Class 4 - English - Direct and Indirect Speech

Learning Objectives

Understand what direct speech is and how it uses quotation marks.
Understand what indirect speech is and how it reports someone's words.
Learn the basic rules for changing direct speech to indirect speech.
Practise simple conversions between direct and indirect speech.

Let Us Begin!

Imagine your friend Aarav says: "I love playing cricket." You can tell someone what Aarav said in two ways:

Way 1: Aarav said, "I love playing cricket." (You use his exact words inside quotation marks.)

Way 2: Aarav said that he loved playing cricket. (You report his words in your own way, without quotation marks.)

Way 1 is called Direct Speech. Way 2 is called Indirect Speech (also called Reported Speech).

What Is Direct Speech?

Direct speech gives the exact words spoken by a person. The spoken words are placed inside quotation marks (" ").

A comma is placed after the reporting verb (said, asked, told) and before the quotation marks.

Examples of Direct Speech

Meera said, "I am going to the temple."

The teacher said, "Open your books to page 25."

Ravi said, "I have finished my homework."

Mother said, "Dinner is ready."

Think about it: In direct speech, we write the speaker's words exactly as they were spoken.

What Is Indirect Speech?

Indirect speech (reported speech) tells what a person said without using their exact words. There are no quotation marks. The word "that" is often used to connect the two parts.

Examples of Indirect Speech

Meera said that she was going to the temple.

The teacher told us to open our books to page 25.

Ravi said that he had finished his homework.

Mother said that dinner was ready.

Think about it: Notice how the words change when we report what someone said. "I am" becomes "she was," and "I have" becomes "he had."

Basic Rules for Changing Direct to Indirect Speech

When we change direct speech to indirect speech, we make these changes:

What Changes	Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Quotation marks	Used (" ")	Removed
Connector word	Comma before " "	"that" is added
Pronoun: I	I	he / she
Pronoun: my	my	his / her
Pronoun: we	we	they
Tense: am / is	am / is	was
Tense: are	are	were
Tense: have / has	have / has	had
Tense: will	will	would
Tense: can	can	could

Remember: The tense moves one step into the past. This is called the "backshift" of tense.

10 Examples -- Direct to Indirect

No.	Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
1	He said, "I am happy."	He said that he was happy.
2	She said, "I like mangoes."	She said that she liked mangoes.
3	Raj said, "I am reading a book."	Raj said that he was reading a book.
4	Priya said, "I will come tomorrow."	Priya said that she would come the next day.
5	Father said, "I have a meeting."	Father said that he had a meeting.
6	Anu said, "We are going to Jaipur."	Anu said that they were going to Jaipur.
7	He said, "I can swim well."	He said that he could swim well.
8	She said, "My brother is a doctor."	She said that her brother was a doctor.
9	Rohan said, "I play football daily."	Rohan said that he played football daily.
10	Neha said, "I am learning dance."	Neha said that she was learning dance.

Key Words

Word	Meaning
Direct Speech	The exact words of the speaker, written inside quotation marks.
Indirect Speech	Reporting what someone said without using their exact words; no quotation marks.
Quotation Marks	Punctuation marks (" ") used to show the exact words spoken.
Reporting Verb	The verb that introduces the speech (said, told, asked).
Backshift	Changing the tense to the past when converting to indirect speech.

Key Points to Remember

Direct speech uses the speaker's exact words inside quotation marks (" ").
Indirect speech reports the words without quotation marks; "that" is used as a connector.
When changing to indirect speech: I becomes he/she, my becomes his/her, we becomes they.
The tense shifts back: is/am becomes was, are becomes were, will becomes would.
have/has becomes had, and can becomes could.
Always remove the quotation marks and comma when writing indirect speech.

Practice Questions

A. Identify -- Direct or Indirect Speech?

Write "Direct" or "Indirect" on the line.

Sita said, "I am going to school."
Ravi said that he was tired.
Mother said, "Wash your hands before eating."
The boy said that he could not find his bag.
Anita said, "We have a holiday tomorrow."

B. Change to Indirect Speech

She said, "I am hungry."
Arjun said, "I will visit my grandmother."
Kavita said, "I have a new bicycle."
He said, "I can speak Hindi and English."
Pooja said, "My father is a teacher."

C. Change to Direct Speech

Rahul said that he was playing in the garden.
She said that she liked drawing pictures.
Vikram said that he would bring his cricket bat.

D. Multiple Choice Questions

In direct speech, the exact words are placed inside:
(a) brackets(b) quotation marks(c) hyphens
She said, "I am happy." In indirect speech, "am" changes to:
(a) is(b) was(c) were
"I" in direct speech usually changes to _______ in indirect speech.
(a) we(b) you(c) he or she
Which sentence is in indirect speech?
(a) Ram said, "I am late."(b) Ram said that he was late.

E. Fill in the Blanks

Direct speech uses marks to show the exact words.
In indirect speech, "will" changes to .
The word is used as a connector in indirect speech.
In indirect speech, "my" changes to or .

Fun Activity -- Speech Swap

Read the short conversation below. Then rewrite each sentence in indirect speech on the lines.

Amit: "I am going to the market."

Deepa: "I will come with you."

Amit: "We can buy some fruits."

Deepa: "I have some money in my bag."

Rewrite in indirect speech:

English -- Class 4

English -- Class 4 (continued)