DIRECT
AND INDIRECT SPEECH
Direct
Speech
Direct speech repeats, or quotes,
the exact words spoken. When we use direct speech in writing, we place the
words spoken between quotation marks (" ") and there is no change in
these words. 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!
"
- "There's
a fly in my soup!" screamed Simone.
- John said,
"There's an elephant outside the window."
Indirect Speech
Reported or indirect speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we
normally change the tense of the words spoken. We use reporting 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." (direct speech) = She said that
she had seen him. (indirect speech)
'That' may be omitted:
She told him that she was happy. = She told him she was happy.
'Say' and 'tell'
Use 'say' when there is no indirect object:
He said that he was tired.
Always use 'tell' when you say who was being spoken to (i.e. with an
indirect object):
He told me that he was tired.
'Talk' and 'speak'
Use these verbs to describe the action of communicating:
He talked to us.
She was speaking on the telephone.
Use these verbs with 'about' to refer to what was said:
He talked (to us) about his parents.
Examples.
DIRECT SPEECH
|
INDIRECT SPEECH
|
PRESENT TENSE
|
PRESENT
SIMPLE changes into PAST SIMPLE
|
He said, “I write a letter”
She said, “he goes to school daily”
They said, “we love our country”
He said, “he does not like computer”
|
He said that he wrote a letter.
He said that she went to school daily.
They said that they loved their country
He said that he did not like computer.
|
PRESENT CONTINUOUS changes into
PAST CONTINUOUS
|
He said, “he is listening to the music”
She said, “I am washing my clothes”
They said, “we are enjoying the weather”
I said, “it is raining”
She said, “I am not laughing”
|
He said that he was listening to the music.
She said that she was washing her clothes.
They said that they were not enjoying the weather.
She said that she was not laughing.
|
PRESENT
PERFECT changes into PAST PERFECT
|
She said, “he has finished his work”
He said, “I have started a job”
I said, “she have eaten the meal”
They said, “we have not gone to New York.
|
She said that he had finished his work.
He said that he had started a job.
I said that she had eaten the meal.
They said that they had not gone to New York.
|
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS changes into
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
|
He said, “I have been studying since 3 O’clock”
She said, “It has been raining for three days.”
I said, “She has been working in this office since 2007”
|
He said that he had been studying since 3 O’clock.
She said that it been raining for three days.
I said that she had been working in this office since 2007.
|
PAST TENSE
|
PAST
SIMPLE changes into PAST PERFECT
|
He said to me, “you answered correctly”
John said, “they went to cinema”
He said, “I made a table”
She said, “I didn’t buy a car”
|
He said to me that I had answered correctly.
John said that they had gone to cinema.
He said that he had made a table.
She said that she had not bought a car.
|
PAST CONTINUOUS changes into
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS
|
They said, “we were enjoying the weather”
He said to me, “ I was waiting for you”
I said, “It was raining”
She said, “I was not laughing”
|
They said that they had been enjoying.
He said to me that he had been waiting for me.
I said that it had been raining.
She said that she not been laughing.
|
PAST PERFECT changes into
PAST PERFECT (tense does not
change)
|
She said, “She had visited a doctor”
He said, “I had started a business”
I said, “she had eaten the meal”
They said, “we had not gone to New York.
|
She said that she had visited a doctor.
He said that he had started a business.
I said that she had eaten the meal.
They said they had not gone to New York.
|
FUTURE
TENSE
|
FUTURE
SIMPLE TENSE
WILL changes into
WOULD
|
He said, “I will study the book”
She said, “I will buy a computer”
They said to me, “we will send you gifts”
I said, “I will not take the exam”
|
He said that he would study the book.
She said that she would buy a computer.
They said to me that they would send you gifts.
I said that I would not take the exam.
|
FUTURE
CONTINUOUS TENSE
WILL BE changes into
WOULD BE
|
I said to him, “ I will be waiting for him”
She said,” I will be shifting to new home”
He said, “I will be working hard”
He said, “he will not be flying kite”
|
I said to him that I would be waiting for him.
She said that she would be shifting to a new home.
He said that he would be working hard.
She said that he would not be flying kites.
|
FUTURE
PERFECT TENSE
WILL HAVE changes into
WOULD HAVE
|
He said, “I will have finished the work”
She said, “they will have passed the examination”
He said, “I will have gone”
|
He said that he would have finished the work.
She said that they would have passed the examination.
He said that he would have gone.
|
Note: The tense of reported speech may not
change if reported speech is a universal truth though its reporting verb
belongs to past tense.
Examples.
Direct speech: He
said, “Mathematics is a science”
Indirect Speech:
He said that mathematics is a science.
Direct speech: He
said, “Sun rises in east”
Indirect Speech:
He said that sun rises in east. (Tense didn’t change because reported
speech is a universal truth thought its
reporting verb belongs to past tense)
Tense Changes When Using Reported Speech
Normally,
the tense in reported speech is one tense back in time from the tense in direct
speech:
She said, "I am
tired." = She said that she was
tired.
|
Phrase in
Direct Speech
|
Equivalent in
Reported Speech
|
|
Simple present
|
Simple past
|
|
"I always drink
coffee", she said
|
She said that she always drank
coffee.
|
|
Present continuous
|
Past continuous
|
|
"I am reading
a book", he explained.
|
He explained that he was
reading a book
|
|
Simple past
|
Past perfect
|
|
"Bill arrived on
Saturday", he said.
|
He said that Bill had arrived
on Saturday.
|
|
Present perfect
|
Past perfect
|
|
"I have been
to Spain", he told me.
|
He told me that he had been to
Spain.
|
|
Past perfect
|
Past perfect
|
|
"I had just turned out
the light," he explained.
|
He explained that he had
just turned out the light.
|
|
Present perfect continuous
|
Past perfect continuous
|
|
They complained, "We have
been waiting for hours".
|
They complained that they had
been waiting for hours.
|
|
Past continuous
|
Past perfect continuous
|
|
"We were living
in Paris", they told me.
|
They told me that they had
been living in Paris.
|
|
Future
|
Present conditional
|
|
"I will be in
Geneva on Monday", he said.
|
He said that he would be in
Geneva on Monday.
|
|
Future continuous
|
Conditional continuous
|
|
She said, "I'll be using
the car next Friday".
|
She said that she would be using
the car next Friday.
|
You do not need to change the tense if the reporting verb is in the present,
or if the original statement was about something that is still true, e.g.
- He says he has missed the train
but he'll catch the next one.
- We
explained that it
is very difficult to find our house.
These modal verbs do not change in reported speech: might, could, would,
should, ought to:
- We explained,
"It could
be difficult to find our house." = We explained that it could be difficult to find
our house.
- She said,
"I might
bring a friend to the party." = She said that she might bring a friend to
the party.
Indirect speech of
imperative sentence.
A sentence which expresses command, request, advice or suggestion is called
imperative
sentence.
For example,
• Open the door.
• Please help me.
• Learn your lesson.
To change such sentences into indirect speech, the word “ordered” or
“requested” or “advised” or “suggested” or “forbade” or “not to do” is added to
reporting verb depending upon nature of imperative sentence in reported speech.
Examples.
Direct
speech: He said to me, “please help me”
Indirect
Speech: He
requested me to help him.
Direct
speech: She said to him, “you should work hard for exam”
Indirect
Speech: He
suggested him to work
hard for exam.
Direct
speech: They said to him, “do not tell a lie”
Indirect
Speech: They said to him
not to
tell a lie.
Direct
speech: He said, “open the door”
Indirect
Speech: He
ordered to open the door.
Direct
speech: The teacher said to student, “do not waste time”
Indirect
Speech: The teacher
advised the
students not to waste time.
Direct
speech: He said, “please give me glass of water”
Indirect
Speech: He
requested to give him a
glass of water.
Direct
speech: Doctor said to me, “Do not smoke”
Indirect
Speech: Doctor
advised
me not to smoke.
Direct
speech: The teacher said to him, “Get out”
Indirect
Speech: The teacher
ordered
him to get out.
Indirect speech of
exclamatory sentences.
Sentence which expresses state of joy or sorrow or wonder is called
exclamatory sentence.
For example.
• Hurrah!
We won the match.
• Alas!
I failed the test.
• Wow!
What a nice shirt it is.
To change such sentences, the words “exclaimed with joy” or “exclaimed with
sorrow” or “exclaimed with wonder” is added in the reporting verb depending
upon the nature of exclamatory sentence in indirect speech.
Examples.
Direct speech: He
said, “Hurrah! I won a prize”
Indirect Speech: He
exclaimed with joy that he had won a prize.
Direct speech: She
said, “Alas! I failed in exam”
Indirect Speech: She
exclaimed with sorrow that she failed in the
exam.
Direct speech: John
said, “Wow! What a nice shirt it is”
Indirect Speech: John
exclaimed with wonder that it was a nice shirt.
Direct speech: She
said, “Hurrah! I am selected for the job”
Indirect Speech: She
exclaimed with joy that she was selected for the
job.
Direct speech: He
said, “Oh no! I missed the train”
Indirect Speech: He
exclaimed with sorrow that he had missed the
train.
Direct speech: They
said, “Wow! What a pleasant weather it is”
Indirect Speech: They
exclaimed with wonder that it was a pleasant
weather.
http://www.edufind.com/english-grammar/direct-and-indirect-speech/
http://www.studyandexam.com/indirect-speech-for-tense.html
http://www.edufind.com/english-grammar/tense-changes-when-using-reported-speech/
http://www.studyandexam.com/indirect-speech-imperative-exclamatory.html