How to Use Direct and Indirect Speech
There are two main types of reported speech: direct speech and indirect speech.
“Reported speech” is when we talk about what somebody else said – for example: Direct Speech: “I've been to London three times.” Reported Speech: She said she'd been to London three times.
To convert direct speech to reported speech, we must change all the present tenses in the direct speech to the corresponding past tenses in the reported speech. Example: Fiona said, "You are late." - Fiona said that I was late.
Everyday Grammar: Mastering Reported Speech
It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.) But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech: Direct speech: I like ice cream. Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.
General rules for changing direct speech into indirect speech. Omit all inverted commas or quotation marks. End the sentence with a full stop. If the verb inside the inverted commas/quotation marks is in the present tense, change it into the corresponding past tense.
How to Teach Reported Speech in 3 Steps
Fun ways of practising Reported Speech
Reported speech is speech which tells you what someone said, but does not use the person's actual words: for example, 'They said you didn't like it', 'I asked her what her plans were', and 'Citizens complained about the smoke'.
Direct speech is a sentence in which the exact words spoken are reproduced in speech marks (also known as quotation marks or inverted commas). For example: "You'll never guess what I've just seen!" said Sam, excitedly.
When we want to report what someone said without speech marks and without necessarily using exactly the same words, we can use indirect speech (also called reported speech). For example: Direct speech: “We're quite cold in here.” Indirect speech: They say (that) they're cold.
Speech reports consist of two parts: the reporting clause and the reported clause. The reporting clause includes a verb such as say, tell, ask, reply, shout, usually in the past simple, and the reported clause includes what the original speaker said. … Direct speech is a representation of the actual words someone said.
The definition of direct is something that is the shortest way or someone honest and to the point. An example of direct is a non-stop plane trip from Los Angeles to Seattle. An example of direct is someone telling a friend they would look better wearing make up.
Direct speech is writing down or reporting the actual words that were said by a speaker; “I'm looking forward to playing football on Saturday,” Max said.
Also called reported discourse. Traditionally, two broad categories of reported speech have been recognized: direct speech (in which the original speaker's words are quoted word for word) and indirect speech (in which the original speaker's thoughts are conveyed without using the speaker's exact words).
When we want to report what someone said without speech marks and without necessarily using exactly the same words, we can use indirect speech (also called reported speech). For example: Direct speech: “We're quite cold in here.” Indirect speech: They say (that) they're cold.
Usually indirect speech is introduced by the verb said, as in I said, Bill said, or they said. Using the verb say in this tense, indicates that something was said in the past. In these cases, the main verb in the reported sentence is put in the past.
The given sentence is in direct speech. Direct Speech : "What do you want ?" he said to her. ... The given sentence, correctly converted to indirect speech, is : Indirect Speech : He asked her what she wanted.
To convert a direct speech into Indirect Speech, the pronoun (subject or object) a sentence is changed. ... In the above example, the pronoun (I) is changed to pronoun (he) in Indirect Speech. This sentence has two parts: a reporting verb (e.g. He said) and a reported speech (e.g. I like music).
Direct or quoted speech is spoken or written text that reports speech or thought in its original form phrased by the original speaker; in narrative, it is usually enclosed in quotation marks but can be enclosed in guillemets.