Indirect Orders and Requests

The verb most commonly used to introduce indirect orders is ‘to tell’. ‘To order’ is also frequently used. Occasionally ‘to command’ is used. If direct speech expresses a request, ‘to ask’ is used to introduce indirect speech.

An order or request in indirect speech is expressed by an infinitive. Indirect negative order is expressed by an Infinitive with the particle ‘not’:

e.g. She said to him, “Come at five o’clock.” – She told him to come at five o’clock.

He said to me, “Don’t go there.”- She told me not to go there.

Indirect Exclamations

When exclamations are converted into indirect speech the adverbial modifiers are often used to show the character of the exclamation.

e.g. She said, “I’m so sorry! Jane is leaving us!” - She said sadly that Jane was leaving them.

She said to him, “Do you mean to say you’ve already read all the books?” - She asked in surprise if he had really read all the books.

Greetings and Leave Talking in Indirect Speech

When converting greetings and leave talking into indirect speech, we use such verbs as ‘to greet’, ‘to welcome’, etc.

e.g. She said to them, “How do you do?” – She greeted them.

He said to them, “Good night!” – He wished them good night.

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