Direct & Indirect Speech
🔒 Log in to trackExam strategy: the four-check protocol
🔒 Log in to trackEvery narration question changes the quote in four ways. Check them in this order: the connector, the reporting verb, the tense, then the pronouns and time words. In a well-set question, each wrong option fails exactly one check. Questions also come in reverse: you must turn indirect speech back into direct speech.
The four-check method
Run the checks in this order.
- Connector: that / if or whether / the wh-word / to + V1. It must match the type. There must be exactly one.
- Reporting verb: said to + person becomes told or asked. The tone must match: requested, ordered, advised, exclaimed, suggested.
- Tense: one step back for a past reporting verb. Past perfect stays. General truths stay. Would, could, might, should and used to stay.
- Pronouns and time words: SONA for pronouns. Tomorrow becomes the next day. This becomes that. Here becomes there.
Tip: Start with the connector. It is the fastest check. You can often kill two options in five seconds without reading a verb.
Reverse conversion: indirect to direct
Do the same steps backwards.
- Put the reporting verb back with its comma and inverted commas: told me becomes said to me, "...".
- Remove the connector. That goes. If / whether becomes a question that starts with a helper verb (Are you ...?). A wh-word stays, but question order returns.
- Step the tense up one rung: had + V3 becomes V2; was + V-ing becomes is / am + V-ing; would becomes will; could becomes can; had to becomes must.
- Reverse the pronouns.
- Restore the punctuation: a question mark for a question, an exclamation mark for an exclamation.
Example: The teacher told the students that the earth revolves around the sun. Direct: The teacher said to the students, "The earth revolves around the sun." A general truth was never shifted, so it needs no un-shifting.
Watch: Un-shift past perfect to the simple past: had seen becomes saw. Do not leave it as had seen in direct speech.
Faults that appear most often
- Question order kept: asked if was he coming.
- Half-backshift: said that he is busy.
- Time word left behind: would visit tomorrow.
- Told with no listener, or requested to the doctor.
- Two connectors: asked that why, told that to come.
- A reported question that still ends with a question mark.
- Wrong tone verb: please reported as ordered; Hurrah reported as sorrow.
The 25-second routine
- Read the direct sentence. Name its type: statement, yes/no, wh, command, request or exclamation.
- Write the skeleton in your head: asked if + statement order, or ordered + person + not to + V1.
- Compare each option with the skeleton, one check at a time.
- The first option that passes all four checks wins.
Note: Practise on paper, not by speaking. Narration is about punctuation and word order. The ear forgives what the hand catches.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Four-check elimination on a full question
A plain statement question where each wrong option fails a different check. One keeps 'said to', one skips the backshift, one keeps 'yesterday'.
Connector: a statement with a named listener needs told + person + that.
Tense: every verb steps down once (were becomes had been).
Time words: yesterday becomes the previous day.
Pronouns: apply SONA.
A fixed order turns a four-way comparison into four quick yes/no checks.
Select the indirect form: The manager said to the clerk, 'You were absent yesterday.'
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'Said to' becomes 'told'; add 'that'.
'Were' becomes 'had been'.
Yesterday becomes the previous day; you becomes he.
The manager told the clerk that he had been absent the previous day.
Reverse conversion: indirect to direct
The stem is reported speech and the options are direct speech. They differ in quotes and comma, in the un-shift, and in question order.
Rebuild the frame: said to + person, comma, inverted commas.
Drop the connector. For a reported question, put the helper verb first and add the question mark.
Step the tense up one rung. Keep a general truth as it is.
Reverse the pronouns before closing the quote.
The direct speech must be what the speaker could really have said. Every reported word (that, had, would) has to go.
Select the direct form: The teacher told the students that the earth revolves around the sun.
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Add 'said to the students' and a comma.
Drop 'that'.
The earth revolves is a general truth. It stays in the present.
The teacher said to the students, "The earth revolves around the sun."
Polite questions with shall, could
The quote is a polite question (Shall I ...? Could you ...?). Options add 'that if', or keep will / can.
Shall I ...? (asking what to do) becomes asked + if + I / he + should + V1.
Could you ...? becomes asked + if + could + V1.
Use one connector. Shift now to then.
Never keep will or can, and never jump to must.
Polite questions test three checks at once: the connector, the modal and the time word.
Select the indirect form: The clerk said to the manager, 'Shall I close the register now?'
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Use 'asked the manager if'.
'Shall I' becomes 'he should'.
'Now' becomes 'then'.
The clerk asked the manager if he should close the register then.
Word order and punctuation sweep
A wh-question where two options use the same words, but one inverts the helper (when would the rains) or ends with a question mark.
After the wh-word, put the subject first, then the verb.
Reject options like 'when would the rains come' at once.
Check the last character. It must be a full stop.
Order and punctuation faults are easy to miss when you read for meaning, so check them by position.
Select the indirect form: The child asked her mother, 'When will the rains come?'
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Keep 'when' as the connector.
Will becomes would, and it moves after the subject.
The question mark becomes a full stop.
The child asked her mother when the rains would come.
Modal and time word together
The quote has a modal (may, could have) and a time word (next week, yesterday). Wrong options fix only one.
Do the modal first: may becomes might; could have stays could have.
Do the time word second: next week becomes the following week.
Check that both moved.
Setters split the shift across two places. A candidate who checks only the tense falls for the untouched time word.
Select the indirect form: The coach said, 'The trials may be postponed till next week.'
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May becomes might.
Next week becomes the following week.
Either change alone is the planted half-answer.
The coach said that the trials might be postponed till the following week.
Shortcuts that save time
For each wrong option, name its fault: verb, tense, pronoun or time word. If you cannot name it, look again. If two options share no fault, you may have misread the tone verb.
In indirect to direct, 'the previous day' means the quote had 'yesterday'. 'Asked if' means the quote was a yes/no question with the helper verb first.
Convert ten sentences a day by hand. Mix statements, questions and commands. In a week the four checks run together.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Fixing the tense but leaving 'said me' in place.
Run the checks in order: connector, then reporting verb, then tense, then pronouns and time.
Writing 'had seen' unchanged in direct speech.
Step up one rung: had seen becomes saw.
Forgetting the comma and inverted commas in an indirect to direct answer.
Rebuild the frame: said to him, "..."
Assuming every tense shifts.
General truths keep their tense. Missing this costs a mark.
Skipping the punctuation check.
Look at the last character. A reported question ends with a full stop.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Four checks in order: connector, reporting verb, tense, pronouns and time words.
Reverse: put back the quotes and comma, remove the connector, step the tense up, reverse the pronouns, restore the punctuation.
Top faults: question order kept, half-backshift, time word left behind, told with no listener, two connectors, a stray question mark.
Name the type of sentence first. Write its skeleton. Then read the options.
Each wrong option breaks one check. Name it and move on.
Practice: 12 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 12 questions
Suggested time 8 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.