Direct speech Vs. Indirect speech Imperative sentences:

Direct speech Vs. Indirect speech

Imperative sentences:

Imperative Sentence (Order or Request)
Rules :

·         Remove the quotation mark in an Imperative sentence.

·         Use ‘to’ if it is an affirmative sentence. (without don‘t)

·         Use ‘not to’ if the sentence begins without Don‘t.

·         Don‘t use ‘that’

·         Omit the word ‘please’. Use the word ‘request’ instead of ‘say’.

·         If the direct speech contains a request or a command, the reporting verb (say, said) change to tell, request, order, command etc. In its correct tense.

1.     “Don‘t talk in the class” said the teacher to the boys. (D.S.)
The teacher advised the boys not to talk in the class. (I.S.)

2.“Please give me something to eat. I am hungry” the old man said to them. (D.S.)The old man requested them to give him something to eat and said that he was hungry (I.S.)

3. “Be careful” said he to her. (D.S.)He ordered her to be careful. (I.S.)

4. “Bring me a cup of tea” said Nelson to Andriya. (D.S.)Nelson asked Andriya to bring him a cup of tea. (I.S.)

In reporting an imperative sentence, the reporting verb say or tell is changed into a verb expressing a command, advice or request.

Command	command, order, bid, tell
Proposal	propose, suggest
Prohibition	forbid
Entreaty	entreat, pray, beg

Direct Speech	The Captain said, “Get ready to board the ship.”
Indirect Speech	The Captain commanded his sailors to get ready to board the ship.
Direct Speech	Teacher said to Jems, “Get out”
Indirect Speech	Teacher told Jems to get out.
Direct Speech	The Judge said to the culprit, “Tell me the truth.”
Indirect Speech	The Judge ordered the culprit to tell the truth.
Direct Speech	Headmaster said to the students, “Don’t copy in the examination”.
Indirect Speech	Headmaster asked the students not to copy in the examination.

(a)  The imperative mood is changed into the infinitive.

(b) ‘that’ is commonly not used. If it is used then instead of ‘to’, ‘should’ is placed before the imperative.

(c)  The rules for the change of pronouns must be observed.

Direct : She said to me, “Please give me your book.”

Indirect : She requested me to give her my book.

Direct : John said to his servant, “Go out at once.”

Indirect : John ordered his servant to go out at once

Requests:

Please - requested + whom + to + v

Direct Speech	The teacher said, “Please improve your knowledge.”
Indirect Speech	The teacher requested the student to improve his knowledge.
Direct Speech	Robert said to me, “Please post these letters”.
Indirect Speech	Robert requested me to post those letters.
Direct Speech	Mother said, “Please keep your room neat.”
Indirect Speech	Mother requested me to keep my room neat.

When ‘let’ in the direct speech expresses a proposal or a suggestion, we may use ‘should’ and change the reporting verb to propose or suggest.

Direct : He said to me, “Let us have some tea.”

Indirect : He proposed (or suggested) to me that we should have some tea.

When ‘let’ does not express a proposal, it should be changed into might or might be allowed, or into some other verb, according to the sense.

Direct : He said, “Let me have some water.”

Indirect : He wished that he might have some water.

Direct speech Vs. Indirect speech Exclamatory sentences:

Direct speech Vs. Indirect speech

Exclamatory sentences:

Exclamatory Sentence 
Rules :

·         Change the exclamatory sentence into statement or Assertive

·         Remove the quotation marks and exclamatory mark.

·         Use the conjunction ‘that’

·         Omit the interjections such as Oh, O, Alas, how, what, hurrah.

·         Add the word ‘very’ to the adjective or adverb if necessary.

·         If the verb is not given, use ‘Be’ form verb (is, was, are, were, am) in its correct tense according to the subject.

·         Change the reporting verb (say, said) to ‘exclaim joyfully’

·         Use ‘exclaim’ sorrowfully for sorrowful incidents.

1. “O, what a beautiful flower that is!” said she. (D.S.)
She exclaimed joyfully that that was a very beautiful flower. (I.S.)

2. “What a horrible sight!” we all exclaimed. (D.S.)
We all exclaimed that it was a very horrible sight. (I.S.)

3. “Alas! I have broken my brother’s watch” said he.
He exclaimed sorrowfully that he had broken his brothers watch. (I.S.)

4. “How beautiful she is!” said Boon. (D.S.)
Boon exclaimed joyfully that she was very beautiful. (I.S.) 

(a)  When the contents of an exclamatory sentence are reported, the reporting verb or tell is changed into exclaim, cry out, wish, pray, confess, etc.

(b) The exclamatory form is changed into the statement form and the mark or exclamation is replaced by a full stop.

(c)  All interjections, nominatives of address are omitted or sometimes put as the objects of the reporting verb, but the force of interjection is kept by suitable adverbs or other expressive words as indicated below:

Hurrah! or Ha!		joy
Hash! or Hush!		attention
Alas!		grief
What! or Oh!		surprise
Bravo! or Hear!		approval
Pooh!		contempt

Direct Speech	Rosy said to David, “How wonderfully you sang!”
Indirect Speech	Rosy exclaimed with happiness that David had sung wonderfully.
Direct Speech	The foreigner said, “What a man Obama is!.”
Indirect Speech	The foreigner exclaimed in wonder that Obama was a great man.
Direct Speech	John said, “That I should see you here!”
Indirect Speech	John was surprised to see me there.

May you!- blesses / wished.
Direct Speech	The grandmother said, “May you meet with success wherever you go”
Indirect Speech	The grandmother blessed her grandson that he should meet with success wherever he goes.
Don’t / never - warned or forbade. (when using forbid do not use negatives)
Direct Speech	Father said, “Shakshi, don’t play in dirty water!”
Indirect Speech	Father forbade his daughter Sakshi to play in dirty water.
O God! - called upon God with regret / sadness / disappointment
Direct Speech	The beggar said, “O God! I have been cheated”.
Indirect Speech	The beggar called upon God with regret that he had been cheated.

Direct : She said, “Alas! He is dead.”

Indirect : She cried out with sorrow that he was dead.

Direct : “Hurrah! We have won the match,” shouted the cricket team.

Indirect : the cricket team shouted with joy that they had won the match.

Direct : The soldiers said, “Curse on the traitor!”

Indirect : The soldiers bitterly cursed the traitor.

Direct speech Vs. Indirect speech Assertive sentences:

Direct speech Vs. Indirect speech

Assertive sentences:

Statement (or) Assertive Sentence
Rules :

·         Remove the quotation marks in the statement

·         Use the conjunction ‘that’

·         Change the reporting verb ‘say to’ into ‘tell’

·         Change the reporting verb ‘said to’ into ‘told’

Note :

·         He said that (correct)

·         He told me that (correct)

·         He told that (Incorrect)

When the reporting verb is in the present or future tense there is no change in the tense of the reported clause:

Direct Speech	Simi says, “I like kids”.
Indirect Speech	Simi says that she likes kids.

When the reporting verb is in the past tense the verb of the reported clause is changed into the corresponding past tense:

Direct Speech	Ramsy said, “I have a habit of reading before I go to bed”.
Indirect Speech	Ramsy said that she had a habit of reading before she went to bed.
Direct Speech	Gagan said, “I have written a novel”.
Indirect Speech	Gagan said that he had written a novel.

Present Progressive used as a future form becomes would be + present participle, not Past Progressive:

Direct Speech	She said, “I am seeing the dentist next week”.
Indirect Speech	She said that she would be seeing the dentist the following week.

 Simple Past / past Progressive in adverb clauses of time do not usually change into the corresponding past tense:

Direct Speech	She said, “When I lived / was living in a village I faced a lot of hardships”.
Indirect Speech	She said that when she lived / was living in a village she faced a lot of hardships. (Don’t use had lived / had been living)

Unreal past tense (subjunctive mood) after wish / it is time remains unchanged:

Direct Speech	She said, “I wish I were an angel.”
Indirect Speech	She said that she wished she were an angel. (Don’t use had been)

Would rather / would sooner / had better remains unchanged:

Direct Speech	He said, “I would rather starve than beg.”
Indirect Speech	He said that he would rather starve than beg.

Verbs used in clauses expressing improbable or impossible condition remain unchanged:

Direct Speech	He said, “If won the election I would become a minister.”
Indirect Speech	He said that if he won the election he would become a minister.

When the direct speech expresses universal truth (fundamental truths of science) saying / proverbs / habitual action, the tense does not change:

Direct Speech	He said, “Habit is a second nature.”
Indirect Speech	He said that habit is a second nature.

A noun / pronoun in the vocative case is made the object of a reporting verb should be left out:

Likewise a comment clause (parenthesis) is left out

you see, as you know, to tell you frankly etc.

Words of expressions used just to introduce a sentence are left out:

Well, very well, now, so etc.

Likewise a comment clause (parenthesis) is left out

The teacher asked the children to listen to him. (now left out)

A statement employing all the techniques:

Well, very well, now, so etc.

Likewise a comment clause (parenthesis) is left out

Sentence with the same concept should be joined with ‘and’ but when there is a contract use ‘but’

Direct Speech	My neighbour said, “My guests arrived last evening. They are staying with us today. They will be leaving early tomorrow morning.”
Indirect Speech	My neighbour told me that her guests had arrived the previous evening and they were staying with them that day but they would be leaving early the following morning.

Direct speech Vs. Indirect speech step by step

Direct speech Vs. Indirect speech

step by step

Reported Speech - Statement - Rules

Whatever may be the tense of the Reporting Sentence, if the Reported Sentence tells a universal fact, no change is made in the tense of the Reported Sentence.

Example No. 1:
Direct Speech:
The mother is saying to the child, “The third day of the week is Tuesday.”.
Step 1: The Reported Sentence is: “The third ... .... Tuesday.”
Step 2: It is a Statement and a universal fact.
Step 3: So, the conjunction word is -- “that”.
Step 4: ‘is saying to’ changes into ‘is telling’.
Step 5: No change of pronoun.
Step 6: It is a universal fact. So, no change of tense is necessary.
Step 7: No change of extension.

Now, the Indirect Speech is:
The mother is telling the child that the third day of the week is Tuesday.

Example No. 2:
Direct Speech:
The History teacher says, “Megellan was the first navigator to come around the world.”.
Step 1: The Reported Sentence is: “Megellan ... .... world.”
Step 2: It is a statement.
Step 3: The conjunction word is -- “that”.
Step 4: ‘Says’ does not change. Use it as it is.
Step 5: There are no pronoun to get changed.
Step 6: No change of tense is made.
Step 7: No extensive word to get changed.

Now, the Indirect Speech is:
The History teacher says that Megellan was the first navigator to come around the world.

The following models have been answered for you:

1. The teacher has said to the pupils, “Sea-water is different from the river water.”.
The teacher has told the pupils that sea-water is different from river water.

2. David answered, “The Mines are under the ground”.
David answered that the Mines are under the ground.

3. John said to his brother, “The U.N.O. is a world organisation”.
John told his brother that the U.N.O. is a world organisaiton.

4. The Science teacher told the class, “Ice floats on water.”.
The Science teacher told the class that ice floats on water. 

Here, we do not consider the changes under all the rules separately. We will consider them under two divisions.
You know the two types of Interrogative Sentences:

·         Inverted questions requiring ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answers -- 1st type.

·         Questions that begin with interrogative words -- 2nd type

At first we shall deal with the First type:

Take an Example No. 1:

Direct Speech: The boy said to the fruit-seller, “Are all these mangoes sweet?”
Step 1: Identify the Reported Sentence.
Step 2: Know what kind of sentence the Reported Sentence is.
Step 3: Look for the correct Conjunction.
(The Conjunction of the First type is “If or Whether”)
Step 4: Change of ‘said to’ -- Since it is an interrogative sentence ‘said to ’ changes into ‘asked’.
Step 5: Look for the change of pronouns.
Step 6: Look for the change of tenses.
The Reported Sentence is in past tense. The Reported Sentences is in present tense. So, the Reported Sentence should be changed into past tense, corresponding to the tense, of the Reporting Sentence.
The verb is ‘are’ -- Its past tense is ‘were’.
Step 7: Look for the change of extension words.
‘These’ changes into ‘those’.

The Indirect Speech is:
The boy asked the fruit-seller if all those mangoes were sweet. 

Example No 2:

Direct Speech : The grandfather said to his grandsons, “Did you not like my story yesterday?”
Step 1: The Reported Sentence is: “Did you ... day?”
Step 2: It is an Interrogative Sentences. It is of the First type.
Step 3: So its conjunction word is: If or Whether.
Step 4: So ‘said to’ changes into ‘asked’.
Step 5: Look for the pronouns.
(i) The first one is: ‘You’ (subject)
‘You’ -- refers to grandsons. They are in the third person plural number.
So the third person of ‘You’ (subject, plural)
It is -- ‘they’. ‘You’ changes into ‘they’.
‘You’ -- grandsons.
‘You’ -- they.
(ii) The next on is ‘My’.
‘My’ -- refers to ‘the grandfather’ -- in the third person.
So, take the third person of ‘My’ - -It is ‘His’.
‘My’ changes into ‘His’.
Step 6: Look for the change of tenses.
Step 7: Extensive word ‘Yesterday’ changes into ‘the day before’. Now, the Indirect Speech is-

The grandfather asked his grandsons if they had not liked his story the day before.