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
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."
Inderect Speech (Report 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.
Examples
:
He
said that you're angry with me.
The
teacher told me to go to the office.
She
asked if you were feeling better.
Report Speech (Indirect Speech)
·
Statements
When
transforming statements, check whether you have to change:
pronouns
present
tense verbs (3rd person singular)
place
and time expressions
tenses
(backshift)
·
Questions
When
transforming questions, check whether you have to change:
pronouns
present
tense verbs (3rd person singular)
place
and time expressions
tenses
(backshift)
Also
note that you have to:
transform
the question into an indirect question
use
the interrogative or if / whether
·
Requests
When
transforming questions, check whether you have to change:
pronouns
place
and time expressions
Tenses
·
No backshift
Do
not change the tense if the introductory clause is in Simple Present (e. g. He
says). Note, however, that you might have to change the form of the present tense
verb (3rd person singular).
Example
:
He
says, “I speak English.” – He says that he speaks English.
·
Backshift
You
must change the tense if the introductory clause is in Simple Past (e. g. He said).
This is called backshift.
Example
:
He
said, “I am happy.” – He said that he was happy.
Place and Time expressions
For
place and time expressions you have to check whether place and time are the
same in direct and reported speech or not.
Direct
Speech : today, now, yesterday, ....days
ago, last week, next year, tomorrow, here, this & these
Cindy:
“I worked in the coffee shop yesterday.”
Reported
Speech (Inderect Speech) : that day, then, the day before, .....days before,
the week before, the following year, the next day, there, that & those
Cindy
said (that) she had worked in the coffee shop the day before.
Introductory Verbs
to
add / to admit / to announce / to declare / to deny / to explain / to insist /
to mention / to promise / to propose / to remind / to say / to suggest / to
tell someone / to ask someone / oneself / to doubt / to wonder / to ask / to
inquire / to answer / to reply / to explain / to advise someone / to tell / to
forbid / to order
Tense in "Direct Speech"
and Reported Speech
·
Simple Present ( Direct Speech)
Cindy
asked: "Do you like watching TV?"
Giles
said: "I don't mind watching TV, but there are things I like better
·
Simple Past ( Report Speech)
Cindy
asked Giles if he liked watching tV
Giles
answered he didn't mind watching TV, but there were things he liked better.
·
Present be-ing ( Direct Speech)
Frank
declared: " I am thinking about moving"
·
Past be-ing (Report Speech)
Frank
declared he was thinking about moving
·
Past be-ing ( Direct Speech)
He
told them: "I wasn't expecting your visit"
·
Past Perfect be-ing (Report Speech)
He
told them he hadn't been expecting their visit
·
Present Perfect (Direct Speech)
She
said: " I have just seen an old friend of mine"
·
Past Perfect (Report Speech)
She
said she had just seen an old friend of hers.
·
Present Perfect be-ing (Direct Speech)
He
asked: "Paul, how long have you been studying English?"
·
Past Perfect be-ing (Report Speech)
He
asked Paul how long he had been studying English
·
Past Perfect (Direct Speech)
They
said: "If we had arrived two minutes later, there would have been no cake
left"
·
Past Perfect (Report Speech)
They
said that if they had arrived two minutes later, there would have been no cake
left.
·
Past Perfect be-ing (Direct Speech)
He
declared: " You had been telling me you wanted to see her"
·
Past Perfect be-ing (Report Speech)
He
declared they had been telling him they wanted to see her.
·
Future (Will) (Direct Speech)
I
asked: " Where will you spend your holiday ?"
·
Conditional (Would) (Report Speech)
I
asked where they would spend their holiday.
·
Will + be-ing (Direct Speech)
Anna
declared:" I will be announcing my engagement next month"
·
Would + be-ing (Report Speech)
Anna
declared she would be announcing her engagement the following month
·
Would (Direct Speech)
Tony
said: "I would like something to eat. I wouldn't mind a drink
either."
·
Would (Report Speech)
Tony
said he would like something to drink and wouldn't mind a drink either.
When You Use Report Speech
·
Demands or Requests
When
turning demands and requests into indirect speech, we only need to change the
pronouns and the time and place information. We don’t have to pay attention to
the tenses – we simply use to + the basic form of the verb.
Example:
She
said, “Watch the TV presenter’s show tonight.”
She
told me to watch the TV presenter’s show that evening.
If
it is a negative demand, then in indirect speech we use not to + the basic form
of the verb.
Example:
She
said, “Don’t watch the TV presenter’s show tonight.”
She
told me not to watch the TV presenter’s show that evening.
Expressions
with who/what/how + infinitive
·
Question Sentences
When
turning questions into indirect speech, we have to pay attention to the
following points:
As
in a declarative sentence, we have to change the pronouns and the time and
place information, and set back the tense (backshift).
Instead
of that (as in a declarative sentence), we use a question word. If there is no
question word, we use whether/if instead.
Example:
She
asked him, “How often do you work?”
She
asked him how often he worked.
He
asked me, “Do you know any famous people?”
He
asked me if/whether I knew any famous people.
We
put the subject before the verb in question sentences. (The subject goes after
the auxiliary verb in normal questions.)
Example:
I
asked him, “Have you met any famous people before?”
I
asked him if/whether he had met any famous people before.
We
don’t use the auxiliary verb do for questions in indirect speech. Therefore, we
sometimes have to conjugate the main verb (for third person singular or in the
simple past).
Example:
I
asked him, “What do you want to tell me?”
I
asked him what he wanted to tell me.
We
put the verb directly after who or what in subject questions.
Example:
I
asked him, “Who is sitting here?”
I
asked him who was sitting there.
·
Declarative Sentences
When
turning declarative sentences into indirect speech, we need to pay attention to
the following points:
changing
the pronouns
Example:
He
said, “I saw a famous TV presenter.”
He
said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter.
changing
the information about time and place (see the table at the end of this page)
Example:
He
said, “I saw a famous TV presenter here yesterday.”
He
said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter there the day before.
changing
the tense (backshift)
Example:
He
said, “She was eating an ice-cream at the table where you are sitting.”
He
said (that) she had been eating an ice-cream at the table where I was sitting.
Sources
:
https://english.lingolia.com/en/grammar/sentences/indirect-speech
http://absolutenglish-972.pagesperso-orange.fr/notes/grammar/reportedspeech.htm
