Direct And Indirect Speech
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HERALD CITI SCHOOL
Direct and Indirect (or reported) speech There are two ways in which we can report what someone has said: •
Direct speech:
Sara said, “I don’t eat beef.”
•
Indirect speech:
Sara said that she did not beef.
February 25th I’m going home
March 4th Direct speech She said, “I’m going home”.
Indirect speech She said (that) she was going home.
One way of reporting what someone has said is to repeat their actual words. 'I don't know much about music,' Jameel said. A sentence like this is called a direct structure. Instead of repeating Jameel’s words, the writer could have said, 'Jameel said that she didn't know much about music'. This is called an Indirect or Reported structure. In Direct speech: • We repeat the original speaker's exact words. • Direct speech is sometimes called quoted speech. • In this case what a person says appears within quotation marks. He said, 'I have lost my umbrella.'
In Indirect speech: Developed by: English Faculty
1
HERALD CITI SCHOOL • We don’t use quotation marks to enclose what a person said and it doesn’t have to be word for word. • Indirect speech is sometimes called reported speech. • We often omit that after say and tell, but keep it after other reporting verbs such as explain, complain, etc. She explained that she was angry.
One guest said, ‘The food is excellent.’
One guest said that the food was excellent.
BASIC RULES When changing from quoted speech to reported speech, several changes occur. 1. 2.
3. 4.
In all sentences, the quotation marks and the comma immediately before the first quotation mark are removed. Next, the word "that" is usually inserted after the reporting verb (Accused, Admitted, Advised, Alleged, Agreed, Apologised, Begged, Boasted, Complained, Denied, Explained, Implied, Invited, Offered, Ordered, promised, Replied, Suggested and Thought. Ask, Told, etc.) Then, the subject pronoun is changed so that the meaning of the quote is not changed. Lastly, the tense of the verb is changed, or shifted.
• She said, "I'm teaching English online." • She said she was teaching English online.
1. Tense changes a. Basic tense changes As a rule when you report something someone has said you go back a tense (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right): Direct speech
Indirect speech Developed by: English Faculty
2
HERALD CITI SCHOOL Present simple She said, "It's cold."
Past simple She said that it was cold.
Present continuous She said, "I'm teaching English online."
Past continuous She said that she was teaching English online.
Present perfect simple She said, "I've been in UK since 1999."
Past perfect simple She said that she had been in UK since 1999.
Present perfect continuous She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years."
Past perfect continuous She said that she had been teaching English for seven years.
Past simple She said, "I taught online yesterday."
Past perfect She said that she had taught online yesterday.
Past continuous She said, "I was teaching earlier."
Past perfect continuous She said that she had been teaching earlier.
Past perfect She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived."
Past perfect NO CHANGE - She said that the lesson had already started when he arrived.
Past perfect continuous She said, "I'd already been teaching for five minutes."
Past perfect continuous NO CHANGE - She said that she'd already been teaching for five minutes.
b. Other tense changes Modal verb forms also sometimes change: Direct speech Indirect speech Will Would She said, "I'll teach English online She said that she would teach English online tomorrow." tomorrow. Can She said, "I can teach English online."
Could She said that she could teach English online.
Must She said, "I must have a computer to teach English online."
Had to She said that she had to have a computer to teach English online.
Shall She said, "What shall we learn today?"
Should She asked what we should learn today.
May She said, "May I open a new browser?"
Might She asked if she might open a new browser. Developed by: English Faculty
3
HERALD CITI SCHOOL 2. Time and place changes Time and place references often have to change: • If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the time of reporting. Direct speech Reported speech here this week/month/year now today tonight tomorrow the day after tomorrow
there that week/month/year then that day that night the next/following day in two days’ time/two days later
yesterday the day before yesterday three days ago next Monday last Monday
the day before/the previous day two days before/earlier three days before/earlier the following Monday the previous Monday
Possible Changes: •
Tense of Verb changes.
He said, “I love you” He said (that) he loved me. •
Order of Verbs changes
Mum says, “Why aren’t you at school?” Mum wants to know why you aren’t at school. •
Pronoun changes
In reported speech, the pronoun often changes. For example: Me "I teach English online."
•
You She said she teaches English online.
Time words or phrases changes
Peter said, “I’m seeing the doctor tomorrow”. Peter said (that) he was seeing the doctor the following day. Tense of Verb changes: Direct speech • Present simple ‘I like peaches’.
Reported speech Past simple He said he liked peaches. Developed by: English Faculty
4
HERALD CITI SCHOOL • Present continuous ‘Is it raining?’
Past continuous He asked if it was raining.
• Past simple ‘I didn’t recognize you’.
Past simple / Past Perfect She explained that she hadn’t recognized /didn’t recognize me.
• Past continuous ‘I was joking about the price.’
Past perfect continuous He said he had been joking) about theprice.
• Past perfect Past perfect ‘I hadn’t seen her before that day.’You said you hadn’t seen her before that day. • shall / will ‘We’ll be late.’
should / would I told him we’d be late.
• can, may ‘I can swim.’
could, might She thought she could swim.
• must ‘I must go.’
must or had to He said he must / had to go.
Reporting questions Two kinds of questions 1. Yes / No questions ‘Are you leaving?’ he said. aux s
v
He wanted to know if / whether I was leaving. s aux
v
2. Wh-questions ‘Where is the President staying?’ the reporter said. Wh-word aux
s
v
The reporter asked where the President was staying. Wh-word
s
aux
v Developed by: English Faculty
5
HERALD CITI SCHOOL
Reported questions • • • •
•
tenses, determiners, pronouns, etc. change in the same way as in reported statements in reported questions, we use the introductory verbs asked, wondered, wanted to know, tried to find out, etc. instead of said, tell, etc. After asked, we need an object (asked me, asked Tony, asked the time, asked the way to Sai Kung, etc.) the interrogative word order (verb + subject) changes to the affirmative word order (subject + verb) and the sentence ends with a full stop, not a question mark if a direct question begins with a question word (who, what, how, etc.), the question word is kept in the reported question “Where do you live?” the policeman asked the boy. The policeman asked the boy where he lived. if there is no question word, we normally use if or whether “Do you like my dress?” she asked Tony. She asked Tony if/whether he liked her dress.
Reported commands, requests, advice, etc we often report orders, requests, warnings, advice and invitations by using the structure verb + object + to-infinitive positive imperative tell + infinitive Shut up! He told me to shut up. •
negative imperative Don't do that again! imperatives as requests Please give me some money.
tell + not + infinitive He told me not to do it again. ask + infinitive He requested me to give him some money.
Developed by: English Faculty
6
HERALD CITI SCHOOL
Developed by: English Faculty
7
Direct and Indirect (or reported) speech There are two ways in which we can report what someone has said: •
Direct speech:
Sara said, “I don’t eat beef.”
•
Indirect speech:
Sara said that she did not beef.
February 25th I’m going home
March 4th Direct speech She said, “I’m going home”.
Indirect speech She said (that) she was going home.
One way of reporting what someone has said is to repeat their actual words. 'I don't know much about music,' Jameel said. A sentence like this is called a direct structure. Instead of repeating Jameel’s words, the writer could have said, 'Jameel said that she didn't know much about music'. This is called an Indirect or Reported structure. In Direct speech: • We repeat the original speaker's exact words. • Direct speech is sometimes called quoted speech. • In this case what a person says appears within quotation marks. He said, 'I have lost my umbrella.'
In Indirect speech: Developed by: English Faculty
1
HERALD CITI SCHOOL • We don’t use quotation marks to enclose what a person said and it doesn’t have to be word for word. • Indirect speech is sometimes called reported speech. • We often omit that after say and tell, but keep it after other reporting verbs such as explain, complain, etc. She explained that she was angry.
One guest said, ‘The food is excellent.’
One guest said that the food was excellent.
BASIC RULES When changing from quoted speech to reported speech, several changes occur. 1. 2.
3. 4.
In all sentences, the quotation marks and the comma immediately before the first quotation mark are removed. Next, the word "that" is usually inserted after the reporting verb (Accused, Admitted, Advised, Alleged, Agreed, Apologised, Begged, Boasted, Complained, Denied, Explained, Implied, Invited, Offered, Ordered, promised, Replied, Suggested and Thought. Ask, Told, etc.) Then, the subject pronoun is changed so that the meaning of the quote is not changed. Lastly, the tense of the verb is changed, or shifted.
• She said, "I'm teaching English online." • She said she was teaching English online.
1. Tense changes a. Basic tense changes As a rule when you report something someone has said you go back a tense (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right): Direct speech
Indirect speech Developed by: English Faculty
2
HERALD CITI SCHOOL Present simple She said, "It's cold."
Past simple She said that it was cold.
Present continuous She said, "I'm teaching English online."
Past continuous She said that she was teaching English online.
Present perfect simple She said, "I've been in UK since 1999."
Past perfect simple She said that she had been in UK since 1999.
Present perfect continuous She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years."
Past perfect continuous She said that she had been teaching English for seven years.
Past simple She said, "I taught online yesterday."
Past perfect She said that she had taught online yesterday.
Past continuous She said, "I was teaching earlier."
Past perfect continuous She said that she had been teaching earlier.
Past perfect She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived."
Past perfect NO CHANGE - She said that the lesson had already started when he arrived.
Past perfect continuous She said, "I'd already been teaching for five minutes."
Past perfect continuous NO CHANGE - She said that she'd already been teaching for five minutes.
b. Other tense changes Modal verb forms also sometimes change: Direct speech Indirect speech Will Would She said, "I'll teach English online She said that she would teach English online tomorrow." tomorrow. Can She said, "I can teach English online."
Could She said that she could teach English online.
Must She said, "I must have a computer to teach English online."
Had to She said that she had to have a computer to teach English online.
Shall She said, "What shall we learn today?"
Should She asked what we should learn today.
May She said, "May I open a new browser?"
Might She asked if she might open a new browser. Developed by: English Faculty
3
HERALD CITI SCHOOL 2. Time and place changes Time and place references often have to change: • If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the time of reporting. Direct speech Reported speech here this week/month/year now today tonight tomorrow the day after tomorrow
there that week/month/year then that day that night the next/following day in two days’ time/two days later
yesterday the day before yesterday three days ago next Monday last Monday
the day before/the previous day two days before/earlier three days before/earlier the following Monday the previous Monday
Possible Changes: •
Tense of Verb changes.
He said, “I love you” He said (that) he loved me. •
Order of Verbs changes
Mum says, “Why aren’t you at school?” Mum wants to know why you aren’t at school. •
Pronoun changes
In reported speech, the pronoun often changes. For example: Me "I teach English online."
•
You She said she teaches English online.
Time words or phrases changes
Peter said, “I’m seeing the doctor tomorrow”. Peter said (that) he was seeing the doctor the following day. Tense of Verb changes: Direct speech • Present simple ‘I like peaches’.
Reported speech Past simple He said he liked peaches. Developed by: English Faculty
4
HERALD CITI SCHOOL • Present continuous ‘Is it raining?’
Past continuous He asked if it was raining.
• Past simple ‘I didn’t recognize you’.
Past simple / Past Perfect She explained that she hadn’t recognized /didn’t recognize me.
• Past continuous ‘I was joking about the price.’
Past perfect continuous He said he had been joking) about theprice.
• Past perfect Past perfect ‘I hadn’t seen her before that day.’You said you hadn’t seen her before that day. • shall / will ‘We’ll be late.’
should / would I told him we’d be late.
• can, may ‘I can swim.’
could, might She thought she could swim.
• must ‘I must go.’
must or had to He said he must / had to go.
Reporting questions Two kinds of questions 1. Yes / No questions ‘Are you leaving?’ he said. aux s
v
He wanted to know if / whether I was leaving. s aux
v
2. Wh-questions ‘Where is the President staying?’ the reporter said. Wh-word aux
s
v
The reporter asked where the President was staying. Wh-word
s
aux
v Developed by: English Faculty
5
HERALD CITI SCHOOL
Reported questions • • • •
•
tenses, determiners, pronouns, etc. change in the same way as in reported statements in reported questions, we use the introductory verbs asked, wondered, wanted to know, tried to find out, etc. instead of said, tell, etc. After asked, we need an object (asked me, asked Tony, asked the time, asked the way to Sai Kung, etc.) the interrogative word order (verb + subject) changes to the affirmative word order (subject + verb) and the sentence ends with a full stop, not a question mark if a direct question begins with a question word (who, what, how, etc.), the question word is kept in the reported question “Where do you live?” the policeman asked the boy. The policeman asked the boy where he lived. if there is no question word, we normally use if or whether “Do you like my dress?” she asked Tony. She asked Tony if/whether he liked her dress.
Reported commands, requests, advice, etc we often report orders, requests, warnings, advice and invitations by using the structure verb + object + to-infinitive positive imperative tell + infinitive Shut up! He told me to shut up. •
negative imperative Don't do that again! imperatives as requests Please give me some money.
tell + not + infinitive He told me not to do it again. ask + infinitive He requested me to give him some money.
Developed by: English Faculty
6
HERALD CITI SCHOOL
Developed by: English Faculty
7
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