Indirect Speech

Direct Speech / Quo Indirect Speech Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes called quoted speech). Here what a person says appears within quotation marks ("...") and should be word for word. Indirect Speech / Reported Speech Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech), doesn't use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn't have to be word for word. When transforming sentences from direct into indirect speech, you have to change: pronouns; place and time expressions; tenses (backshift).

Indirect Speech Indirect speech is introduced by verbs of communication: to agree, to announce, to answer, to approve, to argue, to ask, to breathe out, to call, to claim, to confess, to confute, to contradict, to counter, to cry out, to declare, to demand, to disagree, to disapprove, to exclaim, to explain, to groan, to grumble, to hint, to implore, to inquire, to interrogate, to mention, to murmur, to mutter, to notice, to order, to plead, to proclaim, to propose, to refuse, to rejoin, to remark, to repeat, to reply, to report, to respond, to retort, to say, to scream, to shout, to state, to suggest, to try to find out, to want to know, to utter, to whisper, to wonder, to yell.

Indirect Speech. Affirmative sentences You are pretty. You are so intelligent. You dance so well. You've got [have got] lovely hair. I'll never forget this day. He said I was pretty. He said I was so intelligent. He said I danced so well. He said I had got lovely hair. He said he would never forget that day.

Indirect Speech. General Questions Do you like ballet? Have you ever been to Boston? He asked me if/whether I liked ballet. He asked me if/whether I had ever been to Boston.

Indirect Speech. Special Questions Where do you study? What are you reading? When will we meet again? Why don't you stay longer? He asked me where I studied. He asked me what I was reading. He asked me when I should meet him again. He asked me why I didn't stay longer.

Indirect Speech. Imperative Sentences He asked me to give him my telephone number. He asked me to ring him up the next morning. He asked me to help him to translate an article from English. Give me your telephone number, please. Ring me up tomorrow. Help me to translate an article from English!

Sequence of Tenses *W hen a Yes/No question is asked in direct speech, then use a construction with if or whether. If a WH question is asked, then use the WH to introduce the clause.

The situation changes if instead of the common said another part of the very to say is used. In that case the verb tenses usually remain the same.

Another situation is the one in which modal constructions are used. If the verb said is used, then the form of the modal, or another modal that has a past meaning is used.

Also transformations of adverbs of place, time and demonstrative pronouns take place. now here this, these today tomorrow yesterday next week next year last week last year then there that, those that day the following day the previous day the following week the following year the previous week the year before