MEKNES ENGLISH CORNER

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

There are two ways of presenting what a person has said: direct and indirect= reported.

In direct speech we repeat the original speaker’s exact words:

e.g. He said, “I want to go home”.

In indirect speech we give the exact meaning of a speech, without necessarily using the speaker’s exact words:

e.g. He said (that) he wanted to go home.

When we turn direct speech into indirect, some changes are necessary.

When the reporting verb is in the present simple, future simple (will+Verb) or present perfect (has/have+verb in the past participle form) there is no change in the verb tenses

e.g.  “I like my new house”

1===she says that she likes her new house    (says= Reporting verb in the present tense)

2=== she has said that she likes her new house (has said= reporting verb the present perfect)

3=== She will say that she needs money (will say= reporting verb in the future tense)

When the reporting verb is in the past, some changes must be respected: These changes are shown in the following table:

Would, should, ought to, might, used to, could and must usually remain unchanged.

e.g. He said, “Ann might ring any minute”.

        He said that Ann might ring any minute.

        He said, “I should be back by 10”.

        He said that he should be back by 10.

Pronouns and possessive adjectives usually change from first or second to third person except when the speaker is reporting his own words:

e.g. He said, “I like my new shoes”.

        He said that he liked his new shoes.

But I said, “I like my new shoes”.

        I said that I liked my new shoes. (the speaker is reporting his own words)

In indirect speech adverbs and adverbial phrases of time and place as well as demonstrative pronouns change as follows:

When we turn direct questions into indirect, the following changes are necessary.

Tenses, pronouns and possessive adjectives, and adverbs of time and place change as in statements. The interrogative form of the verb changes to the affirmative form. The question mark (?) is omitted in indirect questions. If the introductory verb is say, it must be changed to a verb of inquiry, e.g. ask, inquire, wonder etc.

e.g. He said, “Where is the bus stop?”

        He asked where the bus stop was.

        He said, “Why is she crying?”

        He wondered why she was crying.

If the direct question begins with a question word (when, where, how, who, why etc.) the question word is repeated in the indirect question.

If there is no question word, if or whether must be used:

e.g. He said, “Did you see the accident?”

        He asked if / whether I had seen the accident.

        The policeman said, “Do you know Paul Smith?”

        The policeman inquired if / whether I knew Paul Smith.

Indirect command, requests, advice are usually expressed by a verb of command, request, advice + object + infinitive. The following verbs can be used instead of say: tell, order, ask, recommend, advise.

e.g.  He said, “Close the door”.

        He told / ordered me to close the door. (We must add a noun or pronoun.)

        He said, “Turn on the radio, please”.

        He asked me to turn on the radio. (Please is omitted.)

Negative commands, requests etc. are normally reported by not + infinitive:

e.g. He said, “Don’t interrupt me, Tom”.

        He told Tom not to interrupt him.

        He said, “Don’t go away, please”.

        He asked me not to go away.