Page 118 - English Grammar - 6

1 12020 Direct and Indirect Speech
Direct and Indirect Speech

Practise What You Know!actise What You Know!
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Fill in the blanks with reporting verbs given in the box. cautioned
1. The general _______________ his soldiers, “March forward.” screamed
2. The crowd _______________, “We want a century.” enquired
3. The little girl _______________, “I want my parents.”
4. The teacher _______________ us, “Prepare your lessons well.” ordered
5. Mother _______________ me, “Do not make a hasty decision.” advised
6. He _______________, “The roads in my locality are never repaired.” remarked
7. Meenal _______________, “Has the train from Kerala arrived?” roared
8. She _______________, “You are looking tired.” complained

Let’s Learn Direct and Indirect Speech

We may tell someone what another person said in two ways:
Direct speech: When the exact words of the speaker are retold using quotation marks
(“… ”), it is called the direct speech.

She said, “I am going to school.”
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Reported or Indirect speech: When the words of a speaker are expressed by changing the
tenses and the actual words, it is called the indirect or reported speech.
She said that she was going to school.
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Let’s Learn Formation of Reported Speech

When the reporting verb is in the past tense, we change the tenses as follows.
Simple Present changes into Simple Past
Direct: He said, “I play a lot in my school.”
Reported: He said that he played a lot in his school.
Present Continuous changes into Past Continuous

Direct: She said, “Everyone is waiting.”
Reported: She said that everyone was waiting.
Present Perfect changes into Past Perfect
Direct: She said, “They have always been very friendly to me.”
Reported: She said they had always been very friendly to her.

Present perfect continuous changes into past perfect continuous
Direct: Deepa said to me, “I have been waiting for you since 5 o’clock.”
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