DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH (QUOTED AND REPORTED SPEECH)

We often have to give information about what people say or think. To do that you can
use direct speech or indirect speech.
- Direct Speech: Saying exactly what someone has said.
It appears within quotation mark (“. . .”) and should be word by word.
- Indirect Speech: it doesn’t use quotation marks to state what the person said and it
doesn’t have to be word by word.

TYPES OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

A. Direct and Indirect Speech in Some Tenses
Tense Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Simple present Simple past
(S+V1) (S+ V2)
He said, “I work hard” He said that he worked hard
He said, “I don’t go there” He said that he didn’t go there”
Present Continuous Past Continuous
(S+ am, is, are + Ving) (S+ was, were + Ving)
Present
He said, “I’m working” He said that he was working
He said, “I’m not going there” He said that he was not going there
Present Perfect Past Perfect
(S+has/have+V3) (S+had+V3)
He said, “I have worked hard” He said that he had worked hard
He said, “I Have not gone there” He said that he had not gone there
Simple Past Past Perfect
(S+V2) (S+had+V3)
He said, “I worked hard” He said that he had worked hard
He said, “I didn’t go there” He said that he had not gone there
Past Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
(S+was/were+Ving) (S+had+been+V+ing)
He said, “I was working hard” He said that he had been working hard
He said, “I was not going there” He said that he had not been going there

Future Simple Future Past Future

(S+will+V1) (S+would+V1)
 He said, “I will work hard” He said that he would work hard
He said, “I will not go there” He said that he would not go there

B. Yes/no Questions
Direct Speech
He said, “Do you know my name?”
Present He said, “are you going there?”
He said, “have you done your work?”
He said, “Did you take my bag?”
Past
He said, “were you waiting for me?”
Future He said, “will you read the novel?
Indirect Speech
He asked me if I knew his name
He asked me if I was going there
He asked me if I had done my work
He asked me if I took his bag
He asked me if I had been waiting for him
He asked me if I would read the novel

C. Giving Information
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Where He said, “Where do you live?” He asked me where I lived
When He said, “When will you go?” He asked me when I would go
Who He said, “Who I meet there?” He asked me who I met there
What He said, “What do You eat?” He asked me what I ate
How He said, “How do you go there?” He asked me how I went there

D. Command
Direct Speech
He said, “Open the door, please!”
He said, “go to my house!”
He said, “buy me a cola!”
Indirect Speech
He asked me to open the door
He asked me to go to his house
He asked me to buy him a cola

E. Prohibition
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
He said, “Don’t go there!” He asked me not to go there
He said, “Don’t drink that water!” He asked me not to drink that water
He said, “Don’t try this at home!” He asked me not to try that at home
Change the following expressions into the indirect speech!

1. She said, “I’ll go to your house”

2. He said, “I don’t like chocolate”
3. Sally said, “I have already eaten lunch”
4. Tom said, “Don’t forget your promise”
5. Kate said, “Where did you get this book?”
6. Alice said, “Did you really want to have that car?”
7. Jean said, “I was making a cake that time”
8. Brian said, “Give me your money!”
9. Jenny said, “I had a fancy car”
 10. Luigi said, “When did you go home?”

Answers!

1. She said that she would go to my house

2. He said that she didn’t like chocolate
3. She said that she had already eaten lunch
4. He asked my not to forget my promise
5. She asked me where I got that book
6. She asked me if I really wanted to have that car
7. He said that she had been making a cake that time
8. He asked me to give him my money
9. She said that she had had a fancy car
10. He asked me when I went home