DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

Direct speech means the exact words actually spoken by a person or
character. Direct speech is enclosed in inverted commas:
e.g.

Indirect speech (reported speech) means the conversation as it might have
been told (that is, reported) to someone else who did not hear the original
dialogue. There are no inverted commas in reported speech.
e.g.

‘I don’t believe you, Paul,’ said Melissa, ‘because I have spoken
to James myself.’
Melissa told Paul that she did not believe him, because she had
spoken to James herself.
When changing direct speech into indirect (reported) speech
o Verbs (tenses) – Past tense
 If the introductory verb (that is, the verb outside the inverted
commas) in the direct speech form is in the past tense, verbs
inside the inverted commas move one step back into the past.
e.g.
DIRECT SPEECH
‘You are wrong,’ Pieter
warned him.
‘You were wrong to do that,’
Thabo told him.
INDIRECT SPEECH
Pieter warned him that he was
wrong.
Thabo told him that he had
been wrong to do that.
o Verbs (tenses) – Future tense
 Changes from will to would
e.g.
DIRECT SPEECH
INDIRECT SPEECH
‘You will be in the wrong if you Chris said that Joseph would
do that, Joseph’ Chris said.
be in the wrong if he did that.
o Verbs (tenses) – Present tense
 If the introductory verb in the direct speech form is in the
present tense, verbs inside the inverted commas keep the
same tense –there is no change
e.g.
DIRECT SPEECH
Mickey says, ‘the riverboat
was here ten minutes ago’
Mickey says, ‘the riverboat will
be here in ten minutes.’
INDIRECT SPEECH
Mickey says that the riverboat
was here ten minutes ago.
Mickey says that the riverboat
will be here in ten minutes.
o Adverbs of time and place (time words) – if verbs are in the future
tense
DIRECT SPEECH
now
today
tomorrow
yesterday
here
there
INDIRECT SPEECH
then
that day or on that day
the next day or the following
day
the day before or the previous
day
there or in this place
in that place
o Adverbs of time and place (time words) – if verbs are in the
present tense.
 Stays the same
o Pronouns and possessive adjectives
 Pronouns and possessive adjectives change no matter what the
tense of the introductory verb is
DIRECT SPEECH
I
you
we
us
this
these
my
your
INDIRECT SPEECH
he or she
he, she, they or us
they
them
that
those
his or her
his, her, my or our
Rewrite the following direct sentences into indirect (reported) speech.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
“I am going out”, he said.
“You are an idiot!” he shouted.
“They are arriving tomorrow,” said Sigamoney.
“When is the rain going to stop?” she cried.
“My father went to mosque today,” said Waheeb.
“When my sister arrived here, she was very angry,” said Alice
“How am I supposed to study when you are talking all the time?” asked
Petrus.
“Go outside and water the garden now,” commanded my mother.
“If you don’t start studying now, you will definitely fail this year!” said my father
angrily.
“I don’t know where you will find him because he seems to have vanished,”
said Miriam.