Direct & Indirect Speeches

Direct & Indirect Speeches

Direct Speech refers to reproducing another person ’ s exact words /  saying exactly what some 1 has said ( sometimes called quoted speech ) .

We use quotation marks ( “ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ” ) & it should be word for word .

For example :

Nicky said , “ It ’ s hot ” .

/

“ It ’ s hot , ” Nicky said .

Indirect speech refers to reproducing the idea of another person ’ s words that doesn ’ t use quotation marks to enclose what the person said & it doesn ’ t have to be word for word .

Indirect speech is sometimes called reported speech .

The tense usually changes when reporting speech . This is because we are usually talking about a time in the past and obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past .

The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too .

Note : The reporting verbs that are usually used to report imperative sentences are : Tell , order , command , ask , warn , remind

Don ’ t forget to mention the indirect object . Father warned me not to drive fast .

For example :

Direct speech Indirect speech

Present simple Past simple

Vita said , “ I eat fried rice ” . Vita said that she ate fried rice .

Past simple Past Perfect

Mother said , “ I went to market yesterday ” . Mother said ( that ) she had gone to market the day before .

Future simple Past Future

Lea said , “ I am going to wash my clothes ” . Lea said ( that ) she was going to wash her clothes .

Dave said , “ I will buy an I - Pod next week ” . Dave said ( that ) he would buy an I - Pod the week after .

Present continuous Past continuous

Gama said , “ I am playing football ” . Gama said he was playing football .

Past continuous Past perfect continuous

She said , “ I was teaching earlier . ” She said she had been teaching earlier .

          When we want to report what someone said , we do not usually repeat their exact words , we use our words . We can use reporting verbs , such as tell , say , ask followed by ‘ that – clause ’ .

Example : My mother said that she got up at 4 o ’ clock .

       When reporting verbs is in the Present , Present Perfect , / Future , there is no change of tense in the words reported .

Example : She will tell you

She says ( that ) she doesn ’ t know .

She has just said

In time expressions & pronouns

Direct speech	Indirect speech
Now Today / tonight Yesterday Tomorrow Last week Next week Ago	Then That day / that night The day before / the previous day The next / following day The previous week The following week / the week after Before
This / these Here Pronouns	That / those There They change according to the context

Sometimes we need to report someone ’ s questions . The reported question are introduced with the verb ask , inquire , wonder , want to know , etc .

Type	Form	Examples
Yes - No questions	Ask + if / whether + subject + verb Wonder etc .	“ Do you speak English ? ” - He wondered if I spoke English .
Wh-questions	Ask + question word + subject + verb Wonder etc .	“ What are you watching ? ” - She asked what I am watching .