Direct And Indirect (Reported) Speech

Direct speech vs Reported speech:

Direct speech	Reported speech
He says: “I enjoy riding my bike.”	He says that he enjoys riding his bike.
He said: “I like to drive my car.”	He said that he likes to drive his car.

Different types of sentences

Reported speech allows you to report:

• statements

• requests or commands

• questions

• more types

A. Reporting Statements

When changing statements, check to see if any of the following need to be changed.

• pronouns

• tense

• place and time expression

1- Pronouns

In reported speech, changing the pronouns is common based on who is saying what.

Example:

He says, “My mom is a great singer.” – He says that his mom is a great singer.

2- Tenses

• If the sentence uses present tense, there is no need to change the tenses in the reported speech.

• If the sentence uses past tense, you will often need to change the tenses of the reported speech.

	Direct speech	Reported speech
(no backshift)	“I eat cake.”	She says that she eats cake.
(backshift)	“I eat cake.”	She said that she ate cake.

No backshift

Never change the tense when the introductory clause is in present tense. You may need to use a present tense verb in the reported speech.

Example:

She says, “I eat cake.” – She says that she eats cake.

Backshift

If the sentence is in past tense, your introductory clause’s tense must match that of the statement.

Example:

She said, “I need to sit.” – She said that she needed to sit.

Examples of changes in tense:

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Simple Present She said: “I need to sit.”	Simple Past She said that she needed to sit.
Present Progressive She said: “I’m searching for some change”	Past Progressive She said that she was searching for some change.
Simple Past He said: “I left my backpack at home.”	Past Perfect Simple He said that he had left his backpack at home.
Present Perfect He said: ” I’ve taken a trip to Japan “	Past Perfect He said that he had taken a trip to Japan.
Past Perfect He said: “They had eaten lunch before I had got there.”	Past Perfect He said that they had eaten lunch before he had gotten there.
Past Progressive He said: “I was doing homework when my pencil broke.”	Past Perfect Progressive He said that he had been doing homework when his pencil had broken.
Present Perfect Progressive He said: “I have been shopping all day.”	Past Perfect Progressive He said that he had been shopping all day.
Past Perfect Progressive He said: “I had been watching TV when the news came on.”	Past Perfect Progressive He said that he had been watching TV when the news had come on.”
Future Simple (will+verb) She said: “I will go to the office.”	Conditional (would+verb) She said that she would go to the office.
Conditional (would+verb) She said: “I would go to the movies if I was done with my work.”	Conditional (would+verb) She said that he would go to the movies if he was done with his work.

Usually, the modal verbs do not change. This includes words like should, would, needn’t, ought to, might, could, and used.

Example:

He said, “She might try to take my cookie.” – He said that she might try to take his cookie.

Other modal verbs might change:

Modal	Direct speech	Reported speech
can	“I can ride a bike.”	She said she could ride a bike.
may	“May I watch a movie?”	He wondered if he might watch a movie.
must	“She must feed the cat.”	Her dad said that she must/had to feed the cat.
will	“She will be at the park.”	He told her that she would be at the park.

3- Place, demonstratives and time expressions

Place, demonstratives and time expressions change when the reported statement changes context or is otherwise different from the direct speech. For example, if the period of time or location changed.

Use the table below to see the different changes of place, demonstratives and time expressions in the English language.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Time Expressions
today	that day
now	then
yesterday	the day before
… days ago	… days before
last week	the week before
next year	the following year
tomorrow	the next day / the following day
Place
here	there
Demonstratives
this	that
these	those

B. Reporting Questions

Before you can transform a question, you need to know if any of the following will change:

• pronouns

• tenses(backshift)

• place and time expressions

Also note that you must:

• transform questions into indirect questions

• use a question word, such as where, why, how, or who

Types of questions	Direct speech	Reported speech
With question word (what, why, where, how…)	“Why” haven’t you taken the trash out?”	She asked me why I hadn’t taken the trash out.
Without question word (yes or no questions)	“Did you like the movie?”	Sam asked me whether / if I liked the movie.

C. Reporting requests / commands

When requests or commands change, you need to check to see if these change:

• pronouns

• place and time expressions

Direct speech	Reported speech
“Jane, buy some cheese. “	He told Jane to buy some cheese.
“Jane, make me a sandwich.”	He asked Jane to make him a sandwich.

 

When you are making requests use to  / not to + verb (infinitive without “to”). Tenses are not important.

Example:

Sally said, “bake a cake.” – Sally asked me to bake a cake.

Tim said, “leave some for me” – Tim asked me to leave some for him.

Affirmative requests can use to + infinitive Negative requests can use not to + infinitive

D. Other transformations

Advice uses expressions like ought, must, or should. Words like advise or urge can also be used.

Example:

• “You ought to attend class.”

• Ted advised / urged me to go back to college.

Let’s is an expression that is often used with a suggestion. This is used in place of should.

Example:

• “Let’s climb a mountain.”

• 1. He suggested climbing a mountain.

• 2. He suggested that we should go climb a mountain.

Main clauses connected with and/but

When two complete main clauses are connected by a conjunction like and or but, use the word that as well.

Example:

She said,“I went to the movie but it was boring.” – She said that she had gone to the movie but that it was boring.”

If the subject isn’t in the second main clause, do not use that.

Example:

She said, “I went to Japan and rode in an airplane.” – She said that she went to Japan and rode in an airplane.