DIRECT & INDIRECT SPEECH
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
(UNIT 6)
QUOTE
 Nelson Mandela said: “Education is the most powerful
weapon which you can use to change the world.”
 = direct speech (directe rede)
 Nelson Mandela said that education is the most
powerful weapon which you can use to change the
world.

= indirect / reported speech (indirecte rede)
DIRECT → INDIRECT
 Tense change:
 DS:
“Come on, Robin, to the Bat Cave! There isn’t a
moment to lose!” – Batman
 IS: Batman said to Robin there wasn’t a moment to lose.
DIRECT → INDIRECT
 Note: the tense of the verb need not to be adapted
when the introducing verb is
in the present tense
 Batman says to Robin there isn’t a moment to lose.
 in the present perfect tense
 Batman has said to Robin there isn’t a moment to lose.
 in the future tense:
 Batman will say to Robin there isn’t a moment to lose.

DIRECT → INDIRECT
 Tense change:
 DS: “Come on, Robin, to the Bat Cave! There isn’t a moment
to lose!” – Batman
 IS: Batman said to Robin there wasn’t a moment to lose.
 With the introducing verb in the past tense and the
two speakers speaking in a different time frame, the
following adaptations have to be made:
present tenses → past tenses
 past and present perfect tenses → past perfect tenses

DIRECT → INDIRECT
 Modals change:
 DS: “Come on, Robin, to the Bat Cave! We can not lose
time!” – Batman
 IS: Batman said to Robin they could not lose time.
 When there is a modal inside a quote...
 will becomes would
 shall becomes should
 can becomes could
 must becomes had to
 may becomes might
DIRECT → INDIRECT
 Pronoun change:
 DS: “I just thought of something even funnier than 24… 25!”
- Spongebob
 IS: Spongebob said he just thought of something even
funnier than 24, namely 25!
DIRECT → INDIRECT
 Note: We usually change first-person personal
pronouns (I, we) to third person (he, she, they). This
depends completely on the context of the
sentence!
DIRECT → INDIRECT
 Time and place expressions (adverbials)
 DS: Yesterday my friend said: “I’ll come and see you here at
8 o’clock tomorrow for relationship day.”
 IS: Yesterday my friend said s/he would come and see me
there at 8 o’clock the next/following day.”
 If there are time or place elements in a quote, you
must change it to fit the time of the reporting.
DIRECT → INDIRECT
Time Expressions for Use in indirect speech
direct speech
now then
today that day, last Monday, etc.
yesterday the day before, the previous
day
tomorrow the next day, on Saturday,
etc.
this week that week
last week the week before
an hour ago an hour before
DIRECT SPEECH
 Punctuation:
Mandela said,“Education is the most powerful weapon.’
“Education is the most powerful weapon,” Mandela said.
“Is education the most powerful weapon?” Mandela asked.
 Put
“he said,” etc. before, in the middle, or after the
quote.
 Place commas, periods, question marks, and
exclamation points before the closing quotation mark.
(IN)DIRECT SPEECH: VERBS
 OTHER VERBS
Present Tense
answer
Past Tense
answered
declare
reply
say
declared
replied
said
state
tell [+ direct object]
utter
stated
told [+ direct object]
uttered
REPORTED QUESTIONS
 Example 1 (verb structure)
 DS: Bob Marley asked: “Did you shoot the sheriff?”
 IS: Bob Marley asked if you shot the sheriff.
 Example 2 (linking word in a yes/no-question)
 IS: Bob Marley asked if you shot the sheriff.
 IS: Bob Marley asked whether I shot the sheriff with a pistol
or a shotgun. (when there’s a choice between two items)
IMPERATIVES
 When reporting commands or requests, instead of
using that, use the infinitive to + verb instead.
DS: Pharrell says: “Clap along if you feel like a room without
a roof.”
 IS: Pharrell says to clap along if you feel like a room without
a roof.

CHECKLIST (DS – IS)
 change in verb tense
 change in modals
 change in pronouns
 change in place and time signifiers
 change in demonstrative pronouns (this, that,
these, those, etc.)
EXERCISES
 see hand-out
 see TB. pp. 119 – 123 - 124