Direct and Indirect in English: Definition, Rules, How to Convert, Exception, Best Books, Practise Exercises

Direct and indirect speech show how we repeat someone's words. Direct speech quotes the exact words a person said, while indirect speech sums up or rephrases the words without using the original sentence. Both types play a key role in clear communication, whether you are telling a story, writing news, doing academic work, or just chatting.

Direct Speech

Direct speech uses the exact words the speaker said. People often use it to show dialogue, stress truthfulness, or point out the speaker's tone and goal. For example, when someone says, "Avika is going to the park," direct speech copies it word for word, keeping the original wording and punctuation.

Indirect Speech

People also call indirect speech reported speech. It gives the meaning of what the speaker said without quoting their exact words. It often changes pronouns, verb tenses, and other parts to fit the context of the reporting sentence. For instance, the direct speech "I'm going to the park" becomes "He/she said that they were going to the park" in indirect speech. This type helps to sum up or report talks without focusing on word-for-word accuracy.

Applicants preparing for MBA exam are advised to know direct and indirect speech. 

 

To explain more, let's know the definition of Direct and Indirect speech as per Collins Dictionary and Oxford Dictionary.

The Collins Dictionary says Direct speech is 

"In grammar, direct speech is speech which is reported by using the exact words that the speaker used."

The Collins Dictionary says Indirect speech is 

"Indirect speech is speech which tells you what someone said but does not use the person's actual words: for example, 'They said you didn't like it', 'I asked her what her plans were', and 'Citizens complained about the smoke.

Also Read: What is the Importance of Synonyms

After knowing the Collins dictionary definition, let’s check the Oxford dictionary definition given below.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the direct speech definition is 

A speaker’s actual words; the use of these in writing. Only direct speech should go inside inverted commas.

 According to the Oxford Dictionary, the indirect speech definition is 

"A report of what somebody has said that does not use their exact words”.

Direct Speech: The exact words a speaker uses are put in quotation marks just as they were spoken. It keeps the speaker's tone, word choice, and sentence structure. For instance, she said, "I love reading books."

Indirect Speech: A summary of the speaker's words blended into the reporting sentence without quotes. It gives the main idea of what was said but changes pronouns, verb tenses, and other parts as needed. For instance, she said that she loved reading books.

These explanations show the main difference: direct speech copies what someone said, while indirect speech sums up the message in a new way using different grammar.

Also Read: Know different type of English letter

Direct and indirect speech rules are essential to learn for communication. The process of converting direct to indirect speech according to different tenses is performed on the basis of different rules. The rules of direct and indirect speech are listed below.

1. Direct and Indirect Speech – Reporting Verb
2. Direct and Indirect Speech – Pronoun
3. Direct and Indirect Speech – Time & Place conversion

Let's study these rules step by step in detail.

1. Direct to Indirect Speech Conversion – Reporting Verb

In this part, we will discuss the conversion of direct to indirect speech for present, past, and future tenses one by one.

Direct to Indirect Speech Conversion – Present Tense

(I) Simple Present to Simple Past

Direct Speech: Ravi said, "I play football."

Indirect Speech: Ravi said that he played football.

Explanation: In this sentence, the pronoun "I" will be converted to "He". Whereas the verb "play" will be converted to played. The reporting verb "said" will stay the same.

(II) Present Continuous to Past Continuous

Direct Speech: Nidhi said, "I am reading a book."

Indirect Speech: Nidhi said that she was reading a book.

Explanation: Here, in this indirect speech conversion from direct speech, am/is/are + verb-ing will convert to was/were + verb-ing. The pronoun will be replaced according to the subject; therefore, I will be replaced by she.

(III) Present Perfect to Past Perfect

Direct Speech: Nitish said, "I have finished my homework."

Indirect Speech: Nidhi said that he had finished his homework.

Explanation: The reporting verb "said" is in the past tense, so "have been studying" (present perfect continuous) changes to "had been studying" (past perfect continuous). "I" changes to "she" to agree with the subject.

(IV) Present Perfect Continuous to Past Perfect Continuous

Direct Speech: Ishita said, "I have been studying all day.

Indirect Speech: Ishita said that she had been studying all day.

Explanation: Here, in changing from direct to indirect, has/have been + verb-ing will be altered to had been + verb-ing. In the above sentence, "have been studying" changes to "had been studying". The reporting verb said is past; the pronoun I changes to she.

(V) Simple Past to Past Perfect

Direct: Shrishti said, "I visited Delhi."

Indirect: Shrishti said that she had visited Delhi.

Explanation: In this sentence, "visited" (simple past) will be changed into "had visited" (past perfect). The reporting verb said is in the past tense, so we backshift the tense. Finally, "I" changes to "he" to agree with the subject.

(VI) Simple Past Perfect to Past Perfect

Direct: "I had never seen that movie," Ritu said.

Indirect: Ritu said that she had never seen that movie.

Explanation: The verb had never seen is in past perfect already, so it won't change in indirect speech. The pronoun will change from "I" to "she" only.

(VII) Past Continuous to Past Perfect Continuous

Direct: Kiran said, "I was reading a book."

Indirect: Kiran said that she had been reading a book.

Explanation: In this conversion from direct to indirect, the "was/were + verb-ing" would be converted to "had been + verb-ing". Then the pronoun would be converted according to the doer.

(VIII) Future Change to Present Conditional

Direct: Pallavi said, "I will help you."

Indirect: Pallavi said that she would help me.

Explanation: Where the simple future tense (will + verb) occurs in direct speech, and the reporting verb occurs in the past tense, then "will" will normally become "would" in indirect speech. In this case, "I" and "you" will be replaced with "she" and "me". The name of this tense is the present conditional (would + base verb).

(VIII) Future Continuous to Conditional Continuous

Direct: Sarth said, "I will help you."

Indirect: Sarth told me that he would assist me.

Explanation: When future tense (will + verb) is used in direct speech, and the past tense is used with the reporting verb, then "will" is normally replaced with "would" in indirect speech. Next, the pronouns "I" and "you" are replaced with "she" and "me".

2. Direct and Indirect Speech – Pronoun Changes 

The pronoun changes are an important part of direct-to-indirect speech conversion. The direct-to-indirect speech pronoun changes depend on the subject and object of the reporting sentence, ensuring logical alignment with the new context. The examples of pronoun conversion are mentioned in the table below:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
I	he/she
me	him/her
my	his / her
we	they
us	them
our	their
you	I / we / he / she / they (depends on context)
your	my / our / his / her / their (depends on context)
he	he
she	she
it	it
they	they
them	them
their	their

3. Direct and Indirect Speech – Time and Place Conversion

The conversion of time and place in direct speech to indirect speech takes place as per the rules. For example, “I’ll meet you here tomorrow,” she said. In this sentence, the indirect speech will be She said that she would meet me there the next day. The list of time conversions for direct and indirect speech is given below: 

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Today	That day
Tomorrow	The next day / the following day
Yesterday	The previous day / the day before
Now	Then
Tonight	That night
This week	That week
Last week	The previous week
Next year	The following year

To illustrate the application of these rules and exceptions, here are several examples covering statements, questions, commands, and exceptions. By checking these examples of direct and indirect speech, students can practise different types of narrations. 

Statements

• Direct: “I’m going to the store,” Shubham said.
• Indirect: Shubham said that he was going to the store.
• Direct: “We have finished our homework,” the students said.
• Indirect: The students said that they had finished their homework.

Questions

• Direct: “Where are you going?” she asked.
• Indirect: She asked where I was going.
• Direct: “Can you help me?” he asked.
• Indirect: He asked if I could help him.

Commands

• Direct: “Shut the door,” the class teacher said.
• Indirect: The class teacher told me to shut the door.
• Direct: “Don’t touch that,” she warned.
• Indirect: She warned me not to touch that.

Exceptions

1. Universal Truth:

Direct: “Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius,” the scientist said.

Indirect: The scientist said that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

2. Present Reporting Verb:

Direct: “I’m tired,” she says.

Indirect: She says that she is tired.

3. Modal Retention:

         Direct Speech: Virat Kohli said, "I always give my 120% on the field."

         Indirect Speech: Virat Kohli said that he always gives his 120% on the field.

Mixed Examples

• Direct: “I’ll call you tomorrow because I’m busy now,” she said.
• Indirect: She said that she would call me the next day because she was busy then.
• Direct: “Why didn’t you come to the party?” he asked.
• Indirect: He asked why I hadn’t come to the party.

Also Read: Know types of prefixes in English Grammar

Tips to avoid while doing Direct & Indirect speech questions

Incorrect Tense Backshift: Omitting to change tenses, e.g., "He said he is tired" instead of "He said he was tired.

Misused Pronouns: The incorrect pronoun, such as "She said I was late" rather than "She said she was late."

Too Much Direct Speech: Overuse of direct quotes makes writing monotonous; indirect speech makes sentences varied.

Misconstruing Context: The failure to modify time/place words, such as using "He said he'll meet me tomorrow" rather than "He said he would meet me the next day."

 

Also Read: Categories of English Vocabulary Words

Certain exceptions are made for converting from direct and indirect speech. Applicants need to ensure that while converting from direct to indirect or vice versa, these exceptions need to be kept in mind. Some of the common direct-to-indirect exception rules are given below. 

1. No change in speech where there is a universal statement/habitual action 

Direct: He said, 'Rashmi cannot live without water.'

Indirect: He said that Rashmi cannot survive without water.

Explanation: We will include "that" only in the sentence; the rest shall all be the same.

2. No change in speech when reporting verb in present or future tense

When the reporting verb of a sentence is in the present or future tense, the direct speech of the sentence will not alter.

Direct: Akhil will say, 'I am going'.

Indirect: Akhil will say that he is going.

Explanation: Here we will insert "that, and the pronoun will also shift from "I to He".

3. Use of Model Verb in Narration

Students must keep in mind that certain modal verbs like could, should, might and would are not changed while converting from one narration to another because they already indicate a past event or hypothetical situation.

Direct: “I might go to temple,” Mukul said. 

Indirect: Mukul said that I might go to the temple.

For most situations, it is important to understand direct and indirect communication. Let us discuss the examples of narrative in writing and communication.

Writing Dialogue: While indirect speech shortens less significant exchanges, direct speech in literature brings life to people.

Journalism: Journalists reserve direct speech for strong quotes and use indirect speech to paraphrase interviews.

Academic Writing: Indirect speech is often resorted to in summarise information without loss of clarity and avoiding too much quotation.

Normal Communication: When sharing a dialogue with someone, we use both forms.

Also Read: Know how to Integrate Idioms into Writing and Speech?

Why is One Word Substitution Important?

Candidates, besides studying the rules and concepts on this page, are recommended to study the direct and indirect best books. Candidates can prepare for the entire topic by referring to the direct and indirect standard books. The books of direct and indirect narration are as follows:

S.No.	Name of Books
1.	Wren & Martin – High School English Grammar and Composition
2.	English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy (Cambridge)
3.	Objective General English by S.P. Bakshi (Arihant)
4.	Plinth to Paramount by Neetu Singh

Also Read: Know how to Identify Subject-Verb Agreement in a sentence?

How to select books to prepare Direct & Indirect Narration:

Beginner: Students should begin with "Wren & Martin" for easy explanations and exercises.

Intermediate: Those with basic knowledge may begin with "English Grammar in Use" or "Oxford Guide" for practical study.

Advanced: "Practical English Usage" for detailed comprehension.

Exam Prep: "Wren & Martin" or local grammar books specifically focused on individual exams (e.g., SSC, IELTS, or TOEFL).