DIRECT AND INDIRECT

SPEECH
Direct and indirect speech can be a source of confusion for English learners. Let's first define the
terms, then look at how to talk about what someone said, and how to convert speech from direct to
indirect or vice-versa.

You can answer the question What did he say? in two ways:

 by repeating the words spoken (direct speech)

 by reporting the words spoken (indirect or reported speech).

DIRECT SPEECH
Direct speech repeats, or quotes, the exact words spoken. When we use direct speech in writing,
we place the words spoken between quotation marks (" ") and there is no change in these words.
We may be reporting something that's being said NOW (for example a telephone conversation), or
telling someone later about a previous conversation.

EXAMPLES
 She says, "What time will you be home?"
 She said, "What time will you be home?" and I said, "I don't know! "
 "There's a fly in my soup!" screamed Simone.
 John said, "There's an elephant outside the window."

INDIRECT SPEECH
Reported or indirect speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense
of the words spoken. We use reporting verbs like 'say', 'tell', 'ask', and we may use the word 'that' to
introduce the reported words. Inverted commas are not used.

She said, "I saw him." (direct speech) = She said  that she had seen him. (indirect
speech)

'That' may be omitted:

She told him that she was happy. = She told him she was happy.

'SAY' AND 'TELL'

Use 'say' when there is no indirect object:
He said that he was tired.
Always use 'tell' when you say who was being spoken to (i.e. with an indirect object):
He told me that he was tired.

'TALK' AND 'SPEAK'

Use these verbs to describe the action of communicating:
He talked to us.
She was speaking on the telephone.

Use these verbs with 'about' to refer to what was said:

He talked (to us) about his parents.

Conditionals

What are conditionals in English grammar? Sometimes we call them 'if clauses'.
They describe the result of something that might happen (in the present or future)
or might have happened but didn't (in the past) . They are made using different
English verb tenses.
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There are four main kinds of conditionals:

 The Zero Conditional:

(if + present simple, ... present simple)
If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.

 The First Conditional:

(if + present simple, ... will + infinitive)
If it rains tomorrow, we'll go to the cinema.
The Second Conditional:
(if + past simple, ... would + infinitive)
If I had a lot of money, I would travel around the world.
 The Third Conditional
(if + past perfect, ... would + have + past participle)
If I had gone to bed early, I would have caught the train.

THE UNREAL PAST

The past tense is sometimes used in English to refer to an unreal situation. So, although the verb
tense is in the past, we are actually talking about something that didn't happen. This is often the
case in conditional sentences when we are talking about a hypothetical situation that might exist
now or at any time. We call this use of the past tense "the unreal past".

The unreal past is used after conditional words and expressions like if, supposing, if only, what
if; after the verb to wish; and after the expression I'd rather.

CONDITIONAL WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

The expressions if, supposing, if only, what if can be used to introduce hypothetical situations
and followed by the simple past tense to indicate that the condition they introduce is imaginary.

EXAMPLES
 Supposing an elephant and a mouse fell in love.
 What if we painted the room yellow?
 If you went to the movies, I would babysit.
 If only I had more money, I could go to the movies too.

These expressions can also introduce hypothetical situations in the past and then they are followed
by the past perfect.

EXAMPLES
 If only I hadn't kissed the frog.
 What if the elephant had stepped on my phone?
 Supposing I had given that man my money.

WISHES
The verb to wish is used with the unreal past when we want to talk about situations in the present
that we are not happy about but cannot change.
EXAMPLES
 I wish I had more money.
 She wishes she was beautiful.
 We wish we could come to your party.

When we want to talk about situations in the past that we are not happy about or actions that we
regret, we use the verb to wish followed by the past perfect.

EXAMPLES
 I wish I hadn't said that.
 He wishes he hadn't bought the car.
 I wish I had taken that job in New York.

When we want to talk about situations we are not happy about and where we want someone else to
change them, we use to wish followed by would + infinitive.

EXAMPLES
 I wish he would stop smoking.
 I wish you would go away.
 I wish you wouldn't squeeze the toothpaste from the middle!

PREFERENCES USING "I'D RATHER" AND "IT'S

TIME"
I'd rather and it's time are also followed by the unreal past. The verb is in the past tense, but the
situation is in the present. When we want to talk about a course of action we would prefer someone
else to take, we use I'd rather + past tense.

EXAMPLES
 I'd rather you went.
 He'd rather you called the police.
 I'd rather you didn't hunt elephants.

The stress can be important in these sentences, to show what our preference is.

EXAMPLES
 I'd rather you went. (instead of me)
 I'd rather you went. (instead of staying)
 He'd rather you called the police. (instead of me)
 He'd rather you called the police. (instead of the firemen)
Similarly, when we want to say that now is a suitable moment to do something, either for ourselves
or for someone else, we use it's time + past tense.

EXAMPLES
 It's time you paid that bill.
 It's time I went home.
 Don't you think it's time you had a haircut?

Verb patterns: verb + infinitive or verb +

-ing? 
Verbs followed by a to-infinitive

Some verbs can be followed immediately by a to-infinitive:

afford demand like pretend

agree fail love promise

arrange forget manage refuse

ask hate mean (= intend) remember

begin help need start

choose hope offer try

continue intend plan want

decide learn prefer

I can’t afford to go on holiday.

It began to rain.
She hopes to go to university next year.

My mother never learnt to swim.

Did you remember to ring Nigel?

See also:
 Help somebody (to) do
 Want
 Verbs followed by a direct object and a to-infinitive
 

Verbs followed by -ing

-ing but not to-infinitive

Some verbs are normally followed by the -ing form, not the to-infinitive:

admit deny finish mind

avoid dislike give up miss

(can’t) help enjoy imagine practise

(can’t) stand fancy involve put off

consider feel like keep (on) risk

I always enjoy cooking.

Not: I always enjoy to cook.

We haven’t finished eating yet.

Not: We haven’t finished to eat.

She keeps changing her mind about the wedding.

New subject before -ing

Some of these verbs (e.g. can’t stand, dislike, imagine, involve, mind, miss, put
off and risk) can be used with a new subject before the -ing form (underlined in the
examples below). If the new subject is a pronoun, it is in the object form (me, him,
her, us, them):

We just couldn’t imagine Gerry singing in public.

Do you mind me being here while you’re working?

I don’t want to risk him losing his job.

See also:
 Verbs followed by  -ing
 

Verbs followed by a to-infinitive or -ing

Hate, like, love, prefer

Hate, like, love and prefer can be followed either by -ing or a to-infinitive. The

difference in meaning is often small. The -ing form emphasises the verb itself.
The to-infinitive puts the emphasis more on the preference for, or the results of, the
action.

Compare

-ing form to-infinitive

I love  cooking Indian I like to drink juice in the morning, and

food. (emphasis on the process tea at lunchtime. (emphasis more on the
itself and enjoyment of it) preference or habit)

She  hates cleaning her I hate to be the only person to disagree.

room. (emphasis on the process (emphasis more on the result: I would
itself and no enjoyment of it) prefer not to be in that situation.)

Most people prefer watching a We prefer to drive during the day

 whenever we can. (emphasis more on the
film at the cinema rather than on
result and on the habit or preference. The
TV. (emphasis on the process itself
speaker doesn’t necessarily enjoy the
and enjoyment of it)
process of driving at any time of day.)

Hate, like, love, prefer with would or should

When hate, like, love and prefer are used with would or should, only the to-infinitive

is used, not the -ing form:

She’d love to get a job nearer home.

Not: She’d love getting a job nearer home.

Would you like to have dinner with us on Friday?

To-infinitive or -ing form with a change in meaning

Some verbs can be followed by a to-infinitive or the -ing form, but with a change in

meaning:

go on need remember try

mean regret stop want

Compare

-ing form to-infinitive

Working in London means
leaving home at 6.30.(Because I I didn’t mean to make you cry. (I didn’t
work in London, this is the result intend to make you cry.)
or consequence.)

He went on singing after She recited a poem, then went on to sing a

everyone else had finished.(He lovely folk song. (She recited the poem first,
 continued singing without
then she sang the song.)
stopping.)

I tried searching the web and

I tried to email Simon but it bounced back. (I
finally found an address for
tried/attempted to email him but I did not
him. (I searched the web to see
succeed.)
what information I could find.)

She  stopped crying as soon as We stopped to buy some water at the

she saw her mother. (She was motorway service area. (We were travelling
crying, and then she didn’t cry and we stopped for a short time in order to
anymore.) buy some water.)

See also:
 Mean
 Need
 Remember or remind?
 Stop + -ing form or to-infinitive
 Want
 

Verbs followed by an infinitive without to

Let, make

Let and make are followed by an infinitive without to in active voice sentences.

They always have an object (underlined) before the infinitive:

Let me show you this DVD I’ve got.

They made us wait while they checked our documents.

Not: They made us to wait …

Help

Help can be followed by an infinitive without to or a to-infinitive:

She helped me find a direction in life.

Everyone can help to reduce carbon emissions by using public transport.

See also:
 Help somebody (to) do
 Let,  let’s
 Make
 

Verbs followed by -ing or an infinitive without to

A group of verbs connected with feeling, hearing and seeing can be used with
-ing or with an infinitive without to:

feel notice see

hear overhear watch

When they are used with -ing, these verbs emphasise the action or event in
progress. When they are used with an infinitive without to, they emphasise the
action or event seen as a whole, or as completed.

Compare

-ing infinitive without to

She  heard people shouting in the I heard someone shout‘Help!’, so I

street below and looked out of the ran to the river.(emphasises the whole
window. (emphasises that the shouting event: the person probably shouted
probably continued or was repeated) only once)

A police officer  saw him runningalong Emily saw Philip run out of Sandra’s

the street. (emphasises the running as it office. (emphasises the whole event
was happening) from start to finish)

 
Verbs followed by a direct object and a to-infinitive

Some verbs are used with a direct object (underlined) followed by a to-infinitive.
These verbs include:

advise hate like persuade request

ask help love prefer teach

challenge instruct need recommend tell

choose intend order remind want

forbid invite

I advised him to get a job as soon as possible.

Did Martin teach Gary to play squash?

They want me to go to Germany with them.