Direct and reported speech
The sequence of tenses
Direct and indirect
(reported) speech


In direct (quoted) speech (priama reč)
inverted commas, or quotation marks
(úvodzovky) are used to indicate limits of
a statement, question, command or
invitation.
In indirect (reported) speech (nepriama
reč) the speaker reports or reproduces the
statement, question, command or
invitation uttered in the present or past.
Direct and reported
speech
Direct speech
Jim: „I am his
brother.“
Jim: „Will you come
Mary?“
Jim: „Come here,
Mary“.
Jim: „Come here,
please.“

Reported speech
Jim says that he is his
brother.
Jim asks if she will
come.
Jim orders her to
come here.
Jim invites her to
come here.

When we want to repeat someone else's
words we can do it in three ways:
1. Repeat the exact words using inverted
commas (direct speech):
e.g. She said: „I have a degree in
Economics“.
When we want to repeat someone else's
words we can do it in three ways:
2. Use reported speech with reporting verb
in the present, present perfect or future
tense (no change of tense occurs):
e.g. She says that she has a degree in
Economics.
e.g. She has said that she has a degree in
Economics.
When we want to repeat someone else's
words we can do it in three ways:
3. Use reported speech with reporting
verb in the past tense (with change of
tense):
e.g. She said that she had a degree in
Economics.
Direct and reported
speech



The most common reporting verbs are: tell, say,
ask.
There are also other reporting verbs: exclaim,
suggest, whisper, reply, cry, reflect, suppose,
grunt, snarl, hiss etc.
The reporting verb may come at the beginning, in the
middle, or at the end of the quoted sentence:
e.g. „The question is,“ he whispered, „what to do next“.
e.g. „The question is what to do next,“ he whispered.
Reporting questions



When reporting verb is in the past or past
perfect tense, the same tense changes occur
as in the statements.
Reported questions do not have the same
word order as direct questions.
We do not use „do“ or question marks.
e.g. When does your boss come to the office?
He asked me when my boss came to the
office.
Reporting „yes/no“
questions

Yes/no questions are reproduced by an
if-clause or a whether-clause and
verbs like ask, enquire, want to know.
e.g. „Is John in his office?“
He asks if John is in his office.
Reporting „wh-questions“

Wh-questions are reproduced by an
interrogative pronoun (who, which,
where, why, what, when, how, how
much etc.), and verbs like ask, enquire,
want to know.
e.g. „What is she doing?“
He wants to know what she is doing.

The whole reported sentence
represents an indirect question and,
syntactically, an object clause.
Reporting commands and
invitations


Commands and invitations are reproduced by an
infinitive, and by verbs like ask, command,
order, tell, request, invite.
A negative command is reported by a negative
infinitive.
e.g. „Stand up“!
He ordered us to stand up.
e.g. „Show me the car please.
He asked me to show him the car.“
Back-shift rules

If the reporting clause is in the present,
future, or present perfect, the reported
clause is in the same tense as direct speech:
e.g. „You will go there“.
He says that you will go there.
He will say that you will go there.
He has said that you will go there.
Back-shift rules

-
-
-
When the reporting clause is in the past or
past perfect, the reported clause undergoes
changes in:
tenses (sequence of tenses, back-shift of
verbs, časová súslednosť),
pronouns (personal, reflexive, possessive,
demonstrative),
adverbs of place and time (distancing
rule).
Shift in tenses
-
Direct speech
present (simple or
continuous)
present perfect
past
past perfect
future
-
present conditional

-
-
-

-
-
-
Reported speech
past (simple or
continuous)
past perfect
past perfect
past perfect
future in the past
(should, would)
past conditional
Shift in pronouns

-
-
-
Direct speech
I, me, my, mine,
myself
we, us, our, ours,
ourselves
this, these

-
-
-
Reported speech
he/she, him/her,
his/her, his/hers,
himself/herself
they, them, their,
theirs, themselves
that, those
Shift in adverbs

-
-
-
-
Direct speech
here
now
today
tomorrow
yesterday
ago
last week/year
next

-
-
-
Reported speech
there
then
that day
the next day
the previous day/the
day before
before
the week/year before
following
The back-shift rule is
disregarded in the following
instances:

When the present tense expresses
a universal fact which can be
applied not only to the time of the
utterance, but is valid in general
(universal truths about the Earth,
the Sun, physical quality of
materials, quotation of learned
people, irrevocable facts).
e.g. He said that the Earth revolves
round the Sun.
(not the past tense because the
truth about the Earth's revolving
round the Sun is general)
The back-shift rule is
disregarded in the following
instances:
When the present tense expresses a
repeated, characteristic, habitual or
customary action.
e.g. Susan: „I go to music school on
Tuesdays.“
Susan said that she goes to music
school on Tuesday.
(she usually goes and perhaps will go in
future, it is a repeated and habitual
action)

The back-shift rule is
disregarded in the following
instances:
The modal verbs must, ought to,
should, would, might do not change.
e.g. „I must do it“.
He said that he must do it.
He said that he had to do it.
e.g. „I would do it.“
He said that he would do it.
e.g. „They may come.“
He said that they may come.

Further Reading:

Dano, F.: Practical English Syntax.
Katedra anglistiky. Nitra. Pedagogická
fakulta 1991 (pp. 93-95)