Direct & Indirect Narration
Understanding Direct and Indirect Speech
In English, we often share what someone said. We can do this in two ways: Direct Speech and Indirect (Reported) Speech.
- Direct: He said, “I am tired.”
- Indirect: He said that he was tired.
Reporting Verb: The verb that introduces the speech (e.g., said, told, asked, replied).
Reported Speech: The words that tell what the speaker said, often changed for tense, pronouns, or time.
Tense Conversion Rules
When the reporting verb is in the past, we usually move the tense of the reported speech one step back in time.
- Present Simple → Past Simple: He said, “I play football.” → He said that he played football.
- Present Continuous → Past Continuous: She said, “I am eating.” → She said that she was eating.
- Present Perfect → Past Perfect: He said, “I have done it.” → He said that he had done it.
- Present Perfect Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous
- Past Simple → Past Perfect
- Past Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous
- Past Perfect → Past Perfect (no change)
- Future Simple → Would + Verb
- Future Continuous → Would be + Verb-ing
- Future Perfect → Would have + Past Participle
Practice: Tense Conversion
- He said, “I am going now.” He said that he was going then.
- She said, “I have finished my homework.” She said that she had finished her homework.
Pronoun Changes
Pronouns change to match the subject or object of the reporting sentence.
- He said, “I am hungry.” → He said that he was hungry.
- She said, “We will go.” → She said that they would go.
Practice: Pronoun Changes
- She said, “I like apples.” She said that she liked apples.
Time and Place Changes
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| today | that day |
| tomorrow | the next day |
| yesterday | the day before |
| now | then |
| here | there |
Practice: Time & Place Changes
- He said, “I will go tomorrow.” He said that he would go the next day.
Reporting Questions
Question format changes to statement order, and no question mark is used.
- He asked, “Where are you going?” → He asked where I was going.
- She asked, “Do you like tea?” → She asked if I liked tea.
Practice: Reporting Questions
- She asked, “Are you ready?” She asked if I was ready.
Reporting Commands and Requests
- He said to me, “Open the door.” → He told me to open the door.
- She said to him, “Please help me.” → She requested him to help her.
Reporting Exclamations
- He said, “Wow! What a game!” → He exclaimed with joy that it was a great game.
- She said, “Alas! I failed.” → She exclaimed with sorrow that she had failed.