Page 89 - Grammar Glow - 8

16 16 Direct and Indirect Speech

Warm-up

Change the speech of these sentences.
1. My father say, "Honesty is the best policy."

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2. I said to my friend, "You have helped me in my hour of need."

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Direct and Indirect Speech

There are two ways we can convey or narrate what someone has said: using direct speech or
indirect speech (reported speech).

The direct speech reports the exact words of a speaker/writer. It is put within quotation marks or
after a colon (:). The first word inside the quotation marks is always capitalised.

The indirect speech reports what the speaker has said, but not in his/her own words. It doesn’t
use quotation marks or a colon. The content of the speech is introduced by the conjunction that.
However, sometimes the conjunction may be dropped, too.

Remember
The verb used before the reported speech (said, declared, exclaimed, etc.) is called the
reporting verb.

Rules to Change Direct Speech into Reported Speech

When changing a direct speech to reported speech, there are certain rules that we need to follow.
If the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, the verb in the quotation marks does not
change. The same applies to any universal truths.

• I confirm, “I love my country.” (direct speech)

I confirm that I love my country. (indirect speech)

He says, “I did not know.” (direct speech)

He says that that he did not know. (indirect speech)

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