Two Parts of Direct Speech: Narration | English Grammar Advanced - Class 10 PDF Download

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Direct Speech and Indirect Speech

There are two ways of reproducing the words of a speaker:

• You can reproduce the actual words of the speaker, or 
• You can give only the substance or gist of his speech in your own words; e.g., 
  • Rohan said, “My father is watching a movie”.
  • Rohan said that his father was watching a movie.

In the first sentence, we give the exact words of the speaker. This is called Direct speech.
In the second sentence, we do not reproduce the exact words of the speaker. Instead, we give the gist of what he said. This is called Indirect speech.

Understanding Direct Speech and Indirect Speech

The actual words of the speaker which are put within inverted commas are called Reported Speech. The verb that introduces the reported speech is called Reporting Verb. 
 Let’s understand this through an example:

Important Points about Direct Speech

• In  direct speech  , the quoted speech is always placed within inverted commas.
• The first word of the reported speech should begin with a  capital letter  .
• A comma is placed after the  reporting verb  to separate it from the rest of the sentence.

Important Points about Indirect Speech

• In  indirect speech  , no inverted commas are used.
• There is no comma placed after  "said"  .
• The reported speech is usually introduced by the conjunction  "that"  .
• The tense of the verb in the reported speech changes from present to past.
• Personal pronouns, possessive adjectives, and words indicating nearness of time and position also change. For example: "Setu said, 'I will go to meet my friend tomorrow.'" becomes "Setu said that he would go to meet his friend the next day."