Direct and indirect speech can be a source of confusion for English learners. Here we will define the terms, how to convert speech from direct to indirect or vice-versa, and examples of direct to indirect speech.
In order to describe what people said there are two different types of speech – direct speech and indirect speech (or reported speech).
How to use direct speech?
1. Direct Speech is the reporting of speech by repeating the actual words of a speaker:
- “I'm going,” she said.
2. The sentence is said as you mentioned, but after or before it the speaker is mentioned, and quotation marks are required in writing direct speech:
- "I need to go to the store," said my wife.
- My wife said, "I need to go to the store".
3. Direct speech can be seen in books, in an article, or in the news:
- The local MP said, “We plan to make this city a safer place for everyone.”
How to use indirect speech?
Indirect Speech or (reported speech) Adapted from direct speech, paraphrasing the speech of the speaker.
When we want to report what someone said without speech marks and without necessarily using exactly the same words, we can use indirect speech:
- Direct speech: My wife said, "I need to go to the store".
- Indirect Speech: My wife said that she needed to go to the store.
How to convert direct to indirect speech?
All the other tenses follow a similar change in indirect speech. Here is an example for all the main tenses:
| Direct speech | Indirect speech |
|---|---|
| simple present He said, "I go to school every day." | simple past He said (that) he went to school every day. |
| simple past He said, "I went to school every day." | past perfect He said (that) he had gone to school every day. |
| present perfect He said, "I have gone to school every day." | past perfect He said (that) he had gone to school every day. |
| present progressive He said, "I am going to school every day." | past progressive He said (that) he was going to school every day. |
| past progressive He said, "I was going to school every day." | perfect progressive He said (that) he had been going to school every day, |
| future (will) He said, "I will go to school every day." | would + verb name He said (that) he would go to school every day. |
| future (going to) He said, "I am going to school every day." | present progressive He said (that) he is going to school every day. |
| future (going to) He said, "I am going to school every day." | past progressive He said (that) he was going to school every day |
| auxiliary + verb name He said, "Do you go to school every day?" He said, "Where do you go to school?" | simple past He asked me if I went to school every day.* He asked me where I went to school. |
| imperative He said, "Go to school every day." | infinitive He said to go to school every day. |
| simple present + simple present He says, "I go to school every day." | simple present + simple present He says (that) he goes to school every day. |
| present perfect + simple present He has said, "I go to school every day." | present perfect + simple present He has said (that) he goes to school every day. |
| past progressive + simple past He was saying, "I went to school every day." | past progressive + simple past He was saying (that) he went to school every day. |
| past progressive + simple past He was saying, "I went to school every day." | past progressive + past perfect He was saying (that) he had gone to school every day. |
| future + simple present He will say, "I go to school every day." | future + simple present He will say (that) he goes to school every day. |
| can He said, "I can go to school every day." | could He said (that) he could go to school every day. |
| may He said, "I may go to school every day." | might He said (that) he might go to school every day. |
| might He said, "I might go to school every day." | might He said (that) he might go to school every day. |
| have to He said, "I have to go to school every day." | had to He said (that) he had to go to school every day. |
| should He said, "I should go to school every day." | should He said (that) he should go to school every day. |
| ought to He said, "I ought to go to school every day." | ought to He said (that) he ought to go to school every day. |
Examples of direct and indirect speech
Some examples of direct and indirect speech in English:
| Direct speech | Indirect speech |
|---|---|
| I am a beekeeper. | He said he was a beekeeper. |
| I was afraid of spiders when I was a little girl. | She said she had been afraid of spiders when she was a little girl. |
| They said, “They had taken a walk.” | They said that they had taken a walk. |
| We enjoy making breakfast together. | They said that they enjoyed making breakfast together. |
| “He can eat an entire watermelon," his wife said. | His wife said that he could eat an entire watermelon. |
| Where is the Post Office, please? | She asked me where the Post Office was. |
| What are you doing? | She asked me what I was doing. |
| Who was that fantastic man? | She asked me who that fantastic man had been. |
| Do you love me? | He asked me if I loved him. |
| Have you ever been to Mexico? | She asked me if I had ever been to Mexico. |
| Are you living here? | She asked me if I was living here. |
| Please help me. | She asked me to help her. |
| Please don't smoke. | She asked me not to smoke. |
| Could you bring my book tonight? | She asked me to bring her book that night. |
| Could you pass the milk, please? | She asked me to pass the milk. |
| Would you mind coming early tomorrow? | She asked me to come early the next day. |
| Go to bed! | He told the child to go to bed. |
| Don't worry! | He told her not to worry. |
| Be on time! | He told me to be on time. |
| Don't smoke! | He told us not to smoke. |
References