GRAMMAR: DIRECT & INDIRECT SPEECH

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Direct and Indirect Speech

 Direct speech refers to the quoting by a speaker or writer, of the actual utterance of another speaker or writer. It contains all the actual words used by the original speaker.

        Things to Note About Direct Speech

a. After the subject (speaker) and the verb, put a comma.
b. Put quotation marks before you start writing the first words of each speech
c. Write in capital the first letter of the first words of each speech
d. Put the appropriate punctuation mark at the end of the speech. e.g, a full stop, a    question mark, or an exclamation mark.
e. Close the speech with a quotation mark.

Rules Governing Indirect Speech

a. After mentioning the speaker (subject) and the verb, the reported speech is introduced with conjunction ‘that; where appropriate.

b. All the verbs in the present tense in a quotation must be changed to past tense, For Example: says to said; has to had; is to was; can to could; may to might; shall to should; will to would; but the verb must not be changed if it expresses a permanent truth or customary fact. E.g. He said that the world is round.
c. All pronouns must be changed to the third person,
For Example: I to he; me to him/her; we to they ;our to their.
d. All words of nearness must be changed to corresponding words of remoteness.
For Example: now to then, here to there; this to that; these to those; yesterday to the previous day, tomorrow to the next day, last week to the previous week and next year to the following year.

Study the Examples Below:  

i. a. Direct speech: Akin said, “I can do it.”
b. Indirect speech: Akin said that he could do it.
ii. a. Direct speech: Ladi remarked, “My team wins this year.’’
b. Indirect speech: Ladi remarked that his team would win that year.

Exercise

Change the following Direct Speech to Indirect Speech
1. Direct speech: The teacher says, ‘The sun rises in the east’
2. Direct speech: Our Geography teacher said, ‘The earth is spherical.’

Send your answers to blozzomeverday@gmail.com


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