direct & indirect speech Topic-wise Practice Test, Examples With Solutions & More Shortcuts

Direct & Indirect Speech - Definition, Rules, Types, How to Change, Practice  MCQs with Solved Examples PDF

Jan 02, 2022, By Careericons

Grammatical speech refers to how we report something another person said. Depending on how we do this, we sometimes have to inflect (change the form of) the verbs that we use.

Speech is divided into two main types:

1. Direct speech, and
2. Indirect speech (also known as Reported speech)

What is "Direct Speech"?

Direct speech is a report of the exact or actual words used by a speaker or writer or the first person. Direct Speech is also called "Direct Discourse".

In a sentence, Direct speech is placed inside quotation marks and accompanied by a reporting verb, signal phrase, or quotative frame. It is sometimes known as quoted speech.

Note: American English uses double quotation marks (“ ”), while British English typically uses single quotation marks (‘ ’).

Examples:

1. He says, "I go for a walk every morning."
2. I said to my friend, "Can I borrow your car for one day?"
3. “When will I be able to vote?” I asked my father.
4. “Let’s give a party", said Jaya. “Let’s not," said her husband.
5. The teacher said to John, “Would you like to go on a trip to Canada ?” John said, “Yes"

For further more MCQs based on Direct & Indirect Speech click the below-given link,

What is "Indirect Speech"?

Indirect speech is speech that tells you what someone said but does not use the person's actual words

To write an Indirect speech sentence, We have to use reporting verbs like,

1. to ask,
2. to say,
3. to tell, and
4. that.

By using the above-given reporting verbs, We have to describe the content that was said or the context has to be reported to another person.

Examples:

1. He told us that they had visited their uncle the last week.
2. Nelson says he is not so keen to see that film.
3. He asked her how often she worked.
4. Ram told her son to do the exercise daily.
5. My mother said that she had found a new job.

Direct & Indiect Speech based MCQs are frequently asked & vaery important topic in many national-level Government exams such as IBPS PO, IBPS SO, IBPS CLERK, SBI PO, UPSC, CAPF, CDS, RRB, SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, SSC MTS etc.

For further more MCQs based on Direct & Indirect Speech click the below-given link,

What is "Reporting verbs"?

A reporting verb is a word that is used to talk about or report on what other people are doing or had done.

Reporting verbs are used in both direct and indirect speech. The most common of which are say and tell.

When we use to tell, we need to use another person’s name or a personal pronoun as an indirect object. Other reporting verbs include asking, instruct, explain, mention, suggest, claim, and many more.

Also, read this related articles,

• What are the different types of reporting verbs & explain with suitable examples?

Refer: General English topics syllabus-wise study materials & practice MCQ PDF for SSC IBPS RRB Exams