Introduction to Direct and indirect speech or reported

There are two ways of relating what a person has said: direct and indirect.

In direct speech we repeat the original speaker’s exact words:

• I said to you, “I go to my native village.” 
• I said to you. “you are conscious of your duty”

Remarks thus repeated are placed between inverted commas, and a comma or colon is placed immediately before the remark. Direct speech is fund in conversations in books, in plays, and in quotations.

In indirect speech we give the exact meaning of a remark of a speech, without necessarily using the speaker’s exact words:

• I told you that I want to my native village. 
• I told you that you were conscious of your duty.

There is no comma after say in indirect speech. That can usually be omitted after say and tell + object. But it should be kept after other verbs: complain, explain, object, point out, protest etc. Indirect speech is normally used when conversation is reported verbally, though direct speech is sometimes employed here to give here to give a more dramatic effect.

When we turn direct speech into indirect, some changes are usually necessary. These are most easily studied by considering statements, questions, and commends separately.

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