8.5 Direct & Indirect Speech

Why Reported Speech Is a High-Yield English Topic

Candidates who have sat the PAF academic English paper report the same two item types again and again: voice change and direct/indirect speech. Coaching syllabi for the GD Pilot English paper list them side by side for the same reason — both are mechanical transformations. There is no vocabulary to memorise and no comprehension to unpack: you apply a fixed set of substitutions to a given sentence. That makes them the cheapest marks on the paper for a prepared candidate, and near-guaranteed losses for an unprepared one, because the transformations feel obvious until you are asked to make four of them at once against a 24-second clock.

Direct speech quotes the exact words a speaker used, inside inverted commas: The instructor said, "I am checking the fuel log." Indirect speech (also called reported speech) reports the same content in the reporter's own frame, with no inverted commas: The instructor said that he was checking the fuel log.

The Three Simultaneous Changes

Every conversion changes up to three things at once. Work them in this fixed order and you will not drop one.

1. Back-Shift the Tense

When the reporting verb is in the past (said, told, asked), shift the reported verb one step further back:

Note the two forms that cannot move any further back — past perfect and past perfect continuous — and the modals would, could, might, should, ought to, which are already back-shifted and stay as they are.

2. Change the Pronouns

Pronouns re-anchor to the reporter, not the original speaker. The traditional memory aid is SON: the Subject of the reporting verb governs first-person pronouns, the Object governs second-person pronouns, and third-person pronouns show No change.

• Ali said, "I have submitted my form." → Ali said that he had submitted his form.
• He said to me, "You must report at 0800." → He told me that I had to report at 0800.
• She said, "They were selected." → She said that they had been selected. (third person, unchanged)

3. Shift the Time and Place Words

Rules by Sentence Type

The connector and the reporting verb both depend on what kind of sentence you are reporting. This is where most marks are lost.

Statements

Use that as the connector. Keep said when there is no listener named; change said to into told when there is: He said to the cadet, "The sortie is cancelled." → He told the cadet that the sortie was cancelled. Writing he told that… without a listener, or he said me that…, are both marked wrong.

Questions

Change the reporting verb to asked (or enquired), and — critically — restore statement word order and delete the question mark. There are two sub-cases:

• Wh-questions keep the question word as the connector: He said, "Where is the hangar?" → He asked where the hangar was. (not where was the hangar)
• Yes/no questions take if or whether: She said, "Have you cleared the medical?" → She asked whether I had cleared the medical.

Auxiliaries do, does, did disappear in the indirect form: "Why did you leave?" → He asked why I had left — never why did I leave.

Imperatives (Orders, Requests, Advice)

Drop the connector entirely and use to + base verb, choosing a reporting verb that matches the force of the original: ordered / told for commands, requested for requests, advised for advice, forbade for prohibitions.

• The officer said, "Stand at ease." → The officer ordered them to stand at ease.
• He said, "Please check the log." → He requested me to check the log.
• Negative imperatives take not to: "Do not touch the controls." → He told me not to touch the controls.

Exclamations and Wishes

Replace the exclamation with a reporting verb that carries the emotion — exclaimed with joy / with sorrow, applauded, wished — and convert to a statement: He said, "What a magnificent aircraft!" → He exclaimed with delight that it was a magnificent aircraft. "Good morning," he said. → He wished me good morning.

When You Must NOT Back-Shift

This is the single most productive trap on the paper, because the rule looks universal and is not.

1. Universal truths and permanent facts. The instructor said, "Lift acts perpendicular to the relative airflow." → The instructor said that lift acts — not acted — perpendicular to the relative airflow. Back-shifting would falsely imply the physics has changed.
2. The reporting verb is present or future. He says, "I am ready." → He says that he is ready.
3. Fixed historical dates. He said, "Pakistan gained independence in 1947." → He said that Pakistan gained independence in 1947.
4. Habitual or still-true situations, when the reporter treats them as current: She said, "I live in Risalpur." → She said that she lives in Risalpur (if she still does).

Worked Example

The flight commander said to the cadets, "You must submit your logbooks here tomorrow, because I checked them yesterday and two are incomplete."

Work the four changes in order. Reporting verb: said to + named listener → told. Pronouns: you (object = cadets) → they; your → their; I (subject = commander) → he. Tenses: must submit → had to submit; checked → had checked; are → were. Time and place: here → there; tomorrow → the next day; yesterday → the previous day.

Result: The flight commander told the cadets that they had to submit their logbooks there the next day, because he had checked them the previous day and two were incomplete.

Traps That Cost Marks

Thirty-Second Drill

Convert each, then check: (a) He said, "I can see the runway." (b) She said to him, "Where have you kept the checklist?" (c) The NCO said, "Do not leave the hall."

Answers: (a) He said that he could see the runway. (b) She asked him where he had kept the checklist. (c) The NCO told them not to leave the hall.