DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

Name : Hassan Ali

Registration Number : EE133009

Table of Slides

• Direct and Indirect speech• Definition and difference• Rules for changing direct speech into indirect speech• Changes to remember

• Tense change• Time change• Pronoun change

• Examples• Rules for changing indirect speech into direct speech• Examples• Sources

Definition and Difference

Direct or quoted speech is a sentence that reports speech or thought in its original form, as phrased by the original speaker. It is usually enclosed in quotation marks.

Indirect speech, also called reported speech , is a sentence that reports speech or thought without quoting the exact words(original form).

Example: Direct : John said, ‘ I am very busy now.’ Indirect : John said that he was very busy then. From the above example the difference between both is

that the direct speech is always contain inverted commas to mark off the exact words of the speaker and in the indirect speech there are no inverted commas.

Rules for changing direct speech into indirect.

Rule 1: When the reporting verb(spoken statements like say,ask,ordered,laughed) is in the past tense , all present tenses are changed into corresponding past tense. Simple present Simple past Present continuous Past continuous Present perfect Past perfect

Rule 2: The tenses may not change if the statement is a universal truth. Its your choice to keep the original tenses or make changes.

Rule 3: If the reporting verb is in the present tense, the tenses of the direct speech do not change.

Rule 4: The pronouns of the direct speech are changed where necessary. It depends upon the speaker and hearer. Do not indicate the original speaker.

Rule 5: Words expressing time are changed into words expressing distance. For example: Now becomes then, today becomes that day. Rule 6: If the thing in the direct speech is near at hand then

This that These those

Rule 7: In reporting(direct) question the indirect speech is introduced by some such verbs as asked, inquired.

Rule 8: In reporting commands and requests, the indirect speech is introduced by some verbs expressing command or request such as ordered, urged, shouted.

Rule 9: In reporting exclamations and wishes the indirect speech is introduced by some verb expressing exclamation or a wish like Alas, Bravo, Heaven.

Changes to remember1) Tense Change Part 1

Direct speech   Indirect speech

Present simple She said, "It's cold." ` ›

Past simple She said it was cold.

Present continuous She said, "I'm teaching English online."

› Past continuous She said she was teaching English online.

Present perfect simple She said, "I've been on the web since 1999."

›Past perfect simple She said she had been on the web since 1999.

Present perfect continuous She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years."

›Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching English for seven years.

Past simple She said, "I taught online yesterday."

› Past perfect She said she had taught online yesterday.

Past continuous She said, "I was teaching earlier."

› Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching earlier.

Past perfect She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived."

›Past perfect NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already started when he arrived.

Past perfect continuousShe said, "I'd already been teaching for five minutes."

›Past perfect continuous NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been teaching for five minutes.

Changes to remember1) Tense change Part 2(Future tense)

Direct speech   Indirect speechwill She said, "I'll teach English online tomorrow."

›

would She said she would teach English online tomorrow.

can She said, "I can teach English online."

›could She said she could teach English online.

must She said, "I must have a computer to teach English online."

›

had to She said she had to have a computer to teach English online.

shall She said, "What shall we learn today?"

›should She asked what we should learn today.

may She said, "May I open a new browser?"

›might She asked if she might open a new browse

Changes to remember2) Time Change

Now Then Here ThereAgo BeforeThus SoToday That dayTomorrow The next dayYesterday The day beforeLast night The night before

Changes to remember3) Pronoun Change

Me You

"I teach English online."

Direct Speech

She said, "I teach English online."

"I teach English online", she said.

Reported SpeechShe said she teaches English

online.or

She said she taught English online.

Examples

DIRECT INDIRECT

"The exhibition finished last week," explained James

James explained that the exhibition had finished the preceding week

She said, "Today's lesson is on presentations." 

"Today's lesson is on presentations," she said.

He asked, "Why are you studying English?"

He asked me why I was studying English. 

‘Where is the post office?’ asked the stranger.

The stranger asked where the post office was.

 The speaker said, ‘Be quiet and listen to my words.

He urged them to be quiet and listen to them.

 She said to me, ‘Please wait here till I return.’

She asked me to wait there till she returned.

Rules for changing indirect into direct

The conversion of indirect into direct generally presents no special difficulties, as following example will show :- Indirect : He inquired whether his name

was not Ahmed? Direct : He said to him , ‘Is not your name Ahmed’.

Sources

English book by wren & Martin