2/14/25, 3:55 PM Indirect or reported speech | Department for General Assembly and Conference Management
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Editorial Manual
Indirect or reported speech
Indirect speech conveys a report of something that was said or written rather than the
exact words that were spoken or written. It is used in many United Nations
documents, including summary records and reports on the proceedings of
intergovernmental bodies. Indirect speech is not enclosed in quotation marks.
When converting direct, or quoted, speech to indirect, or reported, speech, several
changes must be made. First, it is necessary to add a principal, or reporting, clause
that contains a verb of saying, thinking or reporting in the past tense (She stated
that...). Next, a corresponding shift is made in the verb tenses, pronouns and certain
other words in the original statement:
Direct: The election is being held today.
Indirect: The Acting President confirmed that the election was being held that
day [or on a specific date].
In a summary of a speech or discussion, the reporting clause must be added initially
to establish the pattern of indirect speech but should not be included in every
subsequent sentence. The shift in verb tenses, pronouns and other words signals the
fact that the words are being reported.
Verb tenses
The verb tenses are normally changed as follows:
Direct speech to Indirect speech
Present Past
Present perfect Past perfect
Past Past perfect
Past perfect No change
Future (shall, will) Secondary future (should, would)
Future perfect (will have) Secondary future perfect (would have)
Conditional No change normally
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The following examples illustrate these rules:
Present to past tense
Direct: Fifteen States are members of the working group.
Indirect: The Secretary of the Council reported that 15 States were members of
the working group.
Even though the original statement may still be valid at the time of reporting, the verb
is changed from the present to the past tense since it must agree with the verb in the
main clause, which, whether stated or understood, is in the past tense.
Note: This rule is not necessarily applied to statements that are universally true:
The speaker noted that, under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
everyone has [not had] the right to life, liberty and security of person.
However, in summary records, the verb is always changed from the present to
the past:
The speaker noted that, under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone
had the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Present perfect to past perfect tense
Direct: The investigators have been conducting hearings on security issues for
several days.
Indirect: The Director noted that the investigators had been conducting hearings
on security issues for several days.
Past to past perfect tense
Direct: The Chair resigned last week.
Indirect: It was announced that the Chair had resigned the previous week.
Past perfect tense (no change)
Direct: The Board had been following the question closely for some time.
Indirect: The Director General acknowledged that the Board had been following
the question closely for some time.
Future to secondary future tense
Direct: We will honour the ceasefire.
Indirect: The insurgents stated that they would honour the ceasefire.
Future perfect to secondary future perfect tense
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2/14/25, 3:55 PM Indirect or reported speech | Department for General Assembly and Conference Management
Direct: to the
Welcome By United
2015 Nations
the number will have doubled.
(https://www.un.org/en)
Indirect: It was estimated that by 2015 the number would have doubled.
Conditional tense (no change)
Direct: If the necessary funding were available, the programme would be put
into operation.
Indirect: The Director said that if the necessary funding were available, the
programme would be put into operation.
Special verb forms
Some auxiliary verbs, such as must and ought to, have only one form, which is used in
both direct and indirect speech. When should is used as an auxiliary, the form does
not change either.
Direct: Delegations [must/ought to/should] limit their statements to five
minutes.
Indirect: The Chairperson emphasized that delegations [must/ought to/should]
limit their statements to five minutes.
The infinitive form can often be used to avoid cumbersome or awkward constructions
in reported speech.
Direct: It is reported that the situation is grave.
Indirect: She told the Council that the situation was reported to be grave.
(Awkward: She told the Council that it was reported that the situation was grave.)
In that-clauses with verbs such as demand, ask, recommend and suggest, either the
present subjunctive (He suggested that the Committee adopt the text) or should plus
the infinitive (He suggested that the Committee should adopt the text) may be used.
Pronouns, possessives and demonstratives
The changes required in pronouns, possessive adjectives and demonstratives are as
follows:
Direct speech to Indirect speech
I he, she
me him, her
my his, her, the
mine his, hers
we they
us them
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our their, the
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ours theirs
you they, them
your their, the
yours theirs
this that, the
these those, the
Adverbs and adjectives
Adverbs and adjectives denoting time and place may have to be changed as follows:
Direct speech to Indirect speech
here there
now, at the present time then, at the time
present existing, current
today that day, at the time
tomorrow the day after, the next day
yesterday the day before, the previous day
ago before, earlier
Questions and exclamations
The rules set out above also apply to questions and exclamations. In addition, the
final punctuation mark (question mark or exclamation point) should be changed to a
full stop (period) in an indirect statement. In some cases, the word order may have to
be changed slightly. When converting a direct question to an indirect one, the subject
and verb often have to be inverted.
Question
Direct: Why should we include this question in the agenda?
Indirect: Several Committee members asked why they should include the
question in the agenda.
Exclamation
Direct: Such acts of aggression should not be tolerated by the international
community!
Indirect: The Ambassador declared that such acts of aggression should not be
tolerated by the international community.
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Differing
Welcome styles
to the United in reports
Nations (https://www.un.org/en)
A mixture of direct and indirect styles in a summary of a statement or discussion
should be avoided whenever possible. When, however, an account of the proceedings
of an intergovernmental body is followed by the conclusions or recommendations put
forward by the body, different tenses are often used. While the proceedings are
summarized in indirect speech (past tense), the conclusions or recommendations are
normally written in the present tense. In such cases, the conclusions and
recommendations should be clearly set off from the summary by means of a heading
or subheading.
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Abbreviations (/dgacm/en/content/editorial-manual/abbreviations)
Capitalization in English (/dgacm/en/content/editorial-manual/capitalization)
Indirect or reported speech (/dgacm/en/content/editorial-manual/indirect-
speech)
Italics and bold print (/dgacm/en/content/editorial-manual/italics)
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time)
Punctuation (/dgacm/en/content/editorial-manual/punctuation)
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