English Grammar and Composition chapter 9: Direct and Indirect Speech

UNIT 9 Direct and Indirect Speech

Lesson 1: Assertive Sentences

Look at the following conversation and follow the changes when some message is reported to others:

Teacher: What did you eat?

Sukumar: I ate bread and butter.

Teacher: What did Sukumar say, Asif?

Asif: Sukumar said that he had eaten bread and butter.

Teacher: Asif, how can you convey the same message in a different way?

Asif: Sukumar said, “I ate bread and butter.”

Now, discuss in pairs how the following two ways of reporting are different:

Sukumar said, “I ate bread and butter.”

Sukumar said that he had eaten bread and butter.

When you finish talking, read the following text:

In every language, we need to report messages, speeches, comments, and requests of a person or persons to others. We can report exactly what another person has said, e.g.: Sukumar said, “I ate bread and butter” or we can change the speech in our own words, e.g.: Sukumar said that he had eaten bread and butter. The first type of sentence (speech) is called Direct Speech. On the other hand, the second kind is called Indirect or Reported Speech as the reporter conveys the message in his/her own way. However, we have to follow some rules to change the direct into an indirect speech.

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Now, read the following Direct and Indirect speech forms and notice what we need to consider in changing direct speech into indirect.

Direct Speech: He said, “I am ill.” Indirect speech: He said that he was ill.

Now, work in pairs to identify the areas where changes have occurred in indirect speech. Then have a close look at the indirect speech to note the changes. The changes have been shown in italics.

Figure

Labels: He said that he was ill.; Added as a linker; ‘I’ changed to ‘he’; ‘Is’ changed to ‘was’ Description: The indirect sentence "He said that he was ill." is shown with arrows from the italic words. One arrow points from "that" to "Added as a linker"; one from "he" to "‘I’ changed to ‘he’"; one from "was" to "‘Is’ changed to ‘was’".

Features:

• ‘that’ has been added as a linker
• first person ‘I’ in the Direct Speech has been changed to ‘he’, based on the subject of the reporting verb ‘he’
• the verb ‘am’ has been changed to ‘was’, based on the verb ‘said’ and its tense.

Different parts of a direct speech have different names. Have a look at the following direct speech:

Figure

Labels: He said to me, | “My father called me”; Reporting verb; Direct Speech; Object to the reporting verb; Subject of the verb in the Direct Speech (my father); Subject to the reporting verb; Object to the verb in the Direct Speech (me) Description: A table with two columns, Reporting verb and Direct Speech, and rows for the parts of the sentence. Blue curved arrows connect "said" to the reporting verb row, "me" to the object row, "My father" to the subject row, and "He" to the subject to the reporting verb row.

Although the changes occur differently in case of five different kinds of sentences (Assertive, Interrogative, Imperative, Optative, and Exclamatory) and tenses, some general rules apply to all of them. One thing should be kept in mind that there are some common things such as tenses, persons, and words indicating change in time and place.

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Now, read the changes and discuss in pairs.

Changing tenses

If the reporting verb is in the past tense, the tense of the verbs of the reported speech also become past tense, but if the reporting verb is in the present or future tenses, the tense of the verbs in the reported speech remain as it is.

The tense changes as follows:

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Note: If the reporting verb is in the past tense, the modal verbs also change. For example: ‘may’ changes to ‘might’, ‘will’ changes to ‘would’, ‘shall’ changes to ‘should’ and so on.

Example: He said, “Bina may ask her”. He said that Bina might ask her.

You will find the changes in modals later in this unit.

Now, look at the following examples:

Direct: Abonti said, “I have read the novel”

Indirect: Abonti said that she (Abonti) had read the novel.

Direct: My sister says, “It is good to get up early in the morning.”

Indirect: My sister says that it is good to get up early in the morning.

Direct: Bela said, “I will come back soon.”

Indirect: Bela said that she would go back soon.

Note: If the reported speech indicates habitual facts, historical events or talks about eternal (universal) truth, the tense of the verb in the reported speech does not change. Look at the following examples:

Direct: The Head Teacher said, “The sun rises in the east.”

Indirect: The Head Teacher said that the sun rises in the east.

Direct: Atanu said to me, “I get up from bed at 6 in the morning every day.”

Indirect: Atanu said to me that he (Atanu) gets up from bed at 6 in the morning every day.

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Changing Persons

If you look at the indirect speech above, you will see that persons (nouns and pronouns) in the inverted commas have been changed in agreement with the subject and object of the reporting verbs.

Talk in pairs to find what rules have been followed in changing the persons. Now match your rules with the following:

1. The first person(s) of the reported speech is changed based on the person, number and gender of the subject of the reporting verb.
2. The second person(s) of the reported speech is changed based on the person, number and gender of the object of the reporting verb.
3. The third person(s) of the reported speech is not changed at all.

Have a look at the examples:

Direct: He said to me, "I respect you."

Figure

Description: Two curved arrows sit above and below the direct sentence. The upper arrow curves from above "me" back to "He". The lower arrow curves from "you" back to "me".

Indirect: He said to me that he respected me.

Direct: I said to him, "They have prepared their lessons." Indirect: I said to him that they had prepared their lessons.

Some words expressing time (now, today, etc.), place and things (here, this, etc.) change if the reporting verb is in the past tense. Look at the examples:

Direct: He said, "I am working now." Indirect: He said that he was working then.

Direct: My friend said, "I am coming today." Indirect: My friend said that he/she was going that day.

Direct: Nayon said, "I come here every day." Indirect: Nayon said that he went there every day.

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Now, talk in pairs to find more words that express time and place like now, today, here, this, etc. When you have finished, compare your list with the following:

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Note: If the time and the place of reporting remain the same, we do not need to change the words as shown above. Look at the following examples:

Direct: The English teacher said, "The Inspector of schools will come today."

Indirect: The English teacher said that the Inspector of Schools will come today.

(The reporter is reporting at the time when they hear the news and they are reporting from the same place. So 'will', 'come' and 'today' are not changed.)

Direct: My maternal uncle said, "I was born here in Dhaka." Indirect: My maternal uncle said that he was born here in Dhaka (reporter is in Dhaka).