2. Direct and Indirect (Reported)
Speech
Direct Speech
Indirect (Reported)
Speech
O Direct speech involves
quoting the exact words
said by someone, within
quotation marks (“ … “)
O For example:
O He said, “I am tired.”
O She said, “I like apples.”
O “I never eat meat”, he
explained.
O Indirect (Reported) Speech
doesn’t have to be within
quotation marks and it is not
reported word-to-word.
O For example:
O He said (that) he was tired.
O She said (that) she liked
apples.
O He explained (that) he never
ate meat.
O * that is optional, it can be
omitted
3. Direct and Indirect
/Reported Speech
O There are some important aspects to take into
account when we change direct speech to
indirect speech:
O 1. When the REPORTING VERB (SAY, THINK,
EXPLAIN, ASK, CONFIRM, etc.) is in the Past
Tense (SAID, THOUGHT, EXPLAINED, ASKED,
CONFIRMED, etc.), the verb tense in the noun
clause changes.
O For exampe: Ann said, “I’m happy.” (direct
speech)
O Ann said (that) she was happy (indirect speech)
4. Direct and Indirect
/Reported Speech
O Frank said, “She went home.” (direct speech)
Frank said (that) she had gone home (indirect )
Jane said, “He has been arrested.”(direct speech)
Jain said (that) he had been arrested. (indirect )
They said, “We will be here.”(direct speech)
They said they would be there. (indirect speech)
5. Direct and Indirect
/Reported Speech
O Tim said, “I can swim.” (direct speech)
Tim said he could swim. (indirect speech)
Mary said, “I must study”. (direct speech)
Mary said she had to study. (indirect )
He explained, “I’m going to be late.” (direct)
He explained (that) he was going to be late.
6. Direct and Indirect
/Reported Speech
O As you could see from the previous
examples,
O Present Tense changes to Past Tense
(like – liked, eat - ate, am – was)
O Past tense – to Past Perfect (went – had
gone)
O Present Perfect – to Past Perfect (has
been – had been )
7. Direct and Indirect
/Reported Speech
O Will – would
O Can – could
O Must – had to
O May – might
O Is going to – was going to
2. Pronouns must be changed to fit the
reported statement: Tim said he could swim
8. Direct and Indirect
/Reported Speech
O 3. When the reporting verb is in the Past
Tense, time expressions also change, as
follows:
O NOW – THEN /AT THAT TIME
Ali said, “I live in Paris now.”
Ali said he lived in Paris then /at that time.
TODAY - THAT DAY / THE SAME DAY
They said, “We are going to finish the job
today.”
They told they were going to finish the job that
day /the same day.
9. Direct and Indirect
/Reported Speech
O TOMORROW – THE NEXT DAY / THE FOLLOWING
DAY
O NEXT WEEK– THE NEXT WEEK/THE FOLLOWING
WEEK
O YESTERDAY – THE DAY BERORE
O LAST WEEK, etc. – THE WEEK BEFORE
O THIS /THESE - THAT /THOSE
O HERE - THERE
