English Teaching: Direct & Indirect Speech

DIRECT AND INDIRECT (REPORTED) SPEECH You can answer the question "What did he/she say?" in two ways: l) by repeating the words spoken (direct speech) 2) by reporting the words spoken (indirect or reported speech). DIRECT SPEECH: In direct speech you repeat the actual exact words that the speaker says/said. Put quotation marks (“ ”) before and after the speaker's statement. She said , “ My name's Stella.” (comma, quotation marks, capital letter, full stop inside quotation marks)

The speaker's statement always starts with a capital letter. She said can go before or after the statement, but is separated from it by a comma. We may be reporting something that's being said NOW (for example a telephone conversation), or telling someone later about a previous conversation. Examples: She says "What time will you be home?" She said "What time will you be home?" and I said "I don't know! " REPORTED SPEECH: In indirect speech we do not use speech marks and often we do not repeat word for word what someone has said but rather retransmit or convey the meaning of what they have said. This can be very useful for example if I have just had a conversation and someone asked what we were talking about. I might very well find it very hard to repeat word for word what was said. However, I could quite easily explain what was talked about and what was and wasn’t said in my own words. Other examples were indirect or reported speech are common are in news reports. For example a politician gives a long speech that covers many topics. However, the news report needs to sum this up in many less words e.g. Tony Blair said that Gordon Brown was making a hash of the economy and wouldn’t it be great if he was back in power. He said that………….. It has been reported………. It is assumed that…………….. We use REPORTING or INTRODUCTORY VERBS like 'say', 'tell','ask', and we may use the word 'that' to introduce the reported words. Inverted commas are not used. She said, "I saw him." > She said that she had seen him. a. 'That' may be omitted: She told him that she was happy.

She told him she was happy.

b. 'Say' and 'tell': Use 'say' when there is no indirect object: He said that he was tired. Say something to somebody say is usually used without a personal pronoun or object. It can be used with direct speech, but cannot be used to report commands or questions. Always use 'tell' when you say who was being spoken to: He told me that he was tired. Tell somebody something tell is often followed by a personal direct object. It's only used in direct speech if we are giving information, an instruction or a command. It's used to report commands, and cannot be used to report questions. c. 'Talk' and 'speak' are used:

- to describe the action of communicating: He talked to us.

REPORTED SPEECH

1

She was speaking on the telephone. -with 'about' to refer to what was said: He talked (to us) about his parents. SUMMARY OF REPORTING VERBS Note that some reporting verbs may appear in more than one of the following groups. 1. Verbs followed by 'if' or 'whether' + clause: ask know remember say see 2. Verbs followed by a that-clause: add admit agree announce answer argue claim comment complain confirm consider deny doubt explain insist mention persuade remember repeat reply report say state suggest tell think 3. Verbs followed by either a that-clause or a to-infinitive: decide expect hope promise swear threaten 4. Verbs followed by a that-clause containing should (but note that it may be omitted, leaving a subject + zeroinfinitive): advise beg demand insist prefer propose recommend request suggest 5. Verbs followed by a clause starting with a question word: decide describe discuss explain forget guess imagine know learn realise remember reveal say see suggest teach tell think understand wonder 6. Verbs followed by object + to-infinitive advise ask beg command forbid instruct invite teach tell warn STUCTURE It has two parts: a main clause includes the reporting verb, and a subordinate clause or to-infinitive clause. I told him he should do it. The reporting verb is in a present tense when the words are repeated at the moment of saying or thinking them, or when it is usually said by someone. There are no changes in tenses. He says he will finish the work now. Reported speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense of the words spoken. He said he would finish the work then. CHANGES: verb /subject – object pronouns / possessives / time and place adverbs (see Grammar Bank) You (2nd person pronouns or adj.) usually changes to I /We (1st person pronouns or adj.) STATEMENTS (positive or negative sentences) Usually “say” and a “that-clause” (or: see above) That is generally omitted, but not after answer, argue, explain, reply. QUESTIONS Types of questions: * starting by wh-word (if the reporting verb is in the past, the changes are those for statements) * yes/no question: if (more common), whether (emphasis on the decision between two options) are used. Indirect question:

Question mark and auxiliary verb disappear.

Subject-verb order (as in a statement).

Wh-words are kept. Common introductory verbs: ask, inquire, wonder, want to know She asked, “When do they arrive?” > She wanted to know when they arrived She asked, “Are you going to wait for them? ” > She wanted to know if I was going to wait for them.

REPORTED SPEECH

2