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Direct and Indirect Speech with Examples

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What is Direct Speech?

Direct speech means quoting the exact words spoken by a person. The speaker’s words are placed inside quotation marks (“ ”).

👉 Example:

  • He said, “I am learning English.”
  • Maria said, “I like ice cream.”

Here, the speaker’s exact words are repeated without any change.

What is Indirect Speech?

Indirect speech (also called reported speech) means reporting what someone has said without using the exact words. Instead of quotation marks, we usually use conjunctions like that, if, or whether.

👉 Example:

  • He said that he was learning English.
  • Maria said that she liked ice cream.

In indirect speech, the tense, pronoun, and sometimes time expressions change.

Rules for Changing Direct into Indirect Speech

  1. Tense Change:
    • Present tense → Past tense
    • Past tense → Past perfect
    • Future tense → Would + verb
    👉 Example:
    • Direct: She said, “I am busy.”
    • Indirect: She said that she was busy.
  2. Pronoun Change:
    • Pronouns are changed according to the subject and object of the reporting verb.
      👉 Example:
    • Direct: He said, “I will help you.”
    • Indirect: He said that he would help me.
  3. Time & Place Words Change:
    • now → then
    • today → that day
    • tomorrow → the next day
    • here → there
    👉 Example:
    • Direct: She said, “I will call you tomorrow.”
    • Indirect: She said that she would call me the next day.

Examples for Practice

Direct to Indirect

  1. Direct: John said, “I am reading a book.”
    Indirect: John said that he was reading a book.
  2. Direct: He said, “I bought a car yesterday.”
    Indirect: He said that he had bought a car the previous day.
  3. Direct: She said, “We will go to the park.”
    Indirect: She said that they would go to the park.

Conclusion

Direct speech uses the speaker’s exact words with quotation marks, while indirect speech reports the same message but in a changed grammatical form. To master English grammar, it’s important to practice converting direct sentences into indirect speech with the correct changes in tense, pronoun, and time expressions.