Start here · the first lesson of Direct and Indirect Speech (Narration)
Direct and Indirect Speech (Narration)
Grammar: Voice, Narration, Tenses + Rule Bank · for IPMAT Indore, IPMAT Rohtak and JIPMAT
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The idea
Direct speech gives the speaker's exact words in quotation marks: He said, "I am tired." Indirect (reported) speech reports them from the reporter's point of view: He said that he was tired. JIPMAT asks one or two items a year (2021–2026), mostly direct to indirect, sometimes indirect to direct. Every item tests the same three changes: the reporting verb and joining word, the pronouns, and the tense and time words.
Textbook vs exam method
Textbook method
1. Reporting verb and joining word (by sentence type)
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| Statement: said, "…" / said to me, "…" | said that… / told me that… |
| Yes/no question | asked (me) if / whether + statement order |
| Wh-question | asked (me) + wh-word + statement order |
| Command / request / advice | ordered / told / requested / advised + object + to + verb (negative: not to) |
| Let us… (suggestion) | proposed / suggested that they (we) should… |
| Let me… (permission) | requested X to let him… |
| Exclamation (How… ! What a… !) | exclaimed (with joy / sorrow / surprise) that… very… |
| Praise, thanks (Well done! Thanks!) | applauded / congratulated / thanked |
| Wish, blessing (May you…!) | wished / prayed that… might… |
2. Pronouns. "I/we" become the speaker's pronoun; "you" becomes the listener's pronoun; he/she/they stay. Always ask who each pronoun stands for.
3. Tense (only when the reporting verb is past)
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| am / is / are | was / were |
| is writing | was writing |
| has written | had written |
| wrote | had written |
| will / shall / can / may | would / should / could / might |
| must (a need at that time) | had to |
No change when the reporting verb is present or future (says, will say), or for a universal truth (The teacher said that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius).
4. Time and place words (after a past reporting verb): now → then, today → that day, tonight → that night, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the day before, next week → the following week, last year → the previous year, here → there, this → that.
Indirect to direct: undo every step: told me → said to me, he → I, was → am, that day → today, add the quotation marks and the right end mark.
Exam method
- Type of sentence?. Pick the reporting verb family (said/told, asked, ordered/requested, proposed, exclaimed). This often removes one or two options at once.
- Pronouns. find who "I" and "you" are, then strike every option with a wrong person.
- Structure. strike "said me", "told to", "asked that what", "asked where did I", "requested that let".
- Tense and time words. check backshift (or no backshift after "says").