Direct & Indirect Speech
🔒 Log in to trackExam strategy: the four-check protocol
🔒 Log in to trackEvery narration item changes the quote in exactly four dimensions. Check them in order — each wrong option in the paper fails exactly one:
- Reporting verb + connective. Tone-fit verb (asked/told/ordered/requested/exclaimed); that / if / wh-word connective. Kills options with 'said me', 'asked that' (for yes/no), missing if.
- Tense. Backshift by the ladder — unless the quote is a universal truth or the reporting verb is present. Kills options with unchanged or over-shifted tenses.
- Pronouns. SONA sweep: speaker, listener, unchanged third. Kills options where I/me/you/he are tangled.
- Time/place words. yesterday → the previous day, tomorrow → the next day, here → there, this → that, now → then. Kills options that leave 'today' stranded in reported speech.
Both directions appear: direct→indirect dominates (3 of 4 items), but indirect→direct appears in every 4th shift or so — run the same four checks backwards (restore quotes, comma and question order, un-backshift past perfect to past simple, restore today/yesterday).
Daily plan: 10 conversions a day alternating statement/question/command types, written by hand. In a week the four checks run in parallel; in two, narration is a free mark. Tier 1 carries two narration items; Tier 2 carries more, often inside error-spotting.
Detailed notes
The four-check protocol (run it in this order)
- Connector: that / if-whether / the wh-word / to + V1 — must match the sentence type, and there must be exactly one.
- Reporting verb: said to + listener → told/asked; the tone must match (requested vs ordered vs advised vs exclaimed vs suggested).
- Tense ladder: one rung down for a past frame; past perfect stays; universal truths stay; would/could/might/should/used to freeze.
- Pronouns + time/place: SONA mapping; the tomorrow→the next day family; this→that, here→there.
Work in this order because connector faults are the cheapest to see — you can kill two options in five seconds without reading a verb. In a well-set item every wrong option breaks exactly one check, so name the check that killed it.
Reverse conversion (indirect → direct)
- Put the reporting verb back with its comma and quotes: told me → said to me, '...'
- Remove the connector: that disappears; if/whether becomes an auxiliary-led question (Are you...?); the wh-word stays but question order returns.
- Step the tense back UP one rung: had + V3 → V2; was + V-ing → is/am + V-ing; would → will; could → can; had to → must.
- Reverse the pronouns (SONA backwards): told me he → 'I'; told her that she → 'you'.
- Restore the final punctuation: ? for questions, ! for exclamations.
Told the students that the earth revolves around the sun → said to the students, 'The earth revolves around the sun.' Note the universal truth did not need un-shifting — that is exactly why the exam picks it.
Planted faults, ranked by how often they appear
- Statement order broken: asked if was he coming.
- Half-backshift: said that he is busy.
- Tense shifted but the time word left behind: would visit tomorrow.
- told with no object, or requested to the doctor.
- Connector stacking: asked that why, told that to come.
- Stray punctuation: a reported question still ending in a question mark.
- Wrong tone verb: please keyed as ordered; Hurrah keyed as sorrow.
The 25-second routine
Read the direct sentence and name its TYPE before touching the options — statement, yes/no, wh, command, request, exclamation. Pre-write the skeleton in your head: asked if + was... or ordered + object + not to.... Then match options against the skeleton, one check at a time, first match to all four checks wins. Ten items a day for a week makes the ladder automatic; after that the section is free marks.
Quick revision
- Four checks in order: connector → reporting verb → tense ladder → pronouns/time.
- Reverse: quotes and comma back, connector out, tense up one rung, pronouns back, punctuation restored.
- Top faults: inverted order after the connector, half-backshift, time word left behind, object-less told, double connector, stray question mark.
- Name the sentence TYPE first; pre-write the skeleton; then read the options.
- Every wrong option breaks exactly one check — name it and move on.
Types of questions asked
Every way this subtopic shows up in exams — how to recognise it, the formula or logic to use, and a solved example.
Type 1: Four-check elimination on a full itemvery common2 practice Q
A straightforward statement item where each wrong option fails a different check — one keeps said to, one skips the backshift, one keeps yesterday.
- Connector first: told + listener + that is mandatory for a statement with a named listener.
- Tense ladder: every verb steps one rung (was → had been).
- Time words: yesterday → the previous day.
- Pronouns: SONA (I → he, my → his/her).
Why it works: running the checks in a fixed order turns a four-way comparison into four yes/no questions, each settled in a glance.
Example: Select the indirect form: The manager said to the clerk, 'You were absent yesterday.'
The manager told the clerk that he had been absent the previous day. — told (not said to); were → had been; yesterday → the previous day; you → he. Each wrong option drops exactly one of these.
Type 2: Reverse conversion (indirect to direct)common2 practice Q
The stem is already reported and the options are direct quotes; they differ in quotes/comma, in the un-shift, and in question order.
- Rebuild the frame: said to + listener, comma, quotes.
- Drop the connector; for reported questions, restore auxiliary-first order and the question mark.
- Step the tense up one rung (had + V3 → V2; would → will); frozen forms (revolves for a truth) stay.
- Reverse the pronouns before closing the quote.
Why it works: the direct form must reproduce what the speaker plausibly said — every reported-layer word (that, had, would) has to dissolve back.
Example: Select the direct form: The teacher told the students that the earth revolves around the sun.
The teacher said to the students, 'The earth revolves around the sun.' — quotes return, that vanishes, and the universal truth keeps its present. 'That the earth...' left inside quotes is the planted fault.
Type 3: Connector-stacking and modal-question faultscommon2 practice Q
Polite questions (Shall I...?, Could you...?) reported with that if, or with the modal kept as will/can.
- Shall I...? (seeking instruction) → asked + if + should/might + V1; Could you...? → asked + if + could + V1.
- Exactly one connector; now/then-type shifts ride along (now → then).
- The modal must step down (will → would, can → could), never stay put and never leap to must.
Why it works: polite-question items stack three checks at once — connector, modal, time word — so each option fails a different one.
Example: Select the indirect form: The clerk said to the manager, 'Shall I close the register now?'
The clerk asked the manager if he should close the register then. — Shall I → if he should; now → then. 'That if' stacks connectors; 'if he will close' skips the modal shift.
Type 4: Statement-order and punctuation sweepcommon2 practice Q
Wh-question items where two options share every word but one inverts the auxiliary (when would the rains vs when the rains would) or keeps a final question mark.
- After the wh-word, demand subject + verb: asked when the rains WOULD come.
- Kill inverted orders (when would the rains come) instantly.
- Sweep the final character: a reported question ends in a full stop, never a question mark.
Why it works: order and punctuation faults are invisible when reading for meaning, so they must be checked mechanically, word-position by word-position.
Example: Select the indirect form: The child asked her mother, 'When will the rains come?'
The child asked her mother when the rains would come. — will steps to would and moves AFTER the subject; the question mark becomes a full stop. Both faults sit in the decoys.
Type 5: Modal + time-word double checkcommon2 practice Q
Items where the quote carries a modal (may, could have) AND a time word (next week, yesterday); wrong options fix one and forget the other.
- Handle the modal first: may → might; could have stays could have (frozen).
- Handle the time word second: next week → the following week; yesterday → the previous day.
- Verify BOTH moved — the partial-shift option is the planted trap.
Why it works: setters split the shift across two dimensions; candidates who check only the tense fall for the untouched time word.
Example: Select the indirect form: The coach said, 'The trials may be postponed till next week.'
The coach said that the trials might be postponed till the following week. — may → might AND next week → the following week. Either shift alone is the planted half-answer.
Shortcut tricks
⚡ One-fault elimination
Name the fault of each wrong option — verb, tense, pronoun or time-word. If you can't name a fault, look again; if two options share none, you've misjudged the tone verb.
⚡ Reverse-mode anchors
Indirect→direct: the phrase 'the previous day' signals quotes needed with 'yesterday'; 'asked if' signals a yes/no question with inverted order and dummy 'do' if present tense returns.
⚡ Written drill
Narration lives in punctuation and word order — practise on paper, never orally; the hand catches what the ear forgives.
Where students lose marks
Running checks out of order and fixing tense while leaving 'said me' intact.
Un-backshifting 'had seen' to 'had seen' in direct speech (it must become saw).
Forgetting the comma and quotes in indirect→direct answers.
Assuming every tense shifts — the truth-sentence exception costs a mark when ignored.
Practice sets — 12 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Each answer comes with a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 12 questions
Suggested time 8 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.