Grammar – Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct and Indirect Speech

Study the Following Interview of World-famous Chess Player Hou Yifan:

1. Interviewer: Do you think a female player could become a world champion in the future?

Hou Yifan: Theoretically, there should be a possibility that a woman can compete for the title in the future. The deeper you go, you realize there are more things you don’t know.

2. Interviewer: Tell us more about that experience of leaving home for another province at the age of seven. How hard was that for you?

Hou Yifan: Initially, I left my parents behind. I was living at the home of a local chess player, but I was also too young and curious about this new world to be suffering too much. But it wasn’t a boarding school; it was just a chess club, so nobody cared about my daily life.

3. Interviewer: What do you do to relax?

Hou Yifan: I find that playing chess relaxes me.

Direct speech occurs when the person speaking is quoted. For example, the above interview can be converted into direct speech using quotation marks.

1. The interviewer asked Hou Yifan,” What do you do to relax?”
2. Hou Yifan told Interviewer, “I find that playing chess relaxes me.”

Indirect Speech Occurs When Another Person (Here, the Reporter) Paraphrases the Speaker’s Words.

For example, what was asked and answered if the reporter is asked to report the 3^rd interview question?

1. The Interviewer asked Hou Yifan what she did to relax.
2. Hou Yifan told the Interviewer that she found playing chess relaxes her.

Again, Let Us Review and Identify Direct and Indirect Speech from the above Interview.

Direct speech:

The interviewer said to Hou Yifan, “What do you do to relax?

Indirect speech

The Interviewer asked Hou Yifan what she did to relax.

Direct speech:

Hou Yifan said to the interviewer, “I find that playing chess relaxes me.”

Indirect speech:

Hou Yifan told the Interviewer that she found playing chess relaxes her.

It should be noted when converting speech from direct to indirect; you must change the present tense to the past tense and remove any quotation marks or commas.

There are four kinds of Direct speech:

1. Direct statement /assertive
2. Direct question/interrogative
3. Direct command, request, order/imperative
4. Direct exclamation/exclamatory

1. Direct Statement to Indirect Statement

Richards said to Richa, “I love chocolate cakes.”

Richards told Richa he loved chocolate cakes.

2. Direct Question to Indirect Question

Richards said to Richa, “Do you love chocolate cakes.”

Richards asked Richa if he loved chocolate cakes.

1. For yes/no questions – use if/whether
2. For wh- queries – use the wh-word

3. Direct Request/Command/Order to Indirect Request/Command/ Order

Richards said to Richa, “Please buy me chocolate cakes.”

Richards requested Richa to buy him chocolate cakes.

4. Direct Exclamation to Indirect Exclamation

Richards said to Richa, “What a yummy chocolate cake it is!”

Richards exclaimed that it was a yummy chocolate cake.

How to Convert a Direct Speech into an Indirect Speech?

General rules:

1. Firstly commas (,) and quotation marks (“…”) are removed.
2. Reporting verb is changed.
3. A conjunction is used according to different kinds of sentences, i.e., assertive, interrogative, etc.
4. A pronoun is changed according to speaker and hearer.
5. The verb is changed according to the rule of the sequence of tenses (Tenses are changed)
6. Words expressing nearness in time and distance are changed into words expressing further or far away.

1. Removal of comma and quotation marks:

Example: Direct: John said to me, “I am very busy now.”

Indirect: John told me that he was very busy then.

2   Change in reporting verb:

Reporting verb is changed according to the kind of sentence.

Study the Following Interview of World-famous Chess Player Hou Yifan:

1. Changes related to time and distance

Change in pronoun

A pronoun is changed according to the gender of the speaker and hearer. The pronouns of the direct

speech is changed into the third person in the indirect speech.

Pronouns in the first person are changed according to the speaker

2. Change in Tense:

When reporting speech, the tense is usually changed because the person who spoke originally spoke in the past.

Exceptions

(A)No change in tense(Universal truth, habitual action)

i. When reporting or main verb is in the present or future tense, there is no change in tense.

Example: My father says, “I am reading a newspaper.” (Direct)

My father says that he is reading a newspaper. (Indirect)

ii. When the quoted speech presents universal truth or habitual fact or saying, there is no change in tense

Example:  The teacher said to the students, “The earth revolves around the sun.” (Direct)

The teacher told the students that The earth revolves around the sun.” (Indirect)