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Direct vs. Reported Speech

Direct and reported speech are two different ways to say what someone else said.

In direct speech, we quote the exact words that a person said. We put quotation marks around their words and add a speech tag such as "he said" or "she asked" before or after the quote. For example:

"Are you free tonight?" she asked.
"I failed a test last week," she said.
He asked, "Have you seen any good movies lately?"

We can also use direct speech to say what someone is saying right now, as in: She says, "Hurry up."

Reported speech is another way of saying what someone said, but without quotation marks. Reported speech doesn't usually repeat the words exactly as the person said them. It typically changes the tense of the verbs. For example, if the speaker used a present tense verb, we change it to the past tense. If the speaker used a past tense verb, we change it to past perfect. We also change pronouns and time expressions.

See how the quotations given in direct speech above look in reported speech. Notice the changes in verb tense:

She asked if I was free that night.
She said she had failed an exam the week before.
He asked if I had seen any good movies lately.

Direct vs. Reported Speech Grammar Quiz

  1. He said Paul Nash beautiful pictures of war scenes.

  2. She asked, "Where from."

  3. Marie asked me if I of a good lunch spot.

  4. He told the truck driver that been everywhere.

  5. " in a risk-free trial of a timeshare off the coast of Guadalajara?" asked the saleswoman.

Go Super to see the answers! Go Super!

Direct vs. Reported Speech Lessons:

Zayn Malik

Bad Manners

The Expat Bubble

TV on the Radio

Off My Chest

Star Trek

Where the Wild Things Are

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Comments

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Angels.95

Italy

Kiss

04:39 PM May 18 2011 |

sara70

sara70

Saudi Arabia

Zudyxxx many thanx for ur explaining

11:02 PM Mar 24 2011 |

1 person likes this

tsuna

Philippines

it's realy nice!!!!!

03:57 AM Jan 30 2011 |

1 person likes this

wehel Amir

wehel Amir

Somalia

thank u so much.i so happy 4 this lesson.

10:49 PM Oct 11 2010 |

Joey-k

Joey-k

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

he asked me how to play 

03:11 AM Sep 26 2010 |

zudyxxxx

zudyxxxx

Jordan

Reported Speech
A) Changes in the sentences:
1- Pronouns:
Direct Speech Reported Speech
-I
-We
-You ( speaking to one person)
-You ( speaking to 2 persons or more)
-My
-Your ( for one person )
-Your ( for 2 person or more)
-Our
-Myself ( for a boy / a man )
-Yourself ( speaking to one person )
-Yourself ( speaking to 2 persons or more)
-Ourselves He / She
They
I / me
We / us
His / Her
My
Our
Their
Himself / Herself
Myself
Ourselves
themselves
2- Time indicators: الكلمات الدالة
Direct Speech Reported Speech
- Now
- at the moment
- at this time
- today
- tomorrow
- yesterday
- ago
-
- the following
- the coming days/ weeks/ years/
- soon
- later
- in the future
- last night
week
Year
then
-that day
-the following / the coming / the next day
-the day before
-before
days / weeks/ years/ 2 hours…after.
-soon
-later
-in the future
-the night
week before.
Year
3-Related words:
this that
these those
4- Tenses:
Direct Speech Reported Speech
- be ( am / is / are ) Was / were
- be ( was / were ) Had been
- will be Would be
- Present simple Past simple
- Present continuous
( am / is / are + verb + ing ) Past continuous
( was / were + verb + ing )
- Present Perfect
( have / has + p. p (التصريف الثالث ) Past Perfect
( had + p. p (التصريف الثالث ) )
- Past Simple Past Perfect or past simple
( had + p. p (التصريف الثالث ) )
- Past continuous
( was / were + verb + ing ) Past Perfect Continuous
( had + been + verb + ing )
- Past perfect
( had + p. p (التصريف الثالث ) ) Past Perfect
( had + p. p (التصريف الثالث ) )
- will would
- can could
- Should
- Have to
- Has to
- Have got to
- Has got to
Had to = infinitive verb
- Had better Had better
B) Types of Reported Speech:
1- Statements: ((جمل تقريرية
He said that…...................
He told that…..........................
He mentioned that…..................... + the necessary changes in the tables.
He stated that…...............................
2- Commands:
a- Orders: أوامر
– He ordered (me / us / him…...)
– He told (me / us / him….....) + to + the verb in the sentence.
– She / they wanted (me / us / him…...)
b- Prohibition and warning: منع و تحذير
Examples: Don’t….........
Never…........
– He warned (me / us / him….)
– She told (me / us / him….....) + not to + the verb in the sentence.
– They asked( طلب ) (me / us / him….) (without never and don’t)
3- Questions:
a- WH-Question: ( questions with where, what, when, how, why…......................)
نبدأ بنفس كلمة التساؤل مع إعادة الجملة إلى الصيغة التقريرية و إدخال التغييرات اللازمة.
“Where did you go last night?
My father asked me where I had gone the night before.
b- Yes / No Question: questions that start with: Do/ Did/ Have / Has / Will / Would/ Can..?
*Do you want to join us?
They asked me if I wanted to join them or not

10:32 PM Jul 04 2010 |

Ridiom

Ridiom

Peru

"what about talking this man who writes several commets here?" I asked myself.

10:28 PM Jun 14 2010 |

1 person likes this

Sayed01

Afghanistan

It is very useful… thanks

06:14 AM Jun 07 2010 |

drl_ceo

drl_ceo

Turkey

not enough :(

12:11 PM Mar 27 2010 |