Narration Rules for Direct & Indirect Speech With Examples, Definition

Understanding narration rules for direct and indirect speech is important for speaking and writing correctly. It helps us report what others say clearly. By following the rules and practicing, you’ll be able to easily switch between direct and indirect speech. This is important for candidates to know as it can be asked in various Banking and Competitive exams.

Narration Rules for Direct & Indirect Speech

In English, we use direct speech and indirect speech to report what someone says. Direct speech is when we repeat someone’s exact words, and indirect speech is when we report what someone said without using their exact words. Read the full article about narration rules, definitions and examples.

Direct Speech Definition and Example

Direct speech is when we report someone’s exact words. We use quotation marks to show the exact words spoken by the person. In direct speech, we do not change anything in the person’s words.

Example:

• Neha said, “I am going to the store.”
• Raman said, “I will be on leave Next Saturday”.

In these examples, the words “I am going to the store” and “I will be on leave Next Saturday” are the exact words spoken by the person, and they are enclosed in quotation marks. This is direct speech.

Indirect Speech Definition and Example

Indirect speech is when we report what someone said, but we do not use their exact words. We may change the tense, pronouns, and sometimes the word order.

Example:

• Neha said that he was going to the store.

In indirect speech, the exact words are not quoted. Instead, we change the structure to report what was said.

Rules for Converting Direct into Indirect Speech

When we change direct speech into indirect speech, we follow these rules:

Change of Tense

The tense of the verb usually changes when converting from direct to indirect speech:

• Present Simple becomes Past Simple:
  • Direct: She says, “I like ice cream.”
  • Indirect: She says that she liked ice cream.
• Present Continuous becomes Past Continuous:
  • Direct: He is saying, “I am studying.”
  • Indirect: He is saying that he was studying.
• Past Simple becomes Past Perfect:
  • Direct: She said, “I went to the shop.”
  • Indirect: She said that she had gone to the shop.

Change of Pronouns

Pronouns like “I”, “you”, “he”, “she” also change in indirect speech:

• Direct: He said, “I will come tomorrow.”
• Indirect: He said that he would come tomorrow.

Reporting Verbs

The verb used to report the speech like “say”, “ask”, “tell” may change:

• Direct: She said, “I am tired.”
• Indirect: She told me that she was tired.

Quotation Marks

In indirect speech, we do not use quotation marks. Instead, we use “that” to introduce the reported speech.

• Direct: He said, “I am going home.”
• Indirect: He said that he was going home.

Time Changes

Time words like today, tomorrow, and now often change in indirect speech:

• Direct: He said, “I will call you tomorrow.”
• Indirect: He said that he would call me the next day.

Rules for Converting Indirect to Direct Speech

When we change indirect speech to direct speech, we reverse the changes:

• Change the tense back to the original tense.
• Use quotation marks around the exact words.
• Change pronouns back to their original form.
• Adjust time expressions to fit the context.

Example:

• Indirect: She told me that she was leaving.
• Direct: She said, “I am leaving.”

Examples of Direct and Indirect Speech

Statement

• Direct: He said, “I am reading a book.”
• Indirect: He said that he was reading a book.

Question 

In indirect speech, questions are reported without changing the word order, and the question mark is removed.

• Direct: She asked, “Are you coming with us?”
• Indirect: She asked if I was coming with them.

Command and Request

When reporting commands or requests, we use to or not to:

• Direct: He said, “Close the door.”
• Indirect: He asked me to close the door.
• Direct: She said, “Don’t touch that.”
• Indirect: She told me not to touch that.