Direct & Indirect speech

Direct                                                                      Indirect

1.* She said, “How tall the building is!”             She exclaimed that the building was very tall.

   *He said to me, “Please, switch off  the fan.”     He requested me to switch  off the fan.

(Reporting verbs are ‘said, told, asked, requested, exclaimed,’ etc.)


2. *I said, “ Can you repeat it again?”                  I asked if he could repeat that again.

   * She asked me, “Do you have the address?”      She asked me whether I had the address.


3.  * You said to her, “I studied in Chennai.”          You told her that you had studied in Chennai.

     * The doctor asked me, “When did  you meet me last?”          The doctor asked me when I had met him last.


4.* He says, “I am paying the bill now.”               He says that he is paying the (Reporting verb is in present tense) bill now.

   *He said, “The sun sets in the west.”                  He said that the sun sets in the (universal truth) west.



5.* I said, “I will definitely write to him.”                I said that I would definitely write to him.

   *My father said to me, “You must have some rest.”         My father told me that I must  have some rest.

(Generally modals like ‘would, should, might,’ etc., do not change.)