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Anglais[1]

The document explains the differences between direct speech and indirect speech, highlighting that direct speech quotes exactly what someone said using quotation marks, while indirect speech paraphrases it without quotes and often changes the verb tense. It provides examples demonstrating how various tenses and modal verbs change when converting from direct to indirect speech. Additionally, it discusses necessary changes in time expressions and place references when reporting speech at a different time or location.

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2 views

Anglais[1]

The document explains the differences between direct speech and indirect speech, highlighting that direct speech quotes exactly what someone said using quotation marks, while indirect speech paraphrases it without quotes and often changes the verb tense. It provides examples demonstrating how various tenses and modal verbs change when converting from direct to indirect speech. Additionally, it discusses necessary changes in time expressions and place references when reporting speech at a different time or location.

Uploaded by

sujayakrisha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Direct Speech / Quoted 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.

Example:

She said, "Today's lesson is on presentations."

or

"Today's lesson is on presentations", she said.

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 reporting speech the tense usually changes. This is because when we use reported speech,
we are usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person who spoke
originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too.

For example:

Direct speech Indirect speech


"I'm going to the cinema", he said. He said he was going to the cinema.
Tense change
As a rule when you report something someone has said you go back a tense: (the tense on the left
changes to the tense on the right):

Direct speech Indirect speech


Present simple › Past simple
Grammaire1 Gokulakishnan, chef du département de Français , l’école de Zion , Chennai 73
She said, "It's cold."
She said it was cold.

Present continuous
She said, "I'm teaching English online." › Past continuous
She said she was teaching English online.
Present perfect simple
She said, "I've been on the web since › Past perfect simple
She said she had been on the web since 1999.
1999."
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, "I've been teaching English for › She said she had been teaching English for seven
seven years." years.
Past simple
She said, "I taught online yesterday." › Past perfect
She said she had taught online yesterday.
Past continuous
She said, "I was teaching earlier." › Past perfect continuous
She said she had been teaching earlier.
Past perfect Past perfect
She said, "The lesson had already started › NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already
when he arrived." started when he arrived.
Past perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, "I'd already been teaching for › NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been
five minutes." teaching for five minutes.
Modal verb forms also sometimes change:

Direct speech Indirect speech


would
will
She said, "I'll teach English online tomorrow." › She said she would teach English online
tomorrow.
can
She said, "I can teach English online." › could
She said she could teach English online.

must had to
She said, "I must have a computer to teach › She said she had to have a computer to teach
English online." English online.
shall
She said, "What shall we learn today?" › should
She asked what we should learn today.
may
She said, "May I open a new browser?" › might
She asked if she might open a new browser.

Grammaire2 Gokulakishnan, chef du département de Français , l’école de Zion , Chennai 73


!Note - There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.

Direct speech Indirect speech


"I might go to the cinema", he said. He said he might go to the cinema.
You can use the present tense in reported speech if you want to say that something is still true i.e.
my name has always been and will always be Patra so:-

Direct speech Indirect speech


She said her name was Patra.

or
"My name is Patra", she said.

She said her name is Patra.

You can also use the present tense if you are talking about a future event.

Direct speech (exact quote) Indirect speech (not exact)


She said next week's lesson will be on reported
"Next week's lesson is on reported
speech.
speech", she said.

Time change
If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the time
of reporting.

For example we need to change words like here and yesterday if they have different meanings at
the time and place of reporting.

Now + 24 hours - Indirect speech


She said yesterday's lesson was on
presentations.

or
"Today's lesson is on presentations."

She said yesterday's lesson would be on


presentations.

Grammaire3 Gokulakishnan, chef du département de Français , l’école de Zion , Chennai 73


Expressions of time if reported on a different day
this (evening) › that (evening)
today › yesterday ...
these (days) › those (days)
now › Then
(a week) ago › (a week) before
last weekend › the weekend before last / the previous weekend
here › There
next (week) › the following (week)
tomorrow › the next/following day
In addition if you report something that someone said in a different place to where you heard it
you must change the place (here) to the place (there).

Grammaire4 Gokulakishnan, chef du département de Français , l’école de Zion , Chennai 73

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