How To Do Direct / Indirect Speech Tests

The matter within inverted commas “………… “is called the Reported speech and the verb that introduces the reported speech and the verb that introduces the reported
Speech is called Reporting verb.
In other way quoting the exact words of the speaker is called “The Direct Speech”.
Drake said, “I am writing a letter now”.
Reporting of what a speaker said without quoting his exact words is called ‘Indirect Speech’.

Change of reporting verbs
In assertive sentences the reporting verb ‘said to’ is changed into told only and ’said’ alone is not changed. In interrogative sentences the reporting verb ‘said to’ is changed into asked. In imperative sentences the reporting verb ‘said to’ is changed into ordered, requested, suggested, begged, proposed forbade etc. according to the sense of the sentence.

Examples:
Rakesh said to his friend, “Where are you going?”
Rakesh asked his friend where he was going.
(b) The headmaster said to the peon, “Give me a glass of water.”
The headmaster ordered the peon to give him a glass of water.

Change of pronouns
(a)First Person:
Pronouns of the first person are changed into pronouns of the same person as the person of the subject of the Reporting Verb:

Example:
I said, “I have done my home work”.
I said the I had done my home work.
(ii) You said, “I have done my home work”.
You said that you had done your home work.
(iii) He said, “I have done my home work”.
He said that he had done his home work.

(b) Second Person:
Pronouns of the second person are changed into pronouns of the same person as that of the object of the Reporting Verb:

Example:
The teacher said to me, “You have not done your work well”.
The teacher told me that I had not done my work well .

(c) Third Person:
Pronouns of the third person generally remain unchanged:

Example:
I said to you, “He should not be trusted”.
I told you that he should not be trusted.

When there are two or more third person pronouns in the Indirect Speech, the name of the person referred to by each may be written in brackets against each of them to avoid confusion:

Example:
The servant said to his master,“I have told you the truth and I can do no more”.
The servant told his master that he had told him (master) the truth and he (servant) could do no more

One has to be little careful while changing the Personal Pronoun “we”. “we” can be retained as “we” or changed to “you” or “they” depending upon the relationship of the speaker, the person(s) addressed and the person reporting the speech:

Example:
He said to me, “We should have tried harder”.
He told me that we should have tried harder.

Change the tenses

When reporting verb is in present or future tense, there will be no change of tense, for example:
Direct: He says, “ Ram is hungry.”
Indirect: He says that Ram is hungry
(b) Direct: He has told me, “Ram cannot move.”
Indirect: He has told me that Ram cannot move.

(ii) If the reporting verb is in past tense, the tense of the reported speech must be changed as:

Direct  - Indirect
1. Present Indefinite (write)  - Past Indefinite (wrote)
2. Present Continuous (is writing) - Past continuous (was writing)
3. Present Perfect ( has written ) - Past Perfect ( had written)
4.Present Perfect Continuous (has been writing) - Past Perfect Continuous (had been writing)
5. Past Indefinite (wrote) - Past Perfect (had written)
6. Past Continuous (was writing) - Past Perfect Continuous (Had been writing)
7. Past Perfect (had written) - No change

8. Past Perfect Continuous - No change ( had been writing)

Change of words expressing nearness
In the reported speech when the present tense is changed into the past then we changed the following words as:

Direct Speech - Indirect Speech

now -then 
here - there 
here after - there after 
this - that 
these - those
ago - before 
thus  - so 
today - that day 
tonight - that night 
last night - the previous night
yesterday - the day before (or) the previous day 
tomorrow - the next day (or) the following day
last week - the week before (or) the previous week 
next week - the week after (or) the following week
last month - the month before (or) the previous month 
next month - a month after 
hither -  thither 
hence - thence

Statement (or) Assertive Sentence 
-  Remove the quotation marks in the statement
-  Use the conjuction ‘that’
-  Change the reporting verb ‘say to’ into ‘tell’
-  Change the reporting verb ‘said to’ into ‘told’

He said that (correct)
He told me that (correct)
He told that (Incorrect)

Examples:
“I will work hard to get first class” said Lazar (D.S.)
Lazar said he would work hard to get first class. (I.S.)
2. “You can do this work” said Nelson to Johnsi (D.S.)
Nelson told Johnsi that he could do that work. (I.S.)
3. He says, “I am glad to be here this evening”(D.S.)
He says that he is glad to be there that evening. (I.S.)
4. “I‘m going to the library now” said David (D.S.)
David said that he was going to the library then. (I.S.)

Imperative Sentences (Order / Request)
-  Remove the quotation mark in an Imperative sentence.
-  Use ‘to’ if it is an affirmative sentence. (without don‘t)
-  Use ‘not to’ if the sentence begins without Don‘t.
-  Don‘t use ‘that’
-  Omit the word ‘please’. Use the word ‘request’ instead of ‘say’.
-  If the direct speech contains a request or a command, the reporting verb (say, said) change to tell, request, order, command etc. In its correct tense.

Examples:
“Don‘t talk in the class” said the teacher to the boys. (D.S.)
The teacher advised the boys not to talk in the class. (I.S.)
2.“Please give me something to eat. I am hungry” the old man said to them. (D.S.)
The old man requested them to give him something to eat and said that he was hungry (I.S.)
3. “Be careful” said he to her. (D.S.)
He ordered her to be careful. (I.S.)
4. “Bring me a cup of tea” said Nelson to Andriya. (D.S.)
Nelson asked Andriya to bring him a cup of tea. (I.S.)

Interrogative Sentences / Questions

-  Remove the quotation marks and question mark in the interrogative sentence.
-  Use ‘if’ or ‘whether’ if the sentence inside the quotation marks begins with a helping verb (Auxiliary verb).
-  Use the given interrogative word (what, when, where, why, who, whom, whose, which, now etc.) if it does not begin with the helping verb.
-  Don‘t use ‘that’
-  Changing the reporting verb (say, said) into ‘ask’ or ‘enquire’ in its correct tense.
-  Omit helping verb like ‘do, does, did’. But don’t omit them when they are with ‘not’.

Examples:
“Won’t you help me to carry this box?” said I to my friend. (D.S.)
I asked my friend if he would not help me to carry that box. (I.S.)
2. Mohan said to Stalin, “Why did not you attend the meeting yesterday”? (D.S.)
Mohan asked Stalin why he had not attended the meeting the day before. (I.S.)
3. “How often do you go to the theatre?” said David to John. (D.S.)
David asked John how often he went to the theatre. (I.S.)
4. Mohamed said to Sultan, “Do you like mangoes?” (D.S.)
Mohamed asked Sultan if he liked mangoes. (I.S.)

Exclamatory Sentences
-  Change the exclamatory sentence into satement or Assertive
-  Remove the quotation marks and exclamatory mark.
-  Use the conjunction ‘that’
-  Omit the interjections such as Oh, O, Alas, how, what, hurrah.
-  Add the word ‘very’ to the adjective or adverb if necessary.
-  If the verb is not given, use ‘Be’ form verb (is, was, are, were, am) in its correct tense according to the subject.
-  Change the reporting verb (say, said) to ‘exclaim joyfully’
-  Use ‘exclaim’ sorrowfully for sorrowful incidents.

Example:
“O, what a beautiful flower that is!” said she. (D.S.)
She exclaimed joyfully that that was a very beautiful flower. (I.S.)
2. “What a horrible sight!” we all exclaimed. (D.S.)
We all exclaimed that it was a very horrible sight. (I.S.)
3. “Alas! I have broken my brother’s watch” said he.
He exclaimed sorrowfully that he had broken his brothers watch. (I.S.)
4. “How beautiful she is!” said Bane. (D.S.)
Bane exclaimed joyfully that she was very beautiful. (I.S.)