Direct and Indirect Narration

Direct Indirect Speech

1. Direct Indirect - Simple
2. Direct Indirect - Interrogative Simple
3. Direct Indirect - W-Family Interrogative
4. Direct Indirect - Imperative
5. Direct Indirect - Let
6. Direct Indirect - Optative
7. Direct Indirect - Exclamatory
8. Direct Indirect - Miscellaneous

Direct-Indirect Speech - Simple Sentences

Rule No. 1

First of all see the Reporting Verb. If it is 'say, says, will say or said', in Indirect Speech also it will remain same 'say, says, will say or said'. If 'to' is added with the Reporting Verb then in Indirect Speech it will be changed as per below rule:

(i) Say to - Tell (ii) Says to - Tells (iii) Will say to - Will tell (iv) Said to - Told

When 'to' is added with the Reporting Verb, Object will always be there and in Indirect Speech after 'Tell or Told', Object must come.

(i) Say to - Tell (ii) Says to - Tells (iii) Will say to - Will tell (iv) Said to - Told

Rule No. 2

See the Tense of Reported Verb. If Tense of Reported Verb is Past Tense then in Indirect Speech Tense of Reported Speech is changed to Past Tense as per Rule given below:

Reported Speech Tense in Direct Speech	Reported Speech Tense in Indirect Speech
Simple Present	Simple Past
Present Indefinite	Past Indefinite
Present Continuous	Past Continuous
Present Perfect	Past Perfect
Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
Past Indefinite	Past Perfect
Past Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect	No change of Tense
Past Perfect Continuous	No change of Tense
Will/Shall in Future Tense	Would/Should (Should with Pronoun 'I' & 'We' only)
Can	Could
May	Might
Could/Should/Would/Might	No Change

Rule No. 3

When Reporting Verb is of Past Tense, then the following words of Reported Speech are changed as per below:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Ago	Before
Hence	Thence
Here	There
Hither	Thither
Last night	The previous night
Last week	The previous week
Next week	The following week
Now	Then
The day before yesterday	The day before the previous day
The last fortnight	The previous fortnight.
These	Those
This	That
Thus	So
Today	That day
Tomorrow	The next day
Tonight	That night
Yesterday	The previous day

Rule No. 4

If Tense of Reporting Verb is either Present Tense or Future Tense, we do not make change in the Tense of Reported Speech.

Rule No. 5

If any Universal Truth, Proverb, Habitual Act, Historical Fact, Unchanged Facts, or Imaginary Condition comes in Reported Speech, then Tense of Reported Speech does not change even if Reported Verb is of Past Tense.

Rule No. 6

In all simple tenses, Comma (,) and Inverted Commas ("...") are removed and word 'That' is used to join both the parts.

Rule No. 7

For changing to Indirect Speech, Pronouns of Reported Speech are changed as per "S O N = 1 2 3" Rule.

S = Subject	1 = First Person
O = Object	2 = Second Person
N = No Change	3 = Third Person

Person	Nominative Case	Possessive Case	Objective Case	Reflexive Case
Ist Person Ist Person	I	My	Me	Myself
	We	Our	Us	Ourselves
2nd Person	You	Your	You	Yourself
3rd Person	He	His	Him	Himself
	She	Her	Her	Herself
	They	Their	Them	Themselves

Examples
1. She says to Kanika, "I will teach you and Avyan."
1. She tells Kanika that she will teach her and Avyan.

2. Avyan said to Swati, "I will give my toys to you."
2. Avyan told Swati that he would give his toys to her.

3. They said to me, "We have given our share to you"
3. They told me that they had given their share to me.

4. We will say to Heena, "You have brought her paintings to show us and your Mom."
4. We will tell Heena that she has brought her paintings to show us and her Mom.

5. She said to Manav, "I am in love and I want you to protect me.
5. She told Manav that she was in love and she wanted him to protect her.

6. He said, "You did not give me his address."
6. He said that he had not given him his address. (Object is not there. Assumed it of 3rd Person)
6. He said that I had not given him his address.(Object is not there. Assumed it of Ist Person)

*** If Reporting Verb does not have 'Object', then for changing 2nd Person of Reporting Speech, we can assume any Person and make sentence accordingly. See example no 6.

*** Agar Reporting verb meN 'Object' naa ho tab Reporting Speech ke 2nd person ko badalane ke liye ham koi bhee Person maan sakate hai aur vaakya banaa sakate hai. Dekho udaaharaN no. 6.

For changing Person, please note that if Person is plural, it will be changed to plural and if person is possessive, it will be changed to possessive pronouns. Helping Verbs of Reported Speech in Indirect Speech get changed as per changed Pronoun.

Person kaa parivartan karate samay yah dhyaan rakhe kee yadi person bahuvachan hai to parivartan bahuvachan meN hogaa aur yadi person, possessive hai to yah possessive pronoun meN parivartit hogaa. ApratyakSh kathan ke Reported Speech kee sahaayak kriyaye parivartit Pronoun ke anusaar badal jaatee hai - dekhe example no. 5 - 'am' is changed to 'was'.

Examples of Simple Sentences

Direct	Avyan ne apane paapaa se kahaa, "MaiN tum se pyaar karataa hoon."	Avyan said to his father, "I love you."
Indirect	Avyan ne apane paapaa se kahaa ki vah unase pyaar karataa thaa.	Avyan told his father that he loved him
Direct	Vartika ne Bhavin se kahaa, "MaiN tumhaaraa akhbaar paDh rahee hoon."	Vartika said to Bhavin, "I am reading your newspaper."
Indirect	Vartika ne Bhavin se kahaa ki vah unakaa akhbaar paDh rahee thee.	Vartika told Bhavin that she was reading his newspaper.
Direct	Kanika kahtee hai, "MaiN swasth hoon."	Kanika says, "I am well"
Indirect	Kanika kahtee hai ki vah swasth hai.	Kanika tells that she is well.
Direct	Vah apane pati se kahegee, "Ravinder ne apanee patnee se Theek bartaav nahee kiyaa."	She will say to her husband, "Ravinder did not treat her wife fairly."
Indirect	Vah apane pati se kahegee ki Ravinder ne apanee patnee se Theek bartaav nahee kiyaa thaa.	She will tell her husband that Ravinder had not treated her wife fairly.
Direct	Usane kahaa, "MaiN tumhaare parivaar ko achchhee tarah jaanatee hoon. MaiN tumhaare daadaajee ko bhee jaanatee hoon."	She Said, "I know your family very well. I know your grandfather also."
Indirect	Usane kahaa ki vah usake parivaar ko achchhee tarah jaanatee hai. Vah usake daadaajee ko bhee jaanatee hai.	She said that she knew his family very well. She knew his grandfather also.
Direct	Adhyaapak ne vidhyaartheo se kahaa, "Surya pashchim meN ast hotaa hai."	Teacher said to students, "The sun sets in the west."
Indirect	Adhyaapak ne vidhyaartheo se kahaa ki surya paschim meN ast hotaa hai.	Teacher told students that the sun sets in the west.
Direct	Neha ne Shantur se kahaa, "Imaandari sabase achchhee neeti hai."	Neha said to Shantur, "Honesty is the best policy."
Indirect	Neha ne Shantur se kahaa ki imaandaari sabase achchhee neeti hai.	Neha told Shantur that Honesty is the best policy.
Direct	Manav ne Jai se kahaa, "Tum subah se cricket khel rahe ho."	Manav said to Jai, "You have been playing cricket since morning."
Indirect	Manav ne Jai se kahaa ki vah subah se cricket khel rahaa thaa.	Manav told Jai that he had been playing cricket since morning.
Direct	Shalini ne Rajeev se kahaa, "Tumane kal meree madad kee.	Shalini said to Rajeev, "You have helped me yesterday."
Indirect	Shalini ne Rajeev se kahaa ki usane ek din pahale usakee madad kee thee.	Shalini told Rajeev that he had helped her the previous day.
Direct	Gupta jee ne mujhe kahaa, "Tumhe tumhaaraa padonnity patra kal milegaa."	Gupta jee said to me, "You will get your promotion letter tomorrow."
Indirect	Gupta jee ne mujhase kahaa ki mujhe meraa padonnity patra agale din milegaa.	Gupta jee told me that I would get my promotion letter the next day.
Direct	Usane kahaa, "Mr Obama USA ke President hai."	He said, "Mr Obama is the President of the USA."
Indirect	Usane kahaa ki Mr Obama USA ke President hai. (Tathya meN koi parivartan nahee hai isliye Tense nahee badalaa)	He said that Mr Obama is the President of the USA. (Unchanged fact, hence Tense is not changed)

Exclamatory sentences

Ø  Definition: An exclamatory sentence is used express a sudden emotion. It could be fear, anger, anxiety, admiration, excitement etc.

Ø  How to change Exclamatory Sentences into Indirect Speech? :

i.            Reporting verb SAID / SAID TO should be changed into EXCLAIMED.

ii.            Use the conjunction word THAT.

iii.            Change that into a Statement.

iv.            When WHAT or HOW is followed by an adjective, use VERY but when WHAT is followed by a noun use GREAT.

v.            HOW is usually followed by an Adjective (not by a Noun).

vi.            Change of Personal Pronoun, Tense and Special words.

vii.            Remove commas, quotation marks and exclamation mark.

Ø  Exclamatory Words

Exclamatory words are words that generate a strong emotional response.  Here is a list of common ones:

• Wow!
• Brilliant!
• Awesome!
• Ouch!
• Amazing!
• Bravo!
• Fantastic!
• Tremendous!
• Sheesh!
• Geronimo!
• Timber!
• Eureka
• Hooray!
• Wowsers!
• Gosh!
• Jeepers!
• Magnificent!
• Unbelievable!

Ex. Choose the correct response. Good luck!

1) I didn't know __________________ expensive it was!
(a) such            (b) so   (c) how            (d) what

2) You have __________________ a pretty house!

(a) What          (b) how            (c) such            (d) so

3) They have __________________ birds in their garden!
(a) such a lot    (b) how many  (c) such many  so many

4) Your neighbours are __________________ lovely people!
(a) how many  (b) how much  (c) what           such

5) __________________ easily they forget!
(a) What          (b) How           (c) If    (d) Such

6) It takes __________________ time to go to Madrid by train!
(a) so much      (b) such much  (c) what much (d) so many

7) You can guess __________________ happy they were!
(a) how            (b) so   (c) such            (d) what

8) __________________ happy they must have been to see you again!
(a) What a lot              (b) Such           (c) How           (d) So

9) I didn't know __________________ cruel she could be!
(a) how            (b) what           (c) so   (d) such

10) __________________ you knew what his wife has to put up with!
(a) such only    (b) whatever    (c) If only                    (d) if never

11) __________________ a lovely garden your nephew has!
(a) How           (b) So  (c) If    (d) What

12) __________________ a pretty house our friends have bought!
(a) What          (b) How           (c) such            (d) So 

ANSWERS:

1. How 2. Such 3. so many 4. Such 5. How 6. so much 7. How 8. How 9. How 10. If only 11. What 12. What

Ø  Change of “How” and “What” sentences:
Examples :

i.            The girl said, “How beautiful the rainbow is!”.
The girl exclaimed that the rainbow was very beautiful.

ii.            The candidate said, “How difficult the sums are!”
The candidate exclaimed that the sums were very difficult.

iii.            He said, “How tall the building is!”.
He exclaimed that the building was very tall.

iv.            The boy said, “what a sweet fruit it is!”.
The boy exclaimed that it was a very sweet fruit.

v.            Raju said, “What a fantastic story it is!”.
Raju exclaimed that it was a very fantastic story.

vi.            “What lovely paintings!” the tourist exclaimed.
The tourist exclaimed that they were very lovely paintings.

vii.            My father said to him, “What a fool you are!”.
My father exclaimed that he was a great fool.

Direct Indirect Speech - Sentences with Let

Rule

Like Imperative sentences, use of 'Let' in the sentences of Let has different meaning and in Reporting Verb 'Said To' is replaced according to the notion of the sentence with words like - Proposed, Suggested, Requested, Ordered, Wished, Told, etc.

If the meaning of 'Let Sentence' is a suggestion, proposal or wish then for making Indirect Speech (1) 'Said To' is replaced with 'Proposed To / Suggested To / Wished To', (2) 'Let' is replaced with 'Should'. 'Should' comes after the Pronoun. and (3) 'That' is used to join both the parts of the sentence.

If the meaning of 'Let Sentence' is to allow, order or persuade then for making Indirect Speech (1) 'Said To' is replaced with 'Requested To / Ordered To', (2) 'Let' may remain in the sentence or it may be replaced with 'Allow' and (3) 'To' is used to join both the parts of the sentence.

If condition or supposition comes in 'Let Sentence' then for making Indirect Speech (1) 'Said To' is replaced with 'Told', (2) 'Let' is replaced with 'Might' and (3) 'That' is used to join both the parts of the sentence.

Examples of Sentences with Let

Anushka said to Omav, "Let us go to see a movie."

Anushka proposed to Omav that they should go to see a movie.

Manjula said to me, "Let us play carom today".

Manjula proposed to me that we should play carom that day.

She said to her sister, "Let him complete his study first."

She suggested her sister that he should complete his study first.

He said, "Let us wait a few minutes and try again later".

He suggested that they should wait a few minutes and try again later.

Kanika said, "Let me take two chocolates".

Kanika wished that she should take two chocolates.

Jai said to his teacher, "Let me go home early today".

Jai requested his teacher to let him go early that day. OR Jai requested his teacher to allow him to go early that day.

The Manager said to his PA, "Let the boys come in."

The Manager ordered the PA to let the boys come in.

Party workers said to the Leader, "Let us do some favour to our supporters".

Party workers requested to the leader to let them (OR allow them) do some favour to their supporters.

Neeta said to Yogesh, "Let him study even so hard but he cannot top the class'"

Neeta told Yogesh that he might study even so hard but he cannot top the class.

He said to Ramesh, "Let him be smart but he cannot excel you.

He told Ramesh that he might be smart but he cannot excel him.

She said to me, "Let me buy some clothes for Vartika and Avyan."

She told me to let her buy some clothes for Vartika and Avyan.

She requested me to allow her to buy some clothes for Vartika and Avyan

Direct Indirect Speech - Optative Sentences

Optative Sentence indicates a wish, pray or desire. It ends with exclamation mark (!).

Rule no. 1

For making Indirect Speech of Optative Sentence, 'Said' of Reporting Verb is changed according to the Optative Word' of Reporting Speech. A list of such words is given below.

Optative words	In place of 'Said'
Good Morning!	Wished
Good Evening!	Wished
Good Afternoon!	Wished
Good Night!	Bade
Good Bye!	Bade
Farewell!	Bade
Would that…!	Wished
O that…!	Wished
O for…!	Wished
May/May God	Prayed
If…were (only imagination)	Wished …Would

Prashant said, "Good night, paapaa!"

Prashant bade his paapaa good night.

Aman said, "Good bye, friends!"

Aman bade his friends good bye.

Neha said to him, "Would that you were here at that time!"

Neha wished that he had been there at that time.

He said, "O that I had the wings of a bird."

He wished that he had the wings of bird.

She said, "O for a glass of water."

She wished for a glass of water.

Direct Indirect Speech - Miscellaneous Sentences

In few sentences, emotions are very important. While converting their Direct Speech to Indirect Speech, word of the same emotion is used in place of 'Said To'.
Examples

Gupta jee said to Avyan, "May you live long!"

Gupta jee prayed that Avyan might live long.

She said to Poonam, "May God bless you with a son!"

She prayed that God might bless Poonam with a son.

He said, "If I were a king."

He wished that he would be a king.

The beggar said, "If I had a ten rupee note!"

The beggar wished that he would have a ten rupee note.

The Chairman said, "Farewell my friends."

The Chairman bade his friends' farewell.

The patient said, "Thank you, doctor."

The patient thanked the doctor.

He said to her, "Rest assured, I shall help you."

He assured her that he would help her.

Sneh said, "By Heaven, I did not call Surabhi names.

Sneh swore that she had not called Surabhi names.

He said to me, "Beware of false friends."    

He warned me against false friends.

Meena said, "No I shall not go there."

Meena refused to go there.

He said, "Fire! Fire! Put out the fire."

He called aloud to the people to put out the fire.

The farmer said to the fox, "I shall hang you, you rogue."

The farmer called the fox a rogue and said that he would hang him.

The speaker said, "Ladies & gentlemen, I am at your disposal.

Addressing the audience the speaker said that he was at their disposal.

Name of person comes in Reporting Speech instead of Reported Verb.
Examples

She said, "Gaurav, I am warning you."

She told Gaurav that she was warning him.

Bhavin said, "Play with your toys, Vartika."

Bhavin asked Vartika to play with her toys.

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Words 'Sir' and 'Madam' come in Reported Speech.

Shabd 'Sir' aur 'Madam' Reported Speech meN aaye.

Examples

She asked the Madam if she might come in.

He said, "May I introduce myself to you, Sir?"

He asked respectfully to me (you/him/her/them/…) whether he might introduce himself.

Words 'You see, you know, well, okay' come in Reported Speech.

Shabd 'You see, you know, well, okay' Reported Speech meN aaye.

Examples
Madam sitting on the help desk said, "Well, what can I do for you?"

Madam sitting on the help desk asked politely what she can do for her.

She said, "Well, it is none of your business."

She asked politely that it was none of her business.

"Okay". The manager said, "I will take care of her case."

The manager assured that he would take care of her case.

If 'Had to' comes in a sentence, in Indirect Speech it is changed to 'Had had to'
Examples
More than two sentences in Reported Speech.

Reported Speech meN ek se jyaadaa vaakya

Examples

Captain said, "He is an enemy. Keep an eye on him."

Captain said that he was an enemy and added to keep an eye on him.

She said to her husband, "I will not prepare dinner today. I also need a holiday. I will take rest.

She told her husband that she would not prepare dinner that day and further added that she also needed a holiday and she would take rest.

Kanika said to Avyan, "No. No. You cannot play smart with me. I am a girl of Pune and I am smarter than you.

Kanika told Avyan that he could not play smart with her as she was a girl of Pune and she was smarter than him.

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Some sentences look Interrogative or Negative, but it has an advice or request.
Examples

Her mother said to her, "Why don't you sleep early."

Her mother advised her to sleep early.

Old lady said, "Could you please move a bit?"

Old lady asked him to move a bit.

Sweety said to her friend, "Please, please don't fight with him. He is a hooligan"

Sweety requested her friend not to fight with him and further added that he was a hooligan.