Direct and Indirect Speech - Quiz
Direct and Indirect Speech - Quiz
When we use direct speech in writing, we place the words spoken between quotation marks (" "), and there is no change in these words.
Reported or indirect speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense of the words spoken. We use reporting verbs like 'say', 'tell', 'ask', and we may use the word 'that' to introduce the reported words. Inverted commas are not used.
Rules regarding change in tenses -
A) When the reporting verb is in the present or future tense -
When the reporting verb is in the 'present tense' (says) or in the 'future tense' (will say), the tense in the indirect (reported) speech remains the same.
Example -
Direct: He says, ‘I am not coming.’
Indirect: He says that he is not coming.
Direct: She will say, ‘I don’t want to come.’
Indirect: She will say that she does not want to come.
B) When the reporting verb is in the past tense -
When the reporting verb is in the 'past tense', all present tenses inside the quotation marks will change to their corresponding past tenses.
Example -
Direct: He said, ‘I am unwell.’
Indirect: He said that he was unwell.
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