Direct Speech / Quoted Speech
Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (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 / Reported Speech
Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech), doesn't use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn't have to be word for word.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.
For example:
| Direct speech | Indirect speech |
|---|---|
| "I'm going to the cinema", he said. | He said he was going to the cinema. |
Tense change
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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple She said, "It's cold." | › | Past simple She said it was cold. |
| Present continuous She said, "I'm teaching English online." | › | Past continuous She said she was teaching English online. |
| Present perfect simple She said, "I've been on the web since 1999." | › | Past perfect simple She said she had been on the web since 1999. |
| Present perfect continuous She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years." | › | Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching English for seven years. |
| Past simple She said, "I taught online yesterday." | › | Past perfect She said she had taught online yesterday. |
| Past continuous She said, "I was teaching earlier." | › | Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching earlier. |
| Past perfect She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived." | › | Past perfect NO CHANGE - She said 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 she'd already been teaching for five minutes. |
Modal verb forms also sometimes change:
| Direct speech | Indirect speech | |
|---|---|---|
| will She said, "I'll teach English online tomorrow." | › | would She said she would teach English online tomorrow. |
| can She said, "I can teach English online." | › | could She said she could teach English online. |
| must She said, "I must have a computer to teach English online." | › | had to She said 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. |
Exercisess
Change the following sentences from direct speech to indirect speech :
1. Direct speech : David : "There is an excellent band playing later on."
2. Direct speech : Christine : "I saw Amy at the bank on Monday."
3. Direct speech : The driver : "I'm going to turn right at the traffic lights."
4. Direct speech : Jonathan: "I've returned the dictionary to the library".
5. Direct speech : The doctor : "I'll send you the results as soon as they arrive."
6. Direct speech : Caroline : "Will you come to my party on Saturday?"
7. Direct speech : Shop assistant: "Are you looking for something special?"
8. Direct speech : Jack : "I'll lend you my grammar book if you think it will help.
9. Direct speech : Jane : "I play tennis every Saturday."
10. Direct speech : John : "i'm going to the mall"
The Answers
1. Reported Speech : David said there was an excellent bank playing later on.
2. Reported Speech : Christine said she had seen Amy at the bank on Monday.
3. Reported Speech : The driver said he was going to turn right at the traffic lights.
4. Reported Speech : Jonathan said he had returned the dictionary to the library.
5. Reported Speech : The doctor said he would send me/us the results
as soon as they arrived.
6. Reported Speech : Caroline asked (me) if I would come to her party on Saturday.
as soon as they arrived.
6. Reported Speech : Caroline asked (me) if I would come to her party on Saturday.
7. Reported Speech : The shop assistant asked if I was looking for something special.
8. Reported Speech : Jack said he would lend me his grammar book
if I thought it would help.
if I thought it would help.
9. Reported Speech : Jane said she played tennis every Saturday.
10. Reported Speech : John said he was going to the mall.
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