Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct/Quoted speech is saying exactly what someone has said. It appears within quotation marks ("...") and should be word for word. 

Direct speech repeats, or quotes, the exact words spoken. When we use direct speech in writing, we put the words spoken between inverted commas ("___") and there is no change in these words. We may be reporting something that's being said NOW, or telling someone later about a previous conversation

Indirect/Reported speech is enclosing what the person said. It doesn't use quotation marks and doesn't have to be word for word.

Indirect speech is usually used to talk about the past. When we use indirect speech, we don’t use inverted comas. We should change the tense of the words spoken. We use reporting verbs for example say, ask, and we may use the word that to introduce the reported words.

Example

Ø  Hopes, Intentions, Promises

When we report an intention, hope or promise, we use an appropriate reporting verb followed by a that-clause or a to-infinitive:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
He said, "I'll pay you the money tomorrow."	He promised to pay me the money the next day. He promised that he would pay me the money the next day.

Other verbs used in this pattern include: hope, propose, threaten, guarantee, and swear.

 Ø  Orders

When we want to report an order, we can use a verb like tell with to-clause:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
The doctor said to me, "Stop smoking!"	The doctor told me to stop smoking.
"Get out of the car!" said the policeman.	The policeman ordered him to get out of the car.

Other verbs used are: command, order, warn, ask, invite, advise, beg, teach, and forbid. <<See also section on Verbs followed by infinitive and Verbs followed by gerund>>

 Ø  Requests

When we want to report a request, we can use a verb like ask with for-clause:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
The child asked, "Can I have a car?"	The child asked for a car.

 Ø  Suggestions

Suggestions are usually reported with a that-clause. That and should are optional in these clauses.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
“I think you should go to the dentist", said my mother	My mother suggested that I should go to the dentist.

Other verbs used are: insist, recommend, demand, request, and propose. Note: Suggest can also be followed by a gerund: I suggested postponing the visit to the dentist.

 Ø  Questions

-          Question words are reported by using ask (or another verb like ask) + question word + clause. <<see also section on Tense Change>>

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
She asked me, “Where do u live?”	She asked me where I lived.
He asked me, "What is your name?"	He asked me what my name was.

-          Yes/No questions: This type of question is reported by using ask + if / whether + clause:

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
He asked me, "Are you Eastern or Western?"	He asked me whether I was Eastern or Western.

 

Rules

There are rules in converting direct to indirect speech. The tense usually has change because when we use reported speech, we are usually talking about a time in the past (obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past).

Ø  Tense Change

As a rule when we report something someone has said you go back a tense (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right)

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Present Simple He said, “It is hot.”	Past Simple He said it was hot.
Present Continuous She said, “I’m eating an apple.”	Past Continuous She said she was eating an apple.
Present Perfect Simple She said, "I've taught English since 1999."	Past Perfect Simple She said she had taught English since 1999.
Present Perfect Continuous He said, "I've been teaching English for two years."	Past Perfect Continuous She said she had been teaching English for two years.
Past Simple She said, "I taught English."	Past Perfect She said she had taught English.
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 Continuous She said, "I had already been teaching for ten minutes."	Past Perfect Continuous (No Change) - She said she'd already been teaching for ten minutes.

Note:

-          We can use the Present Tense in indirect speech if we want to say that something is still true.

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Present Simple He said, “My name is James.”	Past Simple He said his name was James. or Present Simple He said his name is James.

 Ø  Modal Change

Modal verb forms also sometimes change

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Will She said, “I will teach English.”	Would She said she would teach English.
Can She said, "I can teach English online."	Could She said she could teach English.
Must She said, "I must teach English."	Had to She said she had to teach English.
Shall She said, "What shall we learn today?"	Should She asked what we should learn today.
May She said, "May I open the window?"	Might She asked if she might open the window.

If it use modal, such as: could, would, should, might and ought to in direct speech, then we don’t need to change it.

 Ø  Time Change

If direct speech sentence contains an expression of time, we must change it to fit in with the time.

Time in Direct Speech	Time in Indirect Speech
this (morning/noon/evening)	that (morning/noon/evening)
today	yesterday
these (days)	those (days)
now	then
(a week/ a month/ a year) ago	(a week/ a month/ a year) before
last weekend	the weekend before last/ the previous weekend
here	there
next (week/month/year)	the following (week/month/year)
tomorrow	the next/following day