An Indirect speech is also called a reported speech, or secondary speech means the speech, which has spoken indirectly. Learning to use proper grammar is an important part of studying the French language. One element of that is direct and indirect speech, or when you are speaking about what someone else has said. When the answer can be given in yes or no – Do not use the word ‘that’ in the reporting speech, Remove question mark and quotation mark and use ‘if’ or ‘whether’. The quotation marks are the primary indication of a direct speech. Therefore, it is crucial to take them out if you are forming an indirect one.

The speaker’s words or statements are mentioned in a single phrase pattern or direct discussion. The speech has two main types, Direct speech, and Indirect speech, respectively. If we want to describe the speech of some other people with other people in our own words, that speech is called a Reported speech or Narration. There are a few grammar rules that you should know when it comes to these styles of speech and this French grammar lesson will walk you through the basics. When the answer has to be given in detail – Remove question mark and quotation mark, and neither use that nor if.

Definition of Direct Speech

It is also called straight speech or quoted speech, which is spoken or written directly in the text by the speaker, writer, or the first person, who is going to speak with anyone with him. There are many occasions in which we need to describe an event or action that happened, and very often that includes repeating what someone said. Such occasions can include a social situation as well as in a work email or presentation. In order to describe what people said there are two different types of speech – direct speech and indirect speech . In indirect speech, you are referencing what another person has said without quoting them directly. For direct and indirect speech worksheets and activities to help your child put the theory into practice look through our punctuation worksheets.

Past indefinite is changed into past perfect tense. Present perfect is changed into the past perfect tense. You really have to think about when the direct speech was said. He told us not to smoke.Click here for an exercise to practise reported requests and orders. Click here for a mixed tense exercise about practise reported statements.

Table of Contents

She asked me to pass the milk.Would you mind coming early tomorrow? He saidthathe had completed his assignment the previous day. In the English language, there are certain ways to express the spoken words between two people. A phrasal verb is a verb that has two or sometimes three words.

When we use indirect speech, we’re reporting what was said. Let’s now look at some specific examples to learn how to change speech from direct to indirect. These examples will also reinforce the difference between direct and indirect speech. When converting a direct request to an indirect request, writers need to pay attention if the request is a request with an indicator such as please, or if it is a command or order. If the request contains a word such as please, the backshift verb in the indirect speech can be a verb such as asked. If the request is a command or an order, then the backshift verb can be a verb such as told or ordered. Also, writers need to change the pronouns accordingly.

Using “Said” with Direct and Indirect Speech

This page is very useful.thank you very much.now I am clear in directed speech. My girlfriend asked whether she liked horror films. The teacher said, I have often told you don,t play with fire. This content is accurate https://accounting-services.net/ and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional. You requested your father to grant him leave for some time.

• An interrogative sentence is a sentence which interrogates or ask questions.
• If the request contains a word such as please, the backshift verb in the indirect speech can be a verb such as asked.
• The verb, which is used in a reporting speech to report something in a direct speech, is called a reporting verb.
• For example, if the verb in the direct speech is play, after applying backshift, it will change to played in the indirect speech.

Sam was excited to see a broomstick and a black pointy hat in the back of his teacher’s car. He told his friend Louise about this and that he thought their teacher might be a witch. Louise had to point out that the things in their teacher’s car were for the school play. Do you know there are four types of sentences?

Direct and Indirect Questions

Since there are no quotation marks in indirect speech, only the first letter of the sentence must be written in capital letter. Want to test your English grammar skills in a fun way? Take this direct and indirect speech quiz to see how well you know about these two types of reported Direct, Indirect Speech speech. There are different ways in which we can report a speech, that is, either by using direct or indirect speech. In the case of indirect speech, the report uses the same words as the speaker, whereas, in indirect speech, we do not use the speaker’s exact words.

The original words are modified and/or interpreted as opposed to being quoted. The sentences are placed between two quotations. When writers write about phrases or sentences a source has said, they can use either direct speech or indirect speech.

Direct Speech Indirect Speech Lisa asked, ”What did you eat for lunch? To change this question to indirect speech, we changed the verb to past tense and kept the question word. What if the direct speech is already written in the past tense? If the sentence is written in simple past tense, you just remove the punctuation and change the verb to past perfect to make it indirect speech. When writers repeat words or phrases directly from a source, they are using direct speech .

• Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.
• This page is very useful.thank you very much.now I am clear in directed speech.
• My brother said that he had gone to school the next day.
• If the reporting verb is in the past tense, you should change the tense of the verb inside the reported speech into its past tense.
• In these examples, the present has become the past , the future has become the future-in-the-past and the past has become the past perfect .
• On the other hand, indirect speech is one that reports something said or written by another person, without making the use of exact words.

When should is used as an auxiliary, the form does not change either. 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. If the reporting verb is in the past tense, you should change the tense of the verb inside the reported speech into its past tense. This is not necessary if the reporting verb is in the present or future tense. In linguistics, indirect speech is a grammatical mechanism for reporting the content of another utterance without directly quoting it.

For yes/no questions, the word “if” must be inserted in the indirect speech. However, for other questions, the question word stays in place. The verb tense is further back in the indirect speech; backshift must be applied to the verbs when converting direct speech to indirect speech. For example, “want” in direct speech will become “wanted” in indirect speech. In reported or indirect speech we must also pay attention to the use of pronouns.

When converting a direct question to an indirect one, the subject and verb often have to be inverted. An indirect statement or question can replace the direct object of a verb that is related to thought or communication. If the direct speech is written in simple past tense, you just remove the punctuation and change the verb to past perfect to make it indirect speech. When converting speech from direct to indirect, you must change the present tense verbs to the past tense and remove any quotation marks or commas. Direct speech, sometimes called quoted speech, is the speech that is repeated verbatim or quoted from the original source. Direct speech is always placed inside quotations. Direct speech can be a statement, a question, or a request.

Other Verb Form Changes in Reported Speech

Direct speech can be used in virtually every tense in English. You can use it to describe something in the present tense – to express something that is happening in the present moment, or make it feel like it is happening right now. Direct speech includes the writer’s interpretation or paraphrase of what someone has said. As a member, you’ll also get unlimited access to over 84,000 lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you succeed. Jennifer taught 9th grade ELA and AP Literature for over 8 years.

Reported speech is a speech that is always in an inverted comma or quotation marks. When we report a question we normally use the verb ‘ask’. As with the verb ‘to tell’, the verb ‘to ask’ is normally followed by an object pronoun, though it is possible to omit it. Indirect speech tends to be more complicated than direct speech because it requires certain changes . There are three primary changes that may need to be made. The line of speech ends with a comma, exclamation mark or question mark. My brother said that he had gone to school the previous day.