SAT Direct and Indirect Sentences Identify, Rules, Tips with Examples

Direct Speech and Indirect Speech are of extreme importance in both spoken and written language, particularly in passing someone's words or actions. Both the methods—Direct Speech and Indirect Speech—are adopted based on the type of conversation, whether formal or informal. Direct Speech is evaded in informal situations unless used for quotation, whereas Indirect Speech is widely employed.

Direct and Indirect Speech is very crucial for U.S. competitive exams such as the SAT, ACT, and other board exams because it necessitates good grammar and communication skills in order to score high. Because it is easier to master this topic with frequent practice, students can enhance their accuracy and overall performance in the English section.

Full Mock Test

Master the SAT Exam with Real-Time Practice

Experience our adaptive mock test that simulates the actual SAT environment. Get instant feedback and detailed performance analysis.

Quick Assessment

Check Your SAT Readiness

Take our curated mini-test to gauge your current preparation level. Experience real SAT-style questions in a time-efficient format.

Text Structure and Purpose (Easy)

View

Text Structure and Purpose (Medium)

View

Words in Context (Easy)

View

Words in Context (Medium)

View

Words in Context (Hard)

View

Text Structure and Purpose (Hard)

View

Cross-Text Connections (Easy)

View

Cross-Text Connections (Medium)

View

Cross-Text Connections (Hard)

View

Command of Evidence (Easy)

View

Command of Evidence (Medium)

View

Command of Evidence (Hard)

Inferences (Easy)

Inferences (Medium)

Inferences (Hard)

Central Ideas and Details (Easy)

View

Central Ideas and Details (Medium)

View

Central Ideas and Details (Hard)

View

Rhetorical Synthesis (Easy)

View

Rhetorical Synthesis (Medium)

View

Rhetorical Synthesis (Hard)

Transitions (Easy)

Transitions (Medium)

Transitions (Hard)

Boundaries (Easy)

Boundaries (Medium)

Boundaries (Hard)

Form, Structure, and Sense (Easy)

View

Form, Structure, and Sense (Medium)

View

Form, Structure, and Sense (Hard)

View

Ratios, Rates, Proportional Relationships and Units

View

Percentages

View

One-variable data: Distributions and Measures of Center and Spread

View

Two-variable data: Models and Scatterplots

View

Probability and Conditional Probability

View

Inference from Sample Statistics and Margin of Error

View

Evaluating Statistical Claims: Observational Studies and Experiments

View

Linear Equations in One Variable

View

Linear Functions

View

Linear Equations in Two Variables

View

Systems of Two Linear Equations in Two Variables

View

Linear Inequalities in One or Two Variables

View

Nonlinear Functions

View

Nonlinear Equations in One Variable

View

Systems of Equations in Two Variables

View

Equivalent Expressions

View

Area and Volume

View

Lines, Angles, and Triangles

View

Right Triangles and Trigonometry

View

Circles

View

View All

What is Direct Speech?

Direct speech repeats or quotes the expressed or the words spoken. When we use direct speech, we place the words spoken between the quotation marks (“ First-person”). Direct speech is directly conveyed either in speech or in writing.

Examples of Direct Speech

He said, “I will work hard to succeed.” The Commander said, “We will defeat all the enemies.”

What is Indirect Speech?

Indirect speech or Reported speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense of the words spoken into. We use reporting verbs like ‘tell’, ‘say’, ‘ask’ and we can use the word ‘that’ to introduce the reported in place of (“ ”) Direct and Indirect speech also introduces the concept of ‘Reported speech’ and ‘Reported Verb’.

Examples of Indirect Speech

He said that he will work hard to succeed. The Commander said that they will defeat all the enemies.

Reported Speech and Reported Verb

Both direct and indirect speech has two parts which are complete sentences in themselves. They are:

Reported speech is more of ‘Mood/ Tone’ of a speaker. The reported speech can be Assertive/Declarative, Imperative, Interrogative, and Exclamatory.
Reported verb is the tense in which the sentence is spoken. It can be ‘Past’, ‘present’, ‘Future’.

Memory Tip:

Example: He said to me, “I will go there tomorrow.” In the above example,

Reporting verb – Who said to whom.

‘He said to me’: it is reporting verb

Reported speech –The exact words spoken, put within inverted commas “_______”.

I will go there tomorrow-: it is reported speech

How to Convert Between English Grammar Direct and Indirect Speech?

The conversion of English Grammar direct to indirect speech and vice versa are predetermined. Here’s an easy way to remember them using direct and indirect speech rules.

Rule #1

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Present Simple Tense do /does V1	Past Simple Tense did + V1 V2
Present Progressive Tense is/am/are + V4	Past Progressive Tense was /were + V4
Present Perfect Tense has /have + V3	Past Perfect Tense had + V3
Present Perfect Progressive has been /have been + V4	Past Perfect Progressive had been + V4
Past Simple Tense did + V1 V2	Past Perfect Tense had + V3
Past Perfect Tense had + V3	Past Perfect Tense had + V3
Past Perfect Progressive had been + V4	Past Perfect Progressive had been + V4
Future Simple Tense will + V1	would + V1
Future Progressive Tense will be + V4	would be + V4
Future Perfect Tense will have + V3	would have + V3
Future Perfect Progressive will have been + V4	would have been + V4

Rule #2: If the reporting verb is given in present or future tense, then there shall be no change in the tense of reported speech in direct and indirect speech rules.

Reported Verb	Reported Speech
Subject	First person (I, we) Changes according to the subject of the reported verb
Object	Second person (you) Changes according to the object of the reported verb
No Change	Third person (he, she, it, they) No change

Example:

He said,” I will go.“
“I” will change according to the subject of the reported verb that is “he”
So in place of “I“, “he” will be used for Indirect speech.

Rule #3

Learn about the direct indirect speech rules below!

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Direct and Indirect Speech examples
He had said to me, “We play.”	He had said to me that they played.
He had said to me, “We are playing.”	He had said to me that they were playing.
He had said to me, “We have played.”	He had said to me that they had played.
He had said to me, “We have been playing.”	He had said to me that they had been playing.
He had said to me, “We played.”	He had said to me that they had played.
He had said to me, “We were playing.”	He had said to me that they had been playing.
He had said to me, “We had played.”	He had said to me that they had played.
He had said to me, “We had been playing.”	He had said to me that they had been playing.

Rule #4: Changing Certain Words Direct and Indirect Speech

Use of Direct and Indirect Speech in Different Types of Sentences

Here are tips on how to use Direct and Indirect Speech in different sentences form using direct indirect rules.

Interrogative Sentences

Those sentences, which ask questions, are called interrogative sentences. Every interrogative sentence ends at a sign of interrogation.

Example:

Do you live here?
Have you ever watched the Terminator III movie?
Is it raining?

To convert interrogative sentences into Indirect Speech, follow the following rules along with the above-mentioned rules:
Reporting Verb said to is changed into asked.
If reporting speech is having reporting verb at it its start, then if is used in place of that.
If the reporting speech is having interrogative words like who, when, how, why, when then neither if is used nor any other word is added.

Full Stop is placed at the end of the sentence instead of the mark of interrogation.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Direct and Indirect Speech examples
I said to her, “When do you do your homework?”	I asked her when she did her homework.
We said to him, “Are you ill?”	We asked him if he was ill.
You said to me, “Have you read the articles?”	You asked me if I had read the article.
He said to her, “Will you go to the Peshawar Radio Station?”	He asked her if she would go to the Peshawar Radio Station.
She says, “Who is he?”	She asked who he was.
Rashid says to me, “Why are you late?”	Rashid said to me why I was late.

Exclamatory Sentence

Those sentences, which express our feelings and emotions, are called exclamatory sentences. Mark of exclamation is used at the end of an exclamatory sentence.

Example:

Hurray! We have won the match.
Alas! He failed the test.
How beautiful that dog is!
What a marvellous personality you are!

To change exclamatory sentences into Indirect Speech using direct indirect rules, follow the following rules along with the above-mentioned rules:

In case, there is an interjection i.e., alas, aha, hurray, aha etc in the reported speech, then they are omitted along with the sign of exclamation using reported speech rules.
Reporting verb i.e. said is always replaced with exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with sorrow, exclaimed joyfully, exclaimed sorrowfully or exclaimed with great wonder or sorrow.
In case, there is what or how at the beginning of the reported speech, then they are replaced with very or very great.

In an indirect sentence, the exclamatory sentence becomes an assertive sentence.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Direct and Indirect Speech examples
He said, “Hurray! I have won the match.”	He exclaimed with great joy that he had won the match.
She said, “Alas! My brother failed the test.”	She exclaimed with great sorrow that her brother had failed the test.
They said, “What a beautiful house this is!”	They exclaimed that that house was very beautiful.
I said, “How lucky I am!”	I said that I was very lucky.
You said to him, “What a beautiful drama you are writing!	You said to him in great wonder that he was writing a beautiful drama.

Optative Sentence

Those sentences, which express hope, prayer, or wish, are called optative sentences. Usually, there is a mark of exclamation at the end of an optative sentence.

Example:

May you succeed in the test!
May you get well soon!
Would that I were rich!

To change optative sentences in direct to indirect speech, follow the following rules along with the above-mentioned rules:

In case, the reported speech starts with the word may, then the reporting verb said is replaced with the word prayed.
In case, the reported speech starts with the word would, then the reporting verb said is replaced with the word wished.
May is changed to might.
Mark of exclamation is omitted.

In Indirect Speech, the optative sentences become assertive sentences.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Example:
He said to me, “May you live long!”	He prayed that I might live long.
My mother said to me, “May you succeed in the test!”	My mother prayed that I might succeed in the test.
She said, “Would that I were rich!”	She wished she were rich.
I said to him, “Would that you were here on Sunday!”	I wished he had been here on Sunday.
You said, “I pray you find your camera!”	You prayed that I might find my lost camera.

Practice Problems

Q. In the following question, a sentence is given in Direct/Indirect speech. Out of the four alternatives choose the one which best expresses the sentence in direct to indirect speech.

Akram said,” I have to carry this bag.”

Ans. The given statement is in Direct Speechand in the simple present tense. On conversion into Indirect Speech, the given sentence will become: Akram said that he had to carry that bag. When converting the statement into Indirect Speech:

the words of the speaker are not written in quotes.
usually, the word ‘that’ is used to convey the words of the speaker.
the original tense of the statement is changed accordingly.

Q. In the following question, a sentence is given in Direct/Indirect speech. Out of the four alternatives choose the one which best expresses the sentence in direct to indirect speech.

The teacher said, “Lucy is an intelligent girl.”

Ans. The given statement is in Direct Speech and the simple present tense. On conversion into Indirect Speech, the given sentence will become: The teacher said that Lucy has been an intelligent girl. When converting the statement into Indirect Speech:

the words of the speaker are not written in quotes.
usually, the word ‘that’ is used to convey the words of the speaker.
the original tense of the statement is changed accordingly.

Q. Choose the most appropriate option to change the narration (direct/indirect) of the given sentence.

Rashmi says, “My startup is doing very well.”

Ans.

The given direct form of the sentence is an assertive sentence.
While changing it into its indirect form, ‘says/said’ remains unchanged. ‘comma’ and ‘inverted commas’ are removed and is joined by the conjunction ‘that’.
The possessive adjective ‘my’ will be changed to ‘her’.
Therefore, the correct structure is, ‘Rashmi says that her startup is doing very well.’

Q. Choose the most appropriate option to change the narration (direct/indirect) of the given sentence.

Amar urged Amit to stop taking tranquillizers without consulting the doctor.

Ans. In the given sentence, the verb ‘urged’ shows that it is expressing a request.

So while converting a sentence into its indirect form, we use ‘please’, and the remaining sentence remains unchanged.
Therefore, the correct answer is ‘“Amit, please stop taking tranquillizers without consulting the doctor,” said Amar.’

Conclusion

Direct and Indirect Speech are important for proper oral word conveyance and are paramount in U.S. competitive exams such as the SAT, ACT, and AP English exams, where solid grammar and communication skills are important. Understanding these concepts through proper practice can enhance performance in the English section and enhance language capability overall, helpful for both educational and everyday use communication.

Direct and Indirect Speech FAQs

What is direct and indirect speech with examples?

Direct Speech is a directly said statement. : He said, “I want a pen.” Indirect Speech is a narration of a directly said statement: He asked for a pen.