DIRECT & INDIRECT SPEECH

SULIANA WAN CHIK

ENGLISH LANGUAGE UNIT LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT IPG KAMPUS PERLIS

DIRECT SPEECH
Giving the exact words that someone utters or has uttered in speech or writing
I am being paid by the hour, she said.

It is usually signalled by being enclosed in quotation marks.

I am being paid by the hour, she said.

INDIRECT SPEECH
Conveys a report of what has been said or written. Does so in the words of a subsequent reporter.
I am being paid by the hour, she said. She said she was being paid by the hour.

cont
Direct and indirect speeches are two ways used in reporting what someone has said.

It is important to learn how the transformation goes so as to be accurate in your interactions with the others.

cont
In direct speech the reporter repeats the original words of the speaker:
Leila said, The cat has broken the vase.

In the indirect (reported) speech the reporter gives the exact meaning of the speaker's utterance without necessarily repeating the exact words of the speaker:
Leila said (that) the cat had broken the vase.

Rules of Transformation
The makeover of a direct utterance to indirect speech has to abide to some rules. In indirect (reported) speech the tenses have to be changed in a way that the reporter (you) goes a step back in the time line with each tense.

cont
For instance, if the tense in the time of speaking (direct speech) is the present, it becomes past in the reported speech. If it is in the past, it is reported in the past perfect. If it is in the future, it is reported in the conditional and so on.

R1: Change of tenses

Direct Speech simple present He said, I go to school every day. simple past He said, I went to school every day. present perfect He said, I have gone to school every day.

Indirect Speech simple past He said (that) he went to school every day. past perfect He said (that) he had gone to school every day. past perfect He said (that) he had gone to school every day.

present progressive He said, I am going to school every day.

past progressive He said, I was going to school every day. future (will) He said, I will go to school every day. future (going to) He said, I am going to school every day.

past progressive He said (that) he was going to school every day.

perfect progressive He said (that) he had been going to school every day, would + verb name He said (that) he would go to school every day. present progressive He said (that) he is going to school every day. past progressive He said (that) he was going to school every day

Direct Speech auxiliary + verb name He said, Do you go to school every day?

Indirect Speech simple past He asked me if I went to school every day.*

He said, Where do you go to school?

He asked me where I went to school.

imperative He said, Go to school every day.

infinitive He said to go to school every day.

cont
The tenses with auxiliaries (am /is/ are/ was/ were/ have/ has/ have been etc) in the direct speech are the easiest ones to report. You need only to deal with the auxiliary and forget about the main verb. That's why the "continuous"; and "perfect tenses are the easiest to do.

cont
Look at these examples: - John said, "I am going to look for a larger flat" - John said that he was going to look for a larger flat. - Sue said, "I have done my homework." - Sue said that she had done her homework.

CHANGE in MODALS
DIRECT SPEECH will She said, "I'll teach English online tomorrow." can She said, "I can teach English online." must She said, "I must have a computer to teach English online." shall She said, "What shall we learn today?" may She said, "May I open a new browser?" INDIRECT SPEECH would She said she would teach English online tomorrow. could She said she could teach English online. had to She said she had to have a computer to teach English online. should She asked what we should learn today. might She asked if she might open a new browser.

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

For example we need to change words like here and yesterday if they have different meanings at the time and place of reporting.

Today
"Today's lesson is on presentations.

+ 24 hours - Indirect speech

She said yesterday's lesson was on presentations.

Expressions of time if reported on a different day this (evening) today these (days) now (a week) ago that (evening) yesterday ... those (days) then (a week) before

last weekend
here next (week) tomorrow

the weekend before last / the previous weekend

there the following (week) the next/following day

PRONOUN CHANGE
In reported speech, the pronoun often changes. For example:
Me You

"I teach English online."

She said she teaches English online.

REPORTING VERB
Said, told and asked are the most common verbs used in indirect speech. We use asked to report questions: For example: I asked Lynne what time the lesson started.

We use told with an object.

For example: Lynne told me she felt tired.

!Note - Here me is the object.

 We usually use said without an object.

For example: Lynne said she was going to teach online.

If said is used with an object we must include to ;

For example: Lynne said to me that she'd never been to China.

!Note - We usually use told.

For example: Lynne told me that she'd never been to China.

 There are many other verbs we can use apart from said, told and asked. These include:accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed, apologised, begged, boasted, complained, denied, explained, implied, invited, offered, ordered, promised, replied, suggested and thought.

Using them properly can make what you say much more interesting and informative.

 For example: He asked me to come to the party:-

He invited me to the party. He begged me to come to the party. He ordered me to come to the party. He advised me to come to the party. He suggested I should come to the party

 If the reporting verb (the main verb of the sentences, e.g., said, is in the past, the verb in the noun clause will usually be in a past form. If the reporting verb is simple present, present perfect, or future, the noun She says, "I wash my She says she washes her clause verb is hair not changed.
every day." She has said, "I wash my hair every day. hair every day She has said that she washes her hair every day.

She will say, "I wash my hair She will say that she every day." washes her hair every day.

*Exceptions:
If the reported sentence deals with a fact or general truth, the present tense is (can be) retained.
She said that the moon causes the tides.

If the speaker reports something immediately or soon after it was said, the noun clause verb often remains as spoken.
A: What did the conductor say? B: He said that the next stop is Northgate.

 If will is the modal in the reported utterance and expresses future time, and If the situation described in the quote still holds true at the time of the indirect report, the will may not be changed to would even though the reporting verb is in the past tense:
Mr. Arden said that a volcanic eruption will occur next year.

THE END