Direct Speech to Indirect Speech
Direct Speech to Indirect Speech :
There is a rule which says that if the Reporting Verb is a Present or Future Tense, the Tense of the Verb in the Reported Speech is not changed at all.
The above rule is so simple that we can dispose of it at once. By this rule the Reporting Verb is assumed to be in some Present or Future Tense and whenever this occurs, the Tense of the Verb in the Reported Speech is not changed at all in passing from the Direct to the Indirect Narration.
Reporting Verb - Present Tense
Reported Speech - Any Tense
Future Tense - Any Tense
Direct Speech : He has told you, "I am coming."
Indirect Speech : He has told you that he is coming.
Direct Speech : He says to his friend, "I have been reading."
Indirect Speech : He tells his friend that he has been reading.
Direct Speech : He will say, "You have spoken falsely."
Indirect Speech : He will tell you that you have spoken falsely.
Direct Speech : He will say, "The boy was lazy."
Indirect Speech : He will tell them that the boy was lazy.
Say = to utter words
Tell = to give information or an instruction
Sometimes there is an uncertainty as to whether the Pronoun HE in the Reported Speech refers to the person speaking or the person spoken to.
Direct Speech : Gobind says to Raman, "I am wrong."
Direct Speech : Gobind says to Raman, "You are wrong."
Indirect Speech : Gobind tells Raman that he (who?) is wrong.
How is this uncertainty about the HE to be removed? This can only be done by inserting the name of the person intended after HE as in the examples given below.
Direct Speech : Gobind says to Raman, "I am wrong."
Indirect Speech : Gobind tells Raman that he (Gobind) is wrong.
Direct Speech : Gobind says to Raman, "You are wrong."
Indirect Speech : Gobind tells Raman that he (Raman) is wrong.
Convert the following from Direct to Indirect Narration.
1. The judge will say to you, "You are innocent of that crime."
2. All men declare, "He has never been defeated."
3. He has told them, "I did not commit this crime."
4. He is still declaring, "You are the man who did it."
5. He has been saying all day, "I am tired of work."
6. I shall tell him plainly, "You cannot come here again."
7. I shall always affirm, "He, and not I, is the guilty man."
8. He says every day, "This climate does not suit my health. I must go away as soon as I can."
9. The man has confessed, "I am the guilty man, and deserve the punishment."
Direct Speech to Indirect Speech :
The Sentences Index
