Direct & Indirect Speech
🔒 Log in to trackTwo narration items per shift, all built from four moving parts: reporting verb, backshift ladder, pronoun anchors and the time/place word table. Statement, question, command, request and exclamation each have one fixed skeleton — learn the skeletons plus the exceptions (universal truths, frozen modals) and narration becomes a formula topic, both directions.
One page per subtopic: detailed notes, every question type, formulas, tricks and practice sets.
Every formula on one printable page, grouped by subtopic.
3 exam-level questions worked step by step.
66 questions — untimed practice or a timed test with analysis.
Track record in the exam
Questions per shift in recent SSC CGL papers.
Test difficulty mix (66 questions)
Question patterns exams keep repeating
Taken from previous-year papers. If a pattern is marked "very common", expect to see it in your exam.
Direct to indirect (statement)
very commonA declarative quote after said/said to; the options are that-clauses differing in the tense rung (was vs had been), in the time word (today vs that day), or in said-to vs told.
How to solve: Convert the frame first: said to + listener becomes told + listener, add that. Then step every verb one rung down the ladder (am → was, wrote → had written, will → would), map pronouns by SONA, and shift the time words (today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, ago → before). Universal truths keep their tense.
Example: Select the indirect form: 'He said, "I bought a car yesterday."'
He said that he had bought a car the previous day — bought steps to had bought and yesterday to the previous day; I follows the reporter (he).
Direct to indirect (question)
very commonThe quote ends with a question mark; the options differ in the connector (if/whether vs that vs the wh-word), in statement vs question order, and in whether do/does/did survived.
How to solve: Yes/No question → asked + if/whether + statement order. Wh-question → asked + the wh-word alone + statement order. Kill do/does/did and land the tense on the main verb (Do you like → if I liked). The final mark is a full stop, never a question mark.
Example: Select the indirect form: 'The stranger said to me, "Can you show me the way to the station?"'
The stranger asked me if I could show him the way to the station — one connector, statement order, can → could, you/me remapped by SONA.
Direct to indirect (command/request/exclamation)
very commonThe quote is an order (bare verb), a please-sentence, advice, or carries Hurrah/Alas/What a; the options differ in the reporting verb (ordered/requested/advised/exclaimed) and in the to/not-to frame.
How to solve: Order → told/ordered + object + to + V1 (negative: not to V1). Request → requested + object + to + V1. Advice → advised + object + to + V1. Exclamation → match the emotion: Hurrah → exclaimed with joy that; Alas → exclaimed with sorrow that; What a + adj → exclaimed that it was very + adj. The tone verb decides the item before any tense does.
Example: Select the indirect form: 'Mother said to me, "Do not go out in the rain."'
Mother told me not to go out in the rain — a negative order rides not before to; the mother's concern keeps the neutral told frame.
Reverse conversion: indirect to direct
commonThe stem is already reported (told/asked + that/if/wh) and the options are quoted sentences differing in the quotes-and-comma frame, in the un-shift, and in question order.
How to solve: Rebuild the frame (said to + listener, comma, quotes), drop the connector, step the tense UP one rung (had + V3 → V2, would → will, had to → must), reverse the pronouns (told me he → 'I'), and restore question order and the ? for questions. Universal truths need no un-shift.
Example: Select the direct form: 'He asked me if I was hungry.'
He said to me, 'Are you hungry?' — if dissolves into an auxiliary-led question, was steps back to are, I returns to you, and the question mark returns.
Reporting verb choice: say vs tell and tone verbs
commonOptions that keep said to, drop the listener after told, or swap the tone verb (requested vs ordered vs advised) while the tenses are identical.
How to solve: said to + person → told + person (tell never takes to, say never takes a listener). Then match the tone: please → requested; command → ordered; advice → advised; suggestion → suggested; Hurrah/Alas → exclaimed with joy/sorrow. A present frame (says/has said) freezes the quote's tense.
Example: Select the indirect form: 'She said to me, "I am very busy today."'
She told me that she was very busy that day — said to me must become told me; keeping 'said to me that...' is the planted fault, as is an objectless 'told that...'
Backshift ladder and the no-shift exceptions
very commonOptions differing only in the verb phrase (was learning / had been learning / is learning) or a universal truth offered with rose instead of rises.
How to solve: One rung down for a past frame: present → past, past → past perfect, past continuous → past perfect continuous, will/can/may → would/could/might, must (duty) → had to. Refuse both neighbours: the untouched present (half-backshift) and the double-step past perfect (over-backshift). Exceptions: universal truths, present reporting verbs, and frozen forms (would rather, used to, could have) do not move.
Example: Select the indirect form: 'The teacher said, "The earth revolves around the sun."'
The teacher said that the earth revolves around the sun — a universal truth keeps the present even inside said; 'revolved' is the classic planted backshift.
Pronoun and time-word mapping (SONA + the time table)
very commonOptions differing only in pronouns (to me / to you / to him) or in the time word (tomorrow vs the next day; ago vs before) — often paired with a shifted or unshifted verb.
How to solve: SONA: first person follows the reporter, second person follows the listener, third person never changes — and track gender before his/her. Time table: tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the previous day, ago → before, now → then, today → that day, next → the following, last → the previous; this → that, here → there, come → go. Tense and time words must move together — a half-shift is always the planted option.
Example: Select the indirect form: 'He said, "The minister will visit our town tomorrow."'
He said that the minister would visit our town the next day — will and tomorrow move as a pair; shifting only one is the standard decoy.