DIRECT and INDIRECT SPEECH

Direct Speech refers to reproducing another person’s exact words or saying exactly what someone has said (sometimes called quoted speech). We use quotation marks (“______________”) and it should be word for word.

For example:

                   He said, “She is beautiful.”

                                      Or

                   “She is beautiful.” he 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 and 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.

Here are the backshift of tense.

From	To
Simple present	Simple past
Simple past Present perfect Past perfect	Past perfect
Will	Would
Am/are/is	Was/were
Was/were Had been Has been	Had been

Here are the shifting of time signals.

This (evening)	That (evening)
Today/this day	That day
These (days)	Those (days)
Now	Then
Yesterday	The day before/the previous weekend
(a week) ago	(a week) before
Last weekend	the weekend before/the previous weekend
Here	There
Next(week)	The following (week)
Tomorrow	The next/following day

There are three kinds of indirect speech, i.e. statements, questions, and imperative sentences.

A.    Statements

Direct speech	Indirect speech
(Present Tense): The students go to the library once a day	(Past Tense): The students went to the library once day
(Present Continuous Tense): The students are reading books now	(Past Continuous Tense): The students were reading books then
(Past Tense): The students borrowed books last week	(Past Perfect Tense): The students had borrowed books the previous week
(Present Perfect Tense): The students have returned the books	(Past Perfect Tense): The students had returned the books
(Future Tense): The students will borrow novels tomorrow	(Future Tense): The students would borrow novels the following day
The girls say, "We like reading teen magazines."	The girls say that they like reading teen magazines.
Woody says, "I am on my way home."	Woody says that he is on his way home.
Riana says, " I can do this myself."	Riana says that she can do that herself.

B.    Questions

If you put a question into indirect speech, there are some steps which are similar to statements: changing of the person, backshift of tenses, and changing of expressions of time.

In indirect speech, there is no question anymore, the sentences becomes a statement. That’s why, the word order is: subject – verb.

Direct speech	Indirect speech
Peter asked me, "Do you play football?"	Peter asked me whether I played football.
Peter asked me, "When do you play football?"	Peter asked me when I play football.

 

C.    Command

If you put Command into indirect speech, you remain changing of the person, backshift of tenses and changing of expressions of time. The form is mostly: to or not to + imperative.

Direct speech	Indirect speech
Mother said to me, "Turn off the TV and prepare yourself."	Mother told me to turn off the TV an prepare myself
Nollan said to me, "Don't go anywhere after to have done our homework."	Nollan told me not to go anywhere after I had done my homework