definitions of direct and indirect speech and examples
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We may report the words of a speaker in two ways- We can either quote his actual words which would then be called direct speech.
For instance,
Ethan said, “I am very busy right now.”
Farhan asked, “Why didn 't you come?”
We may also report what he said without quoting his exact words.
For instance,
Ethan said that he was very busy then;
Farhan asked why I didn 't go.
While changing the voice, few rules need to be taken into consideration such as:
A simple present becomes a simple past;
A present continuous becomes a past continuous;
A present perfect becomes a past perfect
For instance,
She said, “I don 't want to go.” becomes She said that she didn 't want to go.
She said, “I am not going.” becomes She said that she wasn 't going.
She said, “I didn 't go.” becomes She said that she hadn 't gone.
Various rules to convert direct into reported speech are:
A simple present becomes a simple past;
A present continuous becomes a past continuous;
A present perfect becomes a past perfect.
The 'shall ' of the Future tense is changed into 'should '.
The 'will ' of the Future tense is changed into 'would ' or 'should '.
The pronouns of the Direct speech are changed wherever necessary, so that their relations with the reporter and his hearer, rather than with the original speaker, are indicated.
Words expressing nearness in time or place are generally changed into words expressing distance. For instance, now becomes then, ago becomes before, tomorrow becomes the nest day and last night becomes the night before.
The tenses may not change if the statement is still relevant or if it is a universal truth.
This answer was given by a ma'am! :)