Direct and Indirect Speech

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)
Here what a person says appears within quotation marks ("...") and should be word for word.
For example:
She said, "Today's lesson is on presentations."
or
"Today's lesson is on presentations," she said.

•          indirect speech reproducing the idea of another person’s words that doesn’t use question mark to enclose what the person said and it doesn’t have to be word for word. Indirect speech is sometimes called reported speech

For example:

Direct speech :"I'm going to the cinema", he said.

Indirect speech : He said he was going to the cinema.

•          When reporting speech the tense usually changes. This is because when we use reported speech, we are usually talking about a time in the past (because 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 sentence are :Tell , other command , ask , warn , remind

Present simple
Past tense
direct                    : Nina said “ I eat fried rice”
indirect                 :Nina said that  she ate fried rice.

Past simple
Past perfect
direct                    :  My Grandma said “ I went to market yesterday”
indirect                  : My Grandma said (that) she had gone to market the day before.

 Future simple
Past future
direct                    : Daussaid “ I will buy an i-pod next week’
indirect                 : Daus said (that) he would buy an i-pod the week after

Present continuous
Past continuous
direct                    : Tito said “ I’m playing football”
indirect                 : Tito said he was playing football

Past continuous
Past perfect continuous
direct                    : She said “ I was teaching earlier”
indirect                  : She said she had been teaching earlier

when we want to report what someone said , we don’t usually repeat their exact words , we use our words , we can use reporting words such as tell say as follow by “that clause”
example  :
Selin said that she got up at 4 o’clock

 

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

DIRECT SPEECH	INDIRECT SPEECH
This/these Here pronouns	That/those There They changes according to the context

 

DIRECT SPEECH	INDIRECT SPEECH
shall She said, "What shall we learn today?" may She said, "May I open a new browser?"	should She asked what we should learn today. might She asked if she might open a new browser.

DIRECT SPEECH	INDIRECT SPEECH
"I might go to the cinema", he said.	He said he might go to the cinema.