when we were leaving.
• “How will they get here?”
• She asked me how they would get here.

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What is Indirect Speech?

When discussing the past, indirect speech, also known as reported speech, typically involves changing the tense of the words stated. Reporting verbs like "tell," "say," and "ask" are employed, and the word "that" might be used to begin the reported instead of (" ") The concepts of "Reported speech" and "Reported verb" are also introduced through direct and indirect speech.

Indirect Speech Examples

• You said you’d had a headache the day before yesterday.
• He said it’d been raining since that afternoon.
• She said she hadn’t seen them since the previous week.
• You asked me where they lived.
• He asked us when we were leaving.
• She asked me how they would get here.

Complete Details

Direct And Indirect Speech Conversion: The complete set of rules to convert from direct to Indirect speech is given below. Aspirants who need to learn about the direct and indirect speech rules and to know the direct-to-indirect speech conversion rules, in general, must proceed further.

Rule 1: Instead Of Inverted Commas, Use 'That'

Remove the inverted commas when converting direct speech to indirect speech, and use it instead of commas.

Direct To Indirect Speech Examples

• Direct: Rani said, 'I am thirsty'.
• Indirect: Rani said that she was thirsty.

In Indirect Speech, Tense Does Not Change For,

• Whether the reported speech (the portion of the phrase enclosed in inverted commas) represents universal truth or habitual behavior.
• The tense will not change if the reporting verb is in the present tense.

Rule 2: Change In Tense

Indirect speech will shift reported speech into the past tense when the reporting verb is in the past tense.

Direct To Indirect Speech Examples

• Hari said, “He will do the homework.” (Direct Speech)
• Hari said that he would do the homework. (Indirect Speech)

Learn how to change tenses by reading the table below.

Rule 3: Change In Pronoun

Depending on the subject or the pronoun of the reporting verb (initial part of the phrase), the pronoun or the subject of the reported speech changes. The possessive pronouns (his, hers, and mine) can also alter depending on whether the pronoun is personal or object.

Direct to Indirect speech Example

• He said, “I am happy.” (Direct Speech)
• He said that he was happy. (Indirect Speech)

In the above example ‘I’ is changed into ‘he’ according to the reporting verb (first part) and the tense is also changed because the reporting verb (first part) is in the past tense.

Rule 4: Change In Place And Time

Depending on the subject or the pronoun of the reporting verb (initial part of the phrase), the pronoun or the subject of the reported speech changes. The possessive pronouns (his, hers, and mine) can also alter depending on whether the pronoun is personal or object.

Rule 5: Interrogative Sentences

If a direct speech sentence begins with a question word (what, where, when), there is no need for a conjunction because the "question word" itself functions as a conjunction. Remove the question mark "?" while converting the interrogative sentence into indirect speech.

Direct to Indirect speech Example

• “Where is the temple?” asked the boy. (Direct Speech)
• The boy asked where was the temple. (Indirect Speech)

Rule 6: Yes/No Interrogative Sentences

If an auxiliary verb or helping verb comes first in a direct speech sentence, the joining clause will become either if or whether. Reporting verbs (verbs used in the first part) like "said/said to" change to "enquired," "asked," or "demanded" while changing the interrogative sentence.

Direct to Indirect speech Example

• He asked me “Are you angry with me?” (Direct Speech)
• He enquired whether/if I was angry with him. (Indirect Speech)

Rule 7: Request, Command, Wished, Enquired

Some verbs are used in indirect speech, including requested, ordered, urged, and advised. The word forbidden is used to describe the negative statements. As a result, in indirect communication, the infinitive word takes the place of the imperative mood that is present in direct speech.

Direct to Indirect speech Example

• She said to her, “Please complete the homework.” (Direct Speech)
• She requested her to complete the homework. (Indirect Speech)

Rule 8: Exclamatory Sentence

Exclamatory sentences that express (grief, sorrow, delight, or applause) are changed into assertive sentences by eliminating the interjections.

Direct to Indirect speech Example

• Students said, “Hurrah! India has won the match.” (Direct Speech)
• Students exclaimed with joy that India had won the match (Indirect Speech)

Difference Between Direct And Indirect Speech

Here we have added the important differences between direct and indirect speech for the reference of the candidates preparing for competitive exams.

FAQs 

Q. What are the rules for changing direct to indirect speech?

The complete set of rules for changing from direct to indirect speech is mentioned here in this article.

Q. What is direct speech?

Direct speech is used to quote exactly the same phrases. When writing in direct speech, we simply leave the words "said" alone and enclose them in quotation marks (" "). We could be recording what is being said (during a phone call, for example) or asking later about a previous discussion inverted commas.

Q. What is indirect speech?

When discussing the past, indirect speech, also known as reported speech, typically involves changing the tense of the words stated. Reporting verbs like "tell," "say," and "ask" are employed, and the word "that" might be used to begin the reported instead of (" ") The concepts of "Reported speech" and "Reported verb" are also introduced through direct and indirect speech.

Q. What are the examples of direct speech?

Some of the examples of direct speech are “Where do they live?”, You asked me where they lived, “When are you leaving?”, He asked us when we were leaving, and “How will they get here?”.

Q. What are the examples of indirect speech?

Some of the examples of indirect speech are You said you’d had a headache the day before yesterday, He said it’d been raining since that afternoon, She said she hadn’t seen them since the previous week, You asked me where they lived.