Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct Speech

When the speaker’s exact words are written inside quotation marks.

Indirect Speech

Reports the meaning of what was said without quoting the exact words, removing quotation marks.

Reporting Verb

A verb that indicates what was said, e.g., said, told, asked.

Reporting Clause

The part of the sentence containing the reporting verb.

Reported Speech

The exact spoken words being reported.

Tense Changes

Changes made to the verb tense when converting from direct to indirect speech, especially when the reporting verb is in past tense.

Pronoun Changes

Adjustments to pronouns according to the speaker, listener, and context when converting to indirect speech.

Time Changes

Adjustments to temporal expressions when reporting speech, e.g., today to that day.

Statement Conversion Rule

Use 'that' after the reporting verb in assertive sentences.

WH-Question Conversion

Keep the WH-word and remove the question format when converting.

Yes/No Question Conversion

Use 'if' or 'whether' when changing yes/no questions to indirect speech.

Command Conversion

Use 'to' + verb in the infinitive when converting commands.

Exclamatory Sentence Conversion

Use verbs like exclaimed and remove exclamatory words when converting.

Modal Verb Changes

Adjustments to modal verbs, e.g., will to would, when converting to indirect speech.

Conversion Summary Table

A table outlining how to convert different sentence types in reported speech.