3. 1. Theory
If we want to say what other people said, thought or felt, we can
use the direct and indirect speech (reported speech).
The direct speech: "I like it," he said. "Irene is late," he thought. "I
will pass the exam," she hoped.
The reported speech: He said he liked it. He thought that Irene
was late. She hoped she would pass the exam.
The reported speech is typically introduced by verbs such as say,
tell, admit, complain, explain, remind, reply, think, hope, offer,
refuse etc. in the past tense.
He said (that) he didn't want it.
She explained that she had been at the seaside.
If these verbs are in the past tense, we change the following:
a) verb tenses and verb forms,
b) pronouns,
4. If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but reported
(indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech. The structure is a
little different depending on whether you want to transform a statement, question or request.
Statements
When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:
pronouns
present tense verbs (3rd person singular)
place and time expressions
tenses (backshift)
TypeExample direct speech“I speak English.”reported speech
(no backshift)He says that he speaks English.reported speech
(backshift)He said that he spoke English.→
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
TypeExamplewith interrogative direct speech“Why don’t you speak English?”reported speechHe asked me why I didn’t speak
English.without interrogative direct speech“Do you speak English?”reported speechHe asked me whether / if I spoke
English.
Requests
When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:
pronouns
place and time expressions
TypeExample direct speech“Carol, speak English.“reported speechHe told Carol to speak English. Additional Information and
Exeptions
Apart from the above mentioned basic rules, there are further aspects that you should keep in mind, for example:
main clauses connected with and / but
tense of the introductory clause
reported speech for difficult tenses
exeptions for backshift
requests with must, should, ought to and let’s
5. Examples
He announced, “there will be no classes tomorrow”
He announced that there would be no classes next day
He asked, “can we stay a bit longer today?”
He asked if we could stay a bit longer that day
He shouted, “Stop complaining all the time”
He ordered us to stop complaining all the time
He requested, “could you please open the window?”
He kindly requested us to open the window
He said, “you should stop smoking”
He advised me to stop smoking
More examples
6. Theory
Exersises
Change the following sentences from direct speech to reported speech:
3. Direct speech : David : "There is an excellent band playing later
on."
4. Direct speech : Christine : "I saw Amy at the bank on Monday.
5. Direct speech : The driver : "I'm going to turn right at the traffic
lights.«
6. Direct speech : Jonathan: "I've returned the dictionary to the
library".
7. Direct speech : The doctor : "I'll send you the results as soon as
they arrive.«
8. Direct speech : Caroline : "Will you come to my party on
Saturday?«
9. Direct speech : Shop assistant: "Are you looking for something
special?«
10. Direct speech : Jack : "I'll lend you my grammar book if you
think it will help.
Answers
7. Origin of Direct and Indirect Speech
Indirect speech, also called reported speech or indirect discourse, is a means of
expressing the content of statements, questions or other utterances, without quoting
them explicitly as is done in direct speech. For example, He said "I'm coming" is
direct speech, whereas He said he was coming is indirect speech.
In terms of grammar, indirect speech often makes use of certain syntactic structures such
as content clauses ("that" clauses, such as (that) he was coming), and sometimes
infinitive phrases. References to questions in indirect speech frequently take the form
of interrogative content clauses, also called indirect questions (such as whether he
was coming).
In indirect speech certain grammatical categories are changed relative to the words of the
original sentence.[1] For example, person may change as a result of a change of
speaker or listener (as I changes to he in the example above). In some languages,
including English, the tense of verbs is often changed – this is often called sequence
of tenses. Some languages have a change of mood: Latin switches from indicative to
the infinitive (for statements) or the subjunctive (for questions).[2]
When written, indirect speech is not normally enclosed in quotation marks or any similar
typographical devices for indicating that a direct quotation is being made. However
such devices are sometimes used to indicate that the indirect speech is a faithful
quotation of someone's words (with additional devices such as square brackets and
ellipses to indicate deviations or omissions from those words), as in He informed us
that "after dinner [he] would like to make an announcement".
8. Singly work
Theory
Highlight Direct Speech and Reported Speech:
About ten minutes later, the bell rang for dinner, and, as Virginia did not come down, Mrs
Otis sent up one of the servants. After a little time he returned and said that he could
not find Miss Virginia anywhere. So, the whole family started looking for her.
The hours passed, but they could find no trace of Virginia. So, after dinner, Mr Otis
ordered them all to bed, saying that nothing more could be done that night, and that
he would contact Scotland Yard in the morning. Just when everybody was about to
leave the dining-room, the clock struck midnight, and when the last stroke sounded, a
secret door opened in the wall and in that door stood Virginia with a little box in her
hand. Everybody ran up to her.
“Good heavens! child, where have you been?” said Mr Otis, rather angrily, as he thought
she had been playing a trick on them.
“Papa,” said Virginia quietly, “I have been with the ghost. He is dead, and you must
come and see him. He had been very nasty, but he was really sorry for all that he
had done, and he gave me this box of beautiful jewels before he died.”
9. Theory
Final Test
• Test 1
• Report the following:
1. "Will you help me with my homework?", Mary asked Bill.
2. "How long have you been studying here?", Tim asked Sarah. Conversation in school,
reported in the pub.
3. Tom said "I went to England 10 years ago".
4. Harriet said "I'm getting married tomorrow" Reported 3 days after the conversation.
5. Simon said "I like photography and collecting stamps". Answers
• Turn the following direct questions into indirect using the introductory clauses
given.
1. (I would like to know) ‘What are your plans?’
2. (He wants to know) ‘Why do the French eat frogs’
3. (I wonder) ‘Why don’t you listen to me?’
4. (I still can’t figure out) ‘What does she want?’
5. (Can you tell me whether) ‘Is that true?’
Answers
