13. Objectives
Recognize patterns of indirect speech
Use correctly the verbs in indirect speech
Make the necessary transformations from direct to
indirect speech
14. Direct Speech/Quoted Speech
Saying exactly what someone has said. We may
quote the actual words of the speaker. It always
appears with quotation marks (“…”)
Example:
She said, “Today’s lesson is on presentations.”
15. Indirect Speech/Reported Speech
It doesn’t use quotation marks to enclose what the
person said. We may report what the person said
without quoting his/her exact words.
Example:
Direct Speech: “I’m going to the cinema”, he said.
Indirect Speech: He said he was going to the cinema.
16. Examples
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Clinton said, “I am very busy now." Clinton said that he was very busy
then.
He said, “ my mother is writing
letter."
He said that his mother was writing
letter.
"What time does the train arrive?"
she asked.
She asked what time the train
arrived.
"When can we have dinner?" she
asked.
She asked when they could have
dinner.
Peter said to John, "Why are you so
late?"
Peter asked John why he was so
late.
17. T E N S E C H A N G E
M O D A L C H A N G E
T I M E C H A N G E
P R O N O U N C H A N G E
Rules in changing direct speech
to indirect speech
18. Tense change
When the reporting or principal verb is in the Past
Tense, all the Present Tenses in the Direct Speech
are changed into Past Tense.
19. Examples
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Present Simple Past Simple
She said, “It’s cold”. She said it was cold.
Present Continuous Past Continuous
She said, “I’m teaching English online”. She said she was teaching English
online.
Present perfect simple Past perfect simple
She said, “I’ve been on the web since
1999”.
She said she had been on the web since
1999.
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, “I’ve been teaching English for
seven years.”
She said she had been teaching English
for seven years.
Past simple Past perfect
She said, “I taught online yesterday”. She said she had taught online
yesterday.
20. Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Past continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, “I was teaching earlier”. She said she had been teaching earlier.
Past perfect Past perfect
She said, “The lesson had already
started when he arrived”.
NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had
already started when he arrived.
Past perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, “I’d already been teaching for
five minutes.”
NO CHANGE - She said she’d already
been teaching for five minutes.
21. Modal change
Will Would
Can Could
Shall Should
Must Had to
May might
Note: There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.
22. You can use present tense in reported speech if you
want to say that something is still true and if you are
talking about a future event.
Example:
Direct: “My name is Lynne,” she said.
Indirect: She said her name is/was Lynne.
Direct: “Next week’s lesson is on reported speech”, she
said.
Indirect: She said next week’s lesson will be on reported
speech.
23. Time Change
If the reported sentence contains an expression of
time, you must change it to fit in with the time of
reporting.
Example:
Direct: “Today’s lesson is on presentations.”
Indirect: She said yesterday’s lesson was on presentations. Or
She said yesterday’s lesson would be on presentations..
Direct: He said, “I am glad to be here this evening."
Indirect: He said that he was glad to be there that evening.
24. Expressions of time if reported on different day
this (evening) that (evening)
today yesterday …
these (days) those (days)
now then
(a week) ago (a week) before
last weekend the weekend before last/the previous
weekend
here there
next (week) the following (week)
tomorrow the next/following day
25. Pronoun Change
In reported speech, the pronoun often changes
Example
Me You
Direct Speech
“I teach English online.” She said, “I teach English
online.”
Indirect Speech
She said she teaches
English online.
Or
She said she taught English
online.
26. Reporting Verbs
The most common verbs used in indirect speech are
said, told and asked.
We use asked to report questions.
I asked Lynne what time the lesson started.
We use told with an object.
Lynne told me she felt tired.
We usually use said without an object, but if said is
used with an object we must include to.
Lynne said she was going to teach online.
Lynne said to me that she’d never been to China.
27. Other verbs that can be used apart from said, told
and asked.
Accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed, apologized,
begged, boasted, complained, denied, explained, implied,
invited, offered, ordered, promised, replied, suggested
and thought.
28. The use of “that” in reported speech
In reported speech, the word that is often used.
Example:
He told me that he lived in Greenwich.
However, that is optional.
Example:
He told me he lived in Greenwich.
That is never used in questions, instead we use if.
Example:
He asked me if I would come to the party.
29. Practice
He said, "I like this song."
→ He said ___________________.
"Where is your sister?" she asked me.
→ She asked me _______________.
"I don't speak Italian," she said.
→ She said ___________________.
"Where have you spent your money?" she asked him.
→ She asked him _______________.
"The film began at seven o'clock," he said.
→ He said _____________________.
31. Answer on Evaluation
1. He said that he had got a toothache.
2. Manu said that he was very busy then.
3. She told us to hurry up.
4. He asked her to give him a cup of water.
5. She said that she was going to college.
6. She thanked me.
7. Raju said that Miki would have to go the following day.
8. Gina says that her father is an Engineer.
9. He said that he had passed the physical test.
10. She told me that I was her only friend.
Hinweis der Redaktion
So our topic for today is all about changing Direct speeches to indirect speeches.
For our objectives, at the end of the lesson you will be able to:
Let us have a quick look on the definition of the direct speech.
We can identify direct speeches easily because of the quotation marks that encloses the sentences.
So let’s have a short example:
So in indirect speech or reported speech we do not use quotation marks. This is where we report what the speaker said.
We indirectly say what the speaker has said.
For example, the indirect speech is:
So as the reporter of the speech you are going to say it as:
So here are other examples of direct and indirect speeches.
i guess we are all familiar with this.
So it is also just a recap for what we have discuss so that you will not be able to forget it immediately.
So for our main topic, there are some rules to follow in order to change or convert direct speeches to indirect speech.
They are: tense change, modal change, time change, and pronoun change
Let us discuss them one by one to be able to understand more
Everybody please read.
Okay so in changing direct to indirect speech. The tenses are changed. If the reporting verb is in the past tense, then all of the present tenses in the direct speech should be changed into Past tense. Let us have examples in different tenses.
So here we have the direct speeches. And indirect speeches on the other side.
For this example: the principal verb here is in present simple tense, then we will change it into past simpel tense
Therefore, the indirect speech is. She said it was cold.
The same with the other tenses such as present continuous, present perfect simple and present perfect continuous, we are just going to change it into past tenses may it be in its continuous form, perfect simple and perfect continuous.
Let’s say that the principal verb is in the past tense. Like in this example. She said I taught online yesterday.
We will change it into its perfect forms. So in this case. We will make it into its past perfect form.
You may notice the other changes in converting direct to indirect speech.
For other forms of past tenses just like the first one we are going to change it into its perfect form may it be in past simple, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous.
You may notice that in past perfect and past perfect continuous there will be no changes of tense because they are all ready in their perfect forms.
Like for example. She said the lesson had already started when he arrived. There will be no change because the principal verb “had already” is already in its past perfect form. Same goes with the past perfect continuous.
Okay so are we clear? Can you follow?
I guess all of us are familiar with modals right?
So if you found modals in direct speeches, you are going to change it in it’s past form.
Will to would, can to could, shall to should and so on..
Not that There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.
So if you will encounter these modals in direct speeches you are not going to change them anymore.
In some cases, you can also use present tense in reporting a speech or in indirect speech if you want to say that something is still true and if you are talking about a future event.
If you are stating a fact you can use its present tense. Like for example.
You can either use its present or its past tense as long as what you are going to say is a fact or it is still true.
Let us have another example. We used the present tense of the verb in this example because you are talking about the future or you are talking about the next week’s lesson.
Everybody please read.
So, in time change. If the reported statement has an expression of time, or as you may notice, they are adverbs, like in the example. Today’s lesson is on presentation. The expression of time is “today” and it is an adverb.
For example you are going to report or to say it the next day, you are going to change the expression of time since it happened yesterday.
So you are going to change it according to the time that you are going to report it.
Let us have another example: in here the expression of time is “this” in changing into indirect we will use the word “that” in order to fit in with the time of reporting or when it really happened.
So here are some expressions of time if you are going to report it on different day.
Pronouns often changes in indirect speech, because you are quoting someone else’s statement or message.
Let us have this example. For example me. I will say. I teach English online.
And then, quoting it. She said, I teach English online. As the direct speech
And then if you are going to change it into indirect speech, the pronoun “I” will be changed to “she” because you are reporting or indirectly quoting what I have said. It can be She said she teaches English online or She said she taught english online.
She used teaches because what she said is true so she can use its present tense. But you can also use taught if you want to.
About the reporting verbs. Can you please cite some reporting verbs that you have seen in our previous examples.
As you notice “said” is the most reporting verb that we used in our examples because, that is what we commonly use when we are talking or chatting with our friends.
Said, told and asked are the most commonly used verbs in indirect speeches. Let us discuss them shortly one by one.
We use asked in reporting questions. For example.
We use told with an object. For example: here “me” is the object
We usually use said without an object, but if said is used with an object we must include to. Let’s say for this example:
Lynne said she was going to teach online. In here we used said without an object. On the next example we include or added “to” because there is an object which is “me’.
Here are some other verbs that can also be used other than said, told and asked.
We are going to use these verbs to be more specified and more informative on what you are going to say.
As you can notice on the previous examples we used the word that as a conjunction or the word that connects the two phrases. Like in this example.
However that can be optional. Say this example. They have the same thought but the thing is that the other one used that and the other is not.
Always remember that “that” is never used in questions and instead, we use if. Just like in our example.
Simple present becomes simple past; pronouns have to be changed depending on whether the same song is played at the moment or now, you will use this song or that song.
Simple present becomes simple past, pronouns have to be changed
Simple present becomes simple past; pronouns have to be changed
Present perfect becomes past perfect; pronouns have to be changed.
Simple past becomes past perfect.
So that’s it are we clear? Did you understand? If you are ready please get ½ sheet of paper crosswise and let us have an exercise.