Class - 9 Icse Boards Direct and Indirect Speech

CLASS -9TH
ICSE BOARDS
DIRECT AND INDIRECT
SPEECH
 Reporting the words of the speaker in your own
words is called reported speech.
The words spoken by a person can be reported
in two ways—Direct and Indirect.
When we quote the exact words spoken by a
person, we call it Direct Speech.
ex:-Sohan said to Mohan, “I am going to
school.”
The exact words spoken by Sohan are put
within inverted commas. But when we give
the substance of what Sohan said, it is called
the Indirect Speech.
Reporting Clause and Reported
Speech:
 Sohan told Mohan that he was going to
school. The words which generally come
before the inverted commas are called
the reporting clause,
 i.e. Sohan said to Mohan and the verb ‘said’,
is called the reporting verb.
The words spoken by Sohan and put within

inverted commas are called the reported
speech, i.e. “I am going to school.”
1.Rules for Changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech:
In the Indirect speech, no inverted commas are

used.
The conjunctions that, if, whether, are
generally used after the reporting verb.
The first word of the reported speech begins
with a capital letter.
The tense of the reporting verb is never
changed.
The reporting verb changes according to sense:
it may be told, asked, inquired,etc.
2.Rules for the Change of Pronouns:
 The first person pronouns (I, me, my, we,
us, our) in the reported speech change
according to the subject of the reporting
verb.
The pronouns of the second person (you,
your, yourself) in the reported speech change
according to the object of the reporting verb.
The pronouns of the third person do not
change.
3.Changes in words expressing nearness, time, auxiliaries, etc.
this - that will- would

these - those ago - before
now - then just - then
here - there come - go
today - that day
tomorrow – the next day
yesterday – the previous day
last night – the previous night
can – could
may – might
shall- should
4.Change in Tenses:
If the reporting verb is in the present or

the future tense, the tense of the reported
speech is not changed:
Satish says, “I am flying a kite.”
Satish says that he is flying a kite.
Satish will say, “I want a glass of milk.”
Satish will say that he wants a glass of
milk.
 Ifthe reporting verb is in the past tense, then the tense of the
reported speech will change as follows:
Direct Indirect
 Simple present change into Simple Past
 Present continuous change into Past continuous
 Present perfect change into Past perfect
 Simple Past change into Past perfect
 Past continuous change into Past perfect continuous
Ifthe direct speech expresses a historical fact, a universal truth
or a habitual fact. tense of the direct speech will not change:
Direct : He said, “Honesty is the best policy.”
Indirect : He said that honesty is the best policy.
Direct : He said, “The sun rises in the east.”
Indirect : He said that the sun rises in the east.
Direct : Rakesh said, “I am an early riser.”
Indirect : Rakesh said that he is an early riser.
Direct : She said, “God is omnipresent.”
Indirect : She said that God is omnipresent.
Direct : The teacher said, “The First World War started in
1914.”
Indirect : The teacher said that the First World War started in
1914.
5.Changing Statements into Indirect Speech:
The reporting verb “said to’ is changed to ‘told, ‘replied’,

‘‘remarked’,
The reporting verb is not followed by an object, it is not
changed.
The inverted commas are removed. The conjunction that is
used to connect the reporting clause with the reported
speech.
The rules for the change of pronouns, tenses, etc. are
followed.
Direct : Ramu said, “I saw a lion in the forest.”
Indirect : Ramu said that he had seen a lion in the forest.
Direct : Satish said to me, “I am very happy here.”
Indirect : Satish told me that he was very happy there.
6.Rules for the Change of Interrogative (Questions) sentences:
 The reporting verb ‘say’ is changed into ask, inquire,

 The interrogative sentence is changed into a statement by placing the
subject before the verb and the full stop is put at the end of the sentence.
 If the interrogative sentence has a wh-word (who, when, where, how, why,
etc) the wh- word is repeated in the sentence. It serves as a conjunction.
 If the interrogative sentence is a yes-no answer type sentence (with
auxiliary verbs aw, are, was, were, do, did, have, shall, etc), then if or ‘
whether’ is used as a conjunction.
 The auxiliaries do, does, did in a positive question in the reported speech
are dropped.
 The conjunction that is not used after the reporting clause.
Direct : I said to him, “Where are you going?”
Indirect : Tasked him where he was going.
Direct : He said to me, “Will you go there?”
Indirect : He asked me if I would go there.
Direct : My friend said to Deepak, “Have you ever been to Agra?”
Indirect : My friend asked Deepak if he had ever been to Agra.
7.Changing Commands and Requests into Indirect Speech:
In imperative sentences having commands, the reporting

verb is changed into command, order, tell, allow,
request,etc.
The imperative mood is changed into the infinitive mood
by putting to, before the verb. In case of negative
sentences, the auxiliary ‘do’ is dropped and ‘to’ is placed
after ‘not:
Direct : She said to me, “Open the window.”
Indirect : She ordered me to open the window.
Direct : The captain said to the soldiers, “Attack the
enemy.”
Indirect : The captain commanded the soldiers to attack
the enemy.

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CLASS -9TH

The words spoken by Sohan and put within

In the Indirect speech, no inverted commas are

this - that will- would

If the reporting verb is in the present or

The reporting verb “said to’ is changed to ‘told, ‘replied’,

 The reporting verb ‘say’ is changed into ask, inquire,

In imperative sentences having commands, the reporting

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