Direct speech and Indirect speech : 2015

There two ways to convey a message of a person, or the words spoken by a person to other person.

1. Direct speech

2. Indirect speech

Direct speech (Quoted Speech) is when we report what someone says by repeating the exact words.

Example

She said, “I am in the kitchen.”

He said, “My father is very ill.”

Indirect speech (Reported Speech) is when we give the same meaning of what someone says without repeating the exact words.

Example

She said that her dress was beautiful.

He told me that I had a beautiful wife.

How to change direct speech into indirect speech

1. Remove Quotation Marks (“…”) and comma (,)

Example

Direct speech: He says, “I like you.”

Indirect speech: He says that he likes me.

2. Change introducing verb

Direct speech	into	Indirect speech
says		says that
say to		tell
said		said that
said to		told

Example

Direct speech: He said, “I am very hungry.”

Indirect speech: He said that he was very hungry.

3. Change personal pronoun

Direct speech	Indirect speech
I	he/she
me	him/her
my	his/her
mine	his/hers
myself	himself/herself
we	They
us	Them
our	Their
ours	Theirs
ourselves	themselves
you	I/me
your	My
yours	Mine
yourself	Myself
yourselves	Ourselves

Example

Direct speech: He said “My father is very healthy.”

Indirect speech: He said that his father was very healthy

4. Change tense

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)

Example

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.

Note! There is no change to; could, would,should, might and ought to.

Direct speech	Indirect speech
"I might go to the cinema", he said.	He said he might go to the cinema.

You can use the present tense in reported speech if you want to say that something is still true i.e. my name has always been and will always be Lynne so:-

Direct speech	Indirect speech
"My name is Lynne", she said.	She said her name was Lynne. or She said her name is Lynne.

You can also use the present tense if you are talking about a future event.

Direct speech (exact quote)	Indirect speech (not exact)
Next week's lesson is on reported speech", she said.	She said next week's lesson will be on reported speech.

5. Change time

If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the time of reporting.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
this these now here ago tonight today last night yesterday last month last week next week tomorrow	that those then, at that time there before that night that day the night before the day before, the previous day the month before the week before the following week the following day, the next day