Direct Speech = DS
Indirect Speech = IS
Rules :
1. Tenses Rule
2. Modal auxiliaries Rule
3. Imperative & Exclamatory Sentences Rule
4. Change In Pronoun In Indirect Speech Rule
5. Change in Time and Adverbs in Indirect Speech Rule
6. Indirect Speech for question sentences Rule
###################### 1. Tense Rules #############################
[A] Present Tense
1. Present Simple Tense [Syntax : I, We, You, They + V1 OR He, She, It + V1-s/es + .... ]
[For Question : Do/Does + ...]
=> Past Simple Tense [Syntax : I, We, You, They, He, She, It + V2 + .... ]
[For Question : Did + ...]
Example :
DS : He said, "I love my best friends".
IS : He said that he loved his best friends.
2. Present Continuous Tense [Syntax : am/is/are + V1 -ing + .... ]
[For Question : Do/Does + ...]
=> Past Continuous Tense [Syntax : was/were + V1 -ing + .... ]
Example :
DS : I said, "She is driving a car".
IS : I said that she was driving a car.
3. Present Perfect Tense [Syntax : has/have + V3 + .... ]
=> Past Perfect Tense [Syntax : had + V3 + .... ]
Example :
DS : He said,"She has washed the shirts"
IS : He said that she had washed the shirts.
4. Present Perfect Continuous [Syntax : has/have been + V1 -ing + .... ] =>
Past Perfect Continuous Tense [Syntax : had been + V1 -ing + .... ]
Example :
DS : They said,"We have been living in America since 2013".
IS : They said that they had been living in America since 2013.
[B] Past Tense
1. Past Simple Tense [Syntax : I, We, You, They, He, She, It + V2 + .... ]
[For Question : Did + ...]
=> Past Perfect Tense [Syntax : had + V3 + .... ]
Example :
DS : They said, "We went to a market".
IS : They said that they had gone to a market.
2. Past Continuous Tense [Syntax : was/were + V1 -ing + .... ]
=> Past Perfect Continuous Tense [Syntax : had been + V1 -ing + .... ]
Example :
DS : She said, "I was not making a noise".
IS : She said that she had not been making a noise.
3. Past Perfect Tense [Syntax : had + V3 + .... ] => No change
Example :
DS : They said,"We had won the game".
IS : They said that they had won the game.
4. Past Perfect Continuous Tense [Syntax : had been + V1 -ing + .... ] => No change
Example :
DS : The teacher said "I had been watching you".
IS : The teacher said that he had been watching you.
[C] Future Tense
1. Future Simple Tense "will" => "would"
Example :
DS : She said, "I will go to London".
IS :She said that she would go to London.
2. Future Continuous Tense "will be" => "would be"
Example :
DS : He said to me,"I will be waiting for you".
IS : He said to me that he would be waiting for you.
3. Future Perfect Tense " will have " => "would have"
Example :
DS : She said,"I will have cooked the food".
IS : She said that she would have cooked the food.
4. Future Perfect Continuous Tense => "would have been"
Example :
DS : He said, “We will have been watching a movie.”
IS : He told me that they would have been watching a movie.
########## 2. Modal auxiliaries Rule ########
Can => Could
May => Might
Must => had to
Might/should/would/could/ought to => No change
############ 3. Imperative & Exclamatory Sentences Rule ###############
[A] imperative sentence
A sentence that expresses a command, a request, an advice or a
suggestion is called an imperative sentence. Here are some examples:
Open the door.(command)
Please help me.(request)
Quit smoking.(advice)
Don’t make a noise.(command)
As imperative sentences have a command (or an order), a request, an advice or
a suggestion, to change them into Indirect Speech, some specific verbs
(i.e. requested, order, advised, forbade, suggested) replace the verbs
(e.g. said, told) of reporting verb.
Examples:
Direct Speech: She said to me, “Please help me”
Indirect Speech: She requested me to help her.
Direct Speech: Teacher said to him, “Do not waste your time”
Indirect Speech: Teacher advised him not to waste his time.
Direct Speech: He said to her, “Please lend me your Camera for one day”
Indirect Speech: He requested her to lend him her camera for one day.
Direct Speech: Doctor said to him, “Avoid unhealthy food”
Indirect Speech: Doctor advised him to avoid unhealthy food.
Direct Speech: The Boss said to the employee, “Get out of the room”
Indirect Speech: The Boss ordered the employee to get out of the room.
Direct Speech: He said to his servant, “Clean the room”.
Indirect Speech: He ordered his servant to clean the room.
[B] Exclamatory sentences
A sentence that expresses a state of sorrow, joy or wonder, is known as exclamatory sentence.
Examples:
Hurrah! I won the competition.(state of joy)
Alas! I couldn’t qualify the exam.(state of sorrow)
Wow! What a beautiful car.(state of wonder)
An exclamatory sentence expresses state of joy, sorrow or wonder, to change them into
Indirect Speech, specific words (i.e. exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with sorrow, exclaimed with wonder)
are added to the sentence.
Read the following examples.
Direct Speech: They said, “Hurrah! We won the game”
Indirect Speech: They exclaimed with joy that they had won the game.
Direct Speech: He said, “Alas! I failed the test”.
Indirect Speech: He exclaimed with sorrow that he had failed the test.
Direct Speech: He said, “Hurrah! I bought a nice shirt”.
Indirect Speech: He exclaimed with joy that he bought a nice shirt.
Direct Speech: She said, “Wow! What a beautiful flower it is”.
Indirect Speech: She exclaimed with wonder that what a beautiful flower it was.
Direct Speech: She said, “Oh! I lost my purse.”
Indirect Speech: She exclaimed with sorrow that he had lost her purse.
Direct Speech: David said to him, “How intelligent you are!”
Indirect Speech: David exclaimed with wonder that how intelligent he was.
############ 4. Change In Pronoun In Indirect Speech ############
To convert a direct speech into Indirect Speech, the pronoun (subject or object)
a sentence is changed. Here is a simple example:
Direct Speech: He said, “ I like music”.
Indirect Speech: He said that he liked music.
In the above example, the pronoun (I) is changed to pronoun (he) in Indirect Speech.
This sentence has two parts: a reporting verb (e.g. He said) and a reported speech
(e.g. I like music). The pronoun of reported speech changed according to the pronoun of
reporting verb of the sentence.
There are four easy rules for the change in pronoun in Indirect Speech.
Rule No. 1:- The 1st Person pronoun of reported Speech (e.g. We, I, Me, My, Mine, Us, or our)
is changed according to the Pronoun of the reporting verb if it is 3rd person Pronoun
(i.e. She, He, It, They, Their, her, his)
Examples:
Direct Speech: She said, “I will go to London”.
Indirect Speech: She said that she would go to London.
Direct Speech: He said, “I work in a factory”.
Indirect Speech: He said that he work in a factory.
Direct Speech: They said, “We have completed the work”
Indirect Speech: They said they had completed the work.
Direct Speech: He said, “My laptop is heavy”
Indirect Speech: He said that his laptop was heavy.
Direct Speech: She said, “My son is cute”.
Indirect Speech: She said that her son was cute.
Rule No. 2: The 1st Person pronoun of reported Speech (i.e. We, I, Me, Mine, Us, or our)
is NOT changed, if the Pronoun of reporting verb is also 1st Person Pronoun (i.e. I, we)
Examples:
Direct Speech: I said, “I had applied for a Job”
Indirect Speech: I said that I had applied for a Job.
Direct Speech: We said, “We sing a song”
Indirect Speech: We said that we sang a song.
Rule No. 3:- The 2nd Person Pronoun (i.e. you, yours) of the reported
Speech is changed according to “object” of the reporting verb.
Examples:
Direct Speech: She said to me, “You are a brilliant student”
Indirect Speech: She said to me that I was brilliant student.
Direct Speech: She said to him, “You are a brilliant student”
Indirect Speech: She said to him that he was a brilliant student.
Direct Speech: She said to them, “you are brilliant students”
Indirect Speech: She said to them that they were brilliant students.
Direct Speech: He said to me, “Your shirts are beautiful.
Indirect Speech: He said to me that my shirts were beautiful.
Direct Speech: He said to them, “Your shirts are beautiful”.
Indirect Speech: He said to them that their shirts are beautiful.
Rule No. 4:- The 3rd Person Pronoun (i.e. She, He, It, They, His, Him, them, His)
of the reported Speech will NOT be changed in the Indirect Speech.
Examples:
Direct Speech: He said, “She will buy a pen”.
Indirect Speech: He said that she would buy a pen.
Direct Speech: She said, “They are singing a song”
Indirect Speech: She said that they were singing a song.
Direct Speech: They said, “It is raining”.
Indirect Speech: They said that it was raining.
Direct Speech: You said, “She loves him”.
Indirect Speech: You said that she loved him.
Direct Speech: David said, “He works in a factory”.
Indirect Speech: David said that he worked in a factory.
Direct Speech: He said, “She is waiting for them.
Indirect Speech: He said that she was waiting for them
############### 5. Change in Time and Adverbs in Indirect Speech – Rules ###############
For converting Direct Speech into Indirect Speech, some changes are made to the sentence.
These changes include: change in the time and adverb of the sentence.
These changes are made according to the following rules:
=> Tomorrow changes into the next day.
=> Today changes into that day or the same day.
=> Yesterday changes into the day before or the previous day.
=> This week or month or year changes into that or same week or month or year.
=> Next week or month or year changes into the following week or month or year.
=> Last week or month or year changes into the previous week or month or year.
=> Ago changes into before.
=> Now or just changes into then.
=> This changes into that.
=> Here changes into there.
=> Hence changes into thence.
Examples:
Direct Speech: He said, “I will go to college tomorrow”.
Indirect Speech: He said that he would go to college the next day.
Direct Speech: She said, “I am busy today”.
Indirect Speech: She said that she was busy that day.
Direct Speech: He said, “I met my friend yesterday.
Indirect Speech: He said that he had met his friend the previous day.
Direct Speech: They said, “We have a lot of work to do this week.
Indirect Speech: They said that they had a lot of work to do that week.
Direct Speech: She said, “The weather is pleasant this month
Indirect Speech: She said that the weather was pleasant that month.
Direct Speech: He said, “He will be at home the next day.
Indirect Speech: He said that he would be at home the following day.
Direct Speech: They said, “They will attend classes the next wee.
Indirect Speech: They said that they would attend classes the following week.
Direct Speech: David said, “My examination will start the next month.
Indirect Speech: David said that his examination would start the following month.
Direct Speech: She said, “I met him the last week.
Indirect Speech: She said that she had met him the previous week.
Direct Speech: He said, “They earned a lot money the last month.
Indirect Speech: He said that they had earned a lot the previous month.
Direct Speech: She said, “I am writing a letter now.
Indirect Speech: She said that she was writing a letter then.
Direct Speech: He said, “I like this car;.
Indirect Speech: He said that he liked that car.
Direct Speech: He said, “The cat is playing here.
Indirect Speech: He said that the cat is playing there.
Direct Speech: Teacher said, “Students will come here.
Indirect Speech: Teacher said that student will come there.
############ 6. Indirect Speech for question sentences - Rules ###############
The basic rules for converting Direct Speech (question sentences) into Indirect Speech
are as follows: Examples are at the end.
Comma and inverted commas will be removed.
The conjunction “that” will not be used in Indirect Speech (in question sentence).
The conjunction “that” is used in Indirect speech of all positive sentences.
In indirect speech, the question sentence will be expressed in assertive (positive)
form instead of interrogative form.
Question mark (?) will not be used in indirect speech of interrogative sentence.
The verb such as ‘say’ or ‘tell’ (e.g. he said or she said) in direct speech is
replaced with verb such ‘ask’ or ‘inquire’ (e.g. he asked, she inquired) in indirect speech.
The above rules are common for all question-sentences. Apart from these common rules,
there are a few specific rules which apply according to the type of question in sentence.
There are two types of question-sentences:
[A]
Question which can be answered with YES or NO
Question which cannot be answered only with YES or NO, but requires a detailed answer.
Such questions usually start with “what, why, how, when e.t.c”
Examples:
Do you like a mango? (Such a question can be answered by saying only YES or No)
What are you doing? (Such a question cannot be answered by Yes or No but it requires a
bit explanation i.e. I am listening to music.)
The specific rules according to type of question are as follows:
Questions that can be answered with “YES or NO”
To make indirect speech of such questions, the word “if” or “whether” will be used in
Indirect Speech. Both the words “if” or “whether” can be used interchangeably.
Examples:
David said to me, “Do you like coffee?”
David asked me if I liked coffee.
He said to me, “Will you help me?”
He asked me if I would help him.
She said to me, “Can I use your Phone?”
She asked me if she could use my Phone.
They told me, “Have you gone to London?”
They asked me if I had gone to London.
He said to me, “Did you meet your friend?”
He asked me if I had met my friend.
John said to her, “Will you buy the book?”
John asked her whether she would buy the book.
She said, “Are they waiting for me?”
She asked whether they were waiting for her.
[B]
Questions that cannot be answered with only “YES or NO”
To make indirect speech of such questions, the word “if” or “whether” will not be used.
The question is changed into assertive(positive) form and is simply placed after the reporting verb.
Examples:
He said to me, “What are you doing?”
He asked me what I was doing.
She said to me, “What is your name?”
She asked me what my name was.
David said to me, “How are you?”
David asked me how I was.
They said to me, “where have you gone?”
They asked me where I had gone.
Teacher told her, “Why did you fail the exam?
Teacher asked her why she had failed the exam.
I said to her, “What were you eating?”
I asked her what she had been eating.
He said to her, “How will you help me?”
He asked her how he would help her.
The student said, “How can I buy this book?”
The student asked how he could buy this book.
They said, “How is the weather?”
The asked how the weather was.
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QUICK OVERVIEW...... LET'S START
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Direct Speech = DS
Indirect Speech = IS
Rules :
1. Tenses Rule
2. Modal auxiliaries Rule
3. Imperative & Exclamatory Sentences Rule
4. Change In Pronoun In Indirect Speech Rule
5. Change in Time and Adverbs in Indirect Speech Rule
6. Indirect Speech for question sentences Rule
###################### 1. Tense Rules #############################
[A] Present Tense
1. Present Simple Tense => Past Simple Tense
2. Present Continuous Tense => Past Continuous Tense
3. Present Perfect Tense => Past Perfect Tense
4. Present Perfect Continuous => Past Perfect Continuous Tense
[B] Past Tense
1. Past Simple Tense => Past Perfect Tense
2. Past Continuous Tense => Past Perfect Continuous Tense
3. Past Perfect Tense [Syntax : had + V3 + .... ] => No change
4. Past Perfect Continuous Tense => No change
[C] Future Tense
1. Future Simple Tense "will" => "would"
2. Future Continuous Tense "will be" => "would be"
3. Future Perfect Tense " will have " => "would have"
4. Future Perfect Continuous Tense => "would have been"
########## 2. Modal auxiliaries Rule ########
Can => Could, May => Might, Must => had to
Might/should/would/could/ought to => No change
############ 3. Imperative & Exclamatory Sentences Rule ###############
[A] imperative sentence
As
imperative sentences have a command (or an order), a request, an advice or
a
suggestion, to change them into Indirect Speech, some specific verbs
(i.e.
requested, order, advised, forbade, suggested) replace the verbs
(e.g. said,
told) of reporting verb.
e.g. said to
-> requested / advised / ordered
Open the door.(command)
Please help me.(request)
Quit smoking.(advice)
Don’t make a noise.(command)
[B] Exclamatory sentences
An
exclamatory sentence expresses state of joy, sorrow or wonder, to change them
into
Indirect Speech, specific words (i.e.
exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with sorrow, exclaimed with wonder) are added to the sentence.
e.g. Hurrah! / Alas! / Wow! ->
exclaimed with sorrow
Hurrah! I won the competition.(state of joy)
Alas! I couldn’t qualify the exam.(state of sorrow)
Wow! What a beautiful car.(state of wonder)
############ 4. Change In Pronoun In Indirect Speech ############
There are four easy rules for the change in pronoun in Indirect Speech.
Rule No. 1:- The 1st Person pronoun of reported Speech (e.g. We, I, Me, My, Mine, Us, or our)
is changed according to the Pronoun of the reporting verb if it is 3rd person Pronoun
(i.e. She, He, It, They, Their, her, his)
Rule No. 2:- The 1st Person pronoun of reported Speech (i.e. We, I, Me, Mine, Us, or our)
is NOT changed, if the Pronoun of reporting verb is also 1st Person Pronoun (i.e. I, we)
Rule No. 3 :- The 2nd Person Pronoun (i.e. you, yours) of the reported
Speech is changed according to “object” of the reporting verb.
Rule No. 4 :- The 3rd Person Pronoun (i.e. She, He, It, They, His, Him, them, His)
of the reported Speech will NOT be changed in the Indirect Speech.
############### 5. Change in Time and Adverbs in Indirect Speech – Rules ###############
For converting Direct Speech into Indirect
Speech, some changes are made to the sentence.
These changes include: change in the time and
adverb of the sentence.
These changes are made according to the
following rules:
=> Tomorrow changes into the next day.
=> Today changes into that day or the same day.
=> Yesterday changes into the day before or the previous day.
=> This week or month or year changes into that or same week or month or year.
=> Next week or month or year changes into the following week or month or year.
=> Last week or month or year changes into the previous week or month or year.
=> Ago changes into before.
=> Now or just changes into then.
=> This changes into that.
=> Here changes into there.
=> Hence changes into thence.
############ 6. Indirect Speech for question sentences - Rules ###############
The basic rules for converting Direct Speech (question sentences) into Indirect Speech
are as follows: Examples are at the end.
Comma and inverted commas will be removed.
The conjunction “that” will not be used in Indirect Speech (in question sentence).
The conjunction “that” is used in Indirect speech of all positive sentences.
In indirect speech, the question sentence will be expressed in assertive (positive)
form instead of interrogative form.
Question mark (?) will not be used in indirect speech of interrogative sentence.
The verb such as ‘say’ or ‘tell’ (e.g. he said or she said) in direct speech is
replaced with verb such ‘ask’ or ‘inquire’ (e.g. he asked, she inquired) in indirect speech.
The above rules are common for all question-sentences. Apart from these common rules,
there are a few specific rules which apply according to the type of question in sentence.
There are two types of question-sentences:
[A]
Question which can be answered with YES or NO
Question which cannot be answered only with YES or NO, but requires a detailed answer.
Such questions usually start with “what, why, how, when e.t.c”
Examples:
Do you like a mango? (Such a question can be answered by saying only YES or No)
What are you doing? (Such a question cannot be answered by Yes or No but it requires a
bit explanation i.e. I am listening to music.)
The specific rules according to type of question are as follows:
Questions that can be answered with “YES or NO”
To make indirect speech of such questions, the word “if” or “whether” will be used in
Indirect Speech. Both the words “if” or “whether” can be used interchangeably.
[B]
Questions that cannot be answered with only “YES or NO”
To make indirect speech of such questions, the word “if” or “whether” will not be used.
The question is changed into assertive(positive) form and is simply placed after the reporting verb.
