THE AZERBAIJAN UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES

Subject: Practical English Grammar

Head Instructor: Jamila Agamaliyeva
Group: 111-A
Student: Mansurova Arzu
 DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH.
In the English language, there are certain ways to express the spoken words between two
people.
1. Direct speech– is the original or actual words of the speaker that are put in inverted
commas.
2. Indirect speech– when the original or actual words of the speaker that are changed in our
own manner and the statement is not in inverted commas.
For example:
She said: “I am going to the shop.” (dir.)
She said that she was going to the shop. (indir.)
He says: “I like ice cream.” (dir.)
He says that he likes ice cream. (indir.)
Father said: “I can’t reach the restaurant.” (dir.)
Father said that he couldn’t reach the restaurant. (indir.)
THE BASIC RULES OF CHANGING DIRECT SPEECH INTO INDIRECT.
The changes of Direct and Indirect speech depend on some factors like modals, reporting verb,
place, time, tense, pronoun etc.
1) The reported speech does not come into inverted commas or quotation marks in an indirect
speech.
He said that he had completed his assignments the previous day. (indir.)

2) The pronoun used in indirect speech sometimes needs to be changed accordingly to the
reported verb of the direct speech. The possessive pronouns (his, her, my, their, your etc.) are
also sometimes changed.
He said: “I am going to school.” (dir.)
He said that he was going to school. (indir.)
She says: “I won’t come with you.” (dir.)
She says that she won’t come with me. (indir.)
They said: “We are having our dinner.” (dir.)
They said that they were having their dinner. (indir.)
3) The mentioned time in a direct speech sentence will have to change in indirect
speech. There are some words that need to be changed:
She asked: “Will the parcel reach Here Changes into there
by tomorrow or not?” (dir.) Now Changes into then
This Changes into that
She asked if the parcel would reach by the These Changes into those
next day or not. (indir.) Today Changes into that day
She said: “I need your help now.” (dir.) To-night Changes into that night
Yesterday Changes into the previous day
She said that she needed my help then. (indir.) Last night Changes into the previous night
He said: “I am feeling good today.” (dir.) Last week Changes into the previous week
He said that he was feeling good that day. Tomorrow Changes into the next day
Next week Changes into the following week
(indir.) Ago Changes into before
Thus Changes into so
Hence Changes into thence
Hither Changes into thither
Come Changes into go
4) The tense of the reported speech is changed for converting direct speech into indirect. The
tenses are changed according to the rule of the sequence of tenses:
Present Simple turns to Past Simple
Present Continuous turns to Past Continuous
Present Perfect turns to Past Perfect
Past Simple turns to Past Perfect or remains unchanged
Past Continuous turns to Past Perfect Continuous or remains unchanged
Past Perfect remains unchanged
Future tenses turn to Future in-the-past tenses
Can turns to Could
May turns to Might

She said:” I am happy.” (dir.) – She said that she was happy. (indir.)
Michael said: “I will buy a new car.” (dir.) – Michael told that he would buy a new car. (indir.)
He said: “My father is playing football with me.” (dir.) – He said that his father was playing
football with him. (indir.)
She said: “I bought a book.” (dir.) – She said that she had bought a book. (indir.)
Note: If the introductory verb is in the present simple, present perfect or future tense the verbs
in the indirect speech won’t change. And there is no change in words denoting time.
Ann says: “My father is helping me with homework now.” (dir.) – Ann says that her father is
helping her with homework now. (indir.)

INDIRECT STATESMENTS.
If the sentence in direct speech is declarative then the object clause is joined with the help of
the conjunction “that” or without the conjunction. These statements are introduced by the
verbs “to say, to tell, to announce, to inform.” If there are verbs “to tell and to inform” we
don’t use the preposition and the person is always mentioned. If there are verbs “to say and to
announce” and the person is mentioned we use the preposition to. (if the person isn’t
mentioned we don’t use “to”.)
He said: “I live in the city center.” (dir.) – He said that he lived in the city center. (indir.)
The butcher told us: “We are closing at 7 o’clock.” (dir.) – The butcher told us that they were
closing at 7 o’clock. (indir.)
The teacher said to us: “There will be a test the next lesson.” (dir.) – The teacher informed us
that there would be a test the following lesson. (indir.)
 INDIRECT QUESTIONS.
To convert interrogative sentences into indirect speech, follow the rules along with the
above-mentioned rules:
1) The reporting verb said/said to is changed in asked, demanded, enquired as per the nature
of the sentence.
2) If the question is general we use conjunctions “if, whether”.
3) If there is a special question in direct speech (beginning with who, when, how, why and so
on) we don’t use conjunctions and the question word remains unchanged.
4) Question form is removed and put full stop at the end.
5) The word order is like in the statements.
He said to me: “Who teaches you English?” (dir.) - He asked me who taught me English.
(indir.)
The boy asked: “Where do you stay?” (dir.) - The boy enquired where I stayed. (indir.)
She said: “Can you do me a favor?” (dir.) - She asked if he could do her a favor. (indir.)
My boyfriend asked: “Do you like horror films?” (dir.) – My boyfriend asked if I liked
horror films. (indir.)
Note: if the question is asked to the subject there are two ways of converting direct speech into
indirect.
“What is your name?”- she asked me. (dir.) – She asked me what my name was. OR She asked
me what was my name. (indir.)
INDIRECT IMPERATIVE SENTENCES.
Imperative sentences are statements that deliver a command, order, request, appeal, or advice.
There are some rules of creating indirect sentences.
1) Reporting verb said to is changed into tell, command or order, request, warn, forbade, ask, beg,
advise.
2) Inverted commas are replaced by infinitives “to”.
Order: The teacher said to me: “Sit properly!” (dir.) - The teacher ordered me to sit properly.
(indir.)
Command: The Boss said to an office boy: “Bring one coffee for me.” (dir.) - The Boss
commanded an office boy to bring a coffee for him. (indir.)
Request: He said to me: “Shut the door.” (dir.) - He requested me to shut the door. (indir.)
Advice: My friend said to me: “Try this drink.” (dir.) - My friend advised me to try that drink.
(indir.)
 INDIRECT EXCLAMATIONS.
Exclamatory sentences are those sentences that show emotions, feelings and ends with an
exclamation mark! We have some rules of changing direct exclamations into indirect:
1) If there is an interjection, i.e., alas, aha, hurray, etc., in the reported speech, then they are
omitted along with the exclamation point.
2) Reporting verb said is changed in many ways. Exclaimed with sorrow, joy, regret, surprise,
contempt, with great wonder and etc.
3) If there is what or how at the beginning of the reported speech, then they are replaced
with very or very great.
4) In an indirect sentence, the exclamatory sentence becomes an assertive sentence.
He said: “Hurray! I have won the match.” (dir.) - He exclaimed with great joy that he had won
the match. (indir.)
He said: “Alas! I have lost my wedding ring.” (dir.) - He exclaimed with sorrow that he had lost
his wedding ring. (indir.)
I said: “How lucky I am!”(dir.) - I said in great wonder that I was very lucky. (indir.)
They said: “What a beautiful house this is!” (dir.) - They exclaimed that that house was very
beautiful. (indir.)
 INDIRECT OPTATIVE SENTENCES.
Optative sentences express a hope, prayer, or wish. Usually, there is an exclamation mark at
the end of an optative sentence. The rules of converting:
1) If the reported speech starts with the word may, then the reporting verb said is replaced
with the word prayed.
2) If the reported speech starts with the word would, then the reporting verb said is replaced
with the word wished.
3) May is changed to might.
4) The exclamation mark is omitted. To remove inverted commas no conjunction is used.
5) In indirect speech, the optative sentences become assertive sentences.
He said to me: “May you live long!” (dir.) - He prayed that I might live long. (indir.)
She said: “Would that I were rich!” (dir.) - She wished she had been rich. (indir.)
He said to me: “Good Morning Sir!” (dir.) - He respectfully wished me good morning.
(indir.)
I said to him: “Would that you were here on Sunday!” - I wished he had been there on
Sunday. (indir.)
My mother said to me: “May you succeed in the test!” (dir.) - My mother prayed that I might
succeed in the test. (indir.)
 SOME NOTES.
1) There is a difference between verbs “to offer and to suggest”. The person who makes an offer
does the action himself and this is an act of kindness. But the person who makes a suggestion
may or may not do the action himself.
She said: “Shall I fetch a piece of chalk?” (dir.) – She offered to fetch a piece of chalk. (indir.)
He said to me: “Let’s go for a walk!” (dir.) – He suggested that we should go for a walk. (indir.)
2) The affirmative and negative answers in indirect speech look like this:
She said: “Yes.” (dir.) – She gave an affirmative answer.
Mother said: “Yes, you are right.” (dir.) – Mother agreed with me. (indir.)
He said: “No.” (dir.) – He gave a negative answer. (indir.)
3) The modal verb “must” can be written in different ways:
• Must remains unchanged if there is an advice (order) or supposition.
She said to him: “You must wear coat.” (dir.) – She told him that he must wear coat. (indir.)
• Must is changed to “had to” if it expresses necessity arising out of circumstances.
He said: “As my parents are out of town I must do the cleaning.” (dir.) – He said that as his
parents were out of town he had to do the cleaning. (indir.)
• Must is replaced by “was (were) to” if it there is an arrangement.
She said: “I must be there at 10.” (dir.) – She said that she was to be there at 10. (indir.)
 EXCEPTIONS.
1) If reported speech has Universal Truth or Habitual Fact then there will be no change in
tenses.
Our teacher said: ” The Sun rises in the east.” (dir.) - Our teacher said that the Sun rises in the
east. (indir.)
Banu said to me: “I write with my left hand.” (dir.) - Banu told me that she writes with her left
hand. (indir.)
2) If reported speech has two actions to be happened at a time then there will be no change in
tenses.
She said: ” My husband was writing a letter while I was reading a book.” (dir.) - She said that her
husband was writing a letter while she was reading a book. (indir.)
3) If reported speech is given in had 3rd form, to infinitive and would, should, could, ought
to then there will be no change in tenses.
He said to me: ” You should obey your parents.” (dir.) - He told me that I should obey my parents.
(indir.)
4) If reported speech has Imagined Condition then there will be no change in tenses.
Reema said: ”If I were you, I would help him.” (dir.) - Reema said that if she were you, she would
help him. (indir.)