8th Class English Narration Indirect Speech

    Indirect Speech

When the substance or meaning of a person's speech is presented, it is called indirect Speech. In Indirect Narration or Speech, the words of speaker may be said in our own words.

•   Amit said, "I work as a civil engineer in that firm."
•   Amit said that he worked as a civil engineer in that firm.

The above given two sentences refer to the two ways of reporting the words of a speaker.

In sentence 2, the actual or exact words of the speaker are not presented. But the substance or meaning of the speech is presented. This speech is called Indirect Speech.

Points to keep in mind:

•   In Indirect Speech the words of the speaker are not put within inverted commas.
•   A conjunction is introduced after said. The comma and inverted commas are omitted.
•   The tense of the actual words of the speaker may or may not change.
•   Word denoting person used within inverted commas may or may not change.