Direct and Indirect Speech, and Active and Passive Voice: Class 6 Study Guide
We can report what someone said in two ways. We can also say who does an action, or put the action first.
In direct speech the speaker's exact words are in inverted commas: Meena said, "I am tired." In indirect (reported) speech we report the meaning without quotation marks: Meena said that she was tired. When the reporting verb is in the past, the tense usually moves one step back, and pronouns and time words change.
In the active voice the subject does the action (The cook made the soup). In the passive voice the action is done to the subject (The soup was made by the cook). The passive is used when the doer is unknown or less important.
Changing tense in reported speech
| Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|
| "I am busy." | He said that he was busy. |
| "I play cricket." | She said that she played cricket. |
| "I went home." | He said that he had gone home. |
| "I will help." | She said that she would help. |
Steps for indirect speech
Remove the inverted commas, add that, change the pronoun and move the tense back. Time words also change: today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, here → there. Questions: He asked, "Where do you live?" becomes He asked where I lived.
said, asked, told.
Add 'that'.
I → he/she; am → was.
tomorrow → the next day.
Active and passive voice
To make a passive sentence, move the object to the front, use a form of be plus the past participle, and (if needed) add by and the doer. Active: Ravi wrote the letter. Passive: The letter was written by Ravi. The tense of be matches the original: is written (present), was written (past), will be written (future).
Worked example and common mistakes
Example: Active: The students planted trees. Passive: Trees were planted by the students. Common mistakes: forgetting to change the pronoun, keeping the question mark in reported questions and using the wrong form of the participle (was wrote). Check that the passive sentence has the same meaning as the active one.
Check your understanding: model answers
1. Raju said that he liked mangoes. 2. A song was sung by the girl. 3. Tom broke the window.
✨ Key Takeaways
- Indirect speech has no inverted commas.
- Tense usually moves one step back.
- Passive = be + past participle.
- Passive hides or de-emphasises the doer.
💬 Questions for Discussion & Reflection
- Change to indirect: Raju said, "I like mangoes."
- Change to passive: The girl sang a song.
- Change to active: The window was broken by Tom.
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