Direct Speech / Quoted Speech

Saying or quoting exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes
called quoted speech)
Here what a person says appears within quotation marks (“…”) and should be word for
word.
 She said, “Today’s lesson is about direct and indirect speech.” or
 “Today’s lesson is about direct and indirect speech.”, she said.
Indirect Speech / Reported Speech
Saying or reporting what someone said without quoting his exact words is called indirect
speech.
Here we don’t use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and does not have to
be word for word.
 He said that yesterday’s lesson was about direct and indirect speech.
Reporting Verb
The verb in the first part of sentence (i.e. say, said, tell, admit, complain, explain remind,
reply think, hope, offer, refuse etc.) before the statement of a person in sentence is called
reporting verb.
How to Change Direct Speech into Indirect Speech?
Rule 1. (Adverbs of Time and Place)
If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with
the time of reporting, and adverb of nearness should be put into those of distance.
 Today => yesterday/ that day
 This evening => that evening
 These (days) => those (days)
 Now => then
 (A week) ago => (a week) before
 Last weekend => the previous weekend
 Here => there
 Here after => there after
 Next (week) => the following (week)/ a week after
 Tomorrow => the next/following day
 Thus => so
 Last night => the previous night
 Yesterday => the day before / the previous day
 Hither => thither
 Hence => thence

1
Note: If something is said and reported at the same time, then the time expression can
remain the same.
 He told me today, “I will go to Karachi tomorrow.”
 He told me today he would go to Karachi tomorrow.
 She told me this week, “we gave our exam last week.”
 She told me this week, they had given their exam last wee.
Rule 2. Tenses
A) If the reporting verb is in present or future (i.e say, says or will say) then
don’t change the tense that you can find within the quotation marks.
 He says,”I was a fool then.”
 He says that he was a fool then.
 I will say, “ He loves his mom.”
 I will say that he loves his mom.
B) If reporting verb is in the past tense. the tense of the verbs in the reported speech or
indirect speech must be generally changed. This is because when we use reported speech,
we are usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person who spoke
originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too.
 He said,”I am going to the cinema.”
 He said he was going to the cinema.
Tense Change
As a rule when you report something someone has said you go back a tense.
Present Simple › Past simple
 She said, ”it is cold,”
 She said it was cold.
Present continuous › Past continuous
 She said, “I’m teaching Math online.”
 She said she was teaching Math online.
Present perfect › Past perfect
 She said, “I’ve lived in Pakistan since 1999.”
 She said she had lived in Pakistan since 1999.
Past simple › Past perfect
 She said, “I taught active and passive yesterday.”
 She said she had taught active and passive yesterday.
Past continuous › Past perfect continuous
 She said, “I was teaching the lesson.”
 She said she had been teaching the lesson.

2
Past perfect › Past perfect
 She said, “The lesson had already started when he arrived.”
 NO CHANGE – She said the lesson had already started when he arrived.
Modal verb forms also sometimes change:
Will › would
 She said, “I’ll teach English online tomorrow.”
 She said she would teach English online tomorrow.
Can › could
 She said, “I can teach English online.”
 She said she could teach English online.
Must › had to
 She said, “I must have a computer to teach English online.”
 She said she had to have a computer to teach English online.
Shall › › should/ would
 She said, “What shall we learn today?”
 She asked what we should learn today.
 He said, ”I shall appreciate it.”
 He said he would appreciate it.
May › might
 She said, “May I open a new browser?”
 She asked if she might open a new browser.
Note – There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.
 “I might go to the cinema”, he said.
 He said he might go to the cinema.
Rule 3.
If indirect speech the words within quotation marks talk of a universal truth or habitual
action or when a sentence is made and reported at the same time and the fact is still true
then the tense inside the quotation marks is not changed at all.
 He said, ”My name is Ali.”
 He said his name was Ali Or He said his name is Ali.
 The teacher said,” the sun rises in the east.”
 The teacher said that the sun rises in the east.
 Shazia said, “I am thirsty.”
 Shazia said she is thirsty.

3
Rule 4. (Pronouns)
We have to change the pronouns to keep the same meaning of a sentence.
 Ali said, “We are the best players.”
 Ali said they were the best players.
Note: Sometimes we have to use a noun instead of a pronoun, otherwise the new
sentence is confusing consider the examples below:
 Mohammad said, “He killed them.”
 Mohammad said that the man had killed them.
(If we only make mechanical changes, then the new sentence can have different meaning)
 Mohammad said he had killed them. (Mohammad himself killed them)

Rule 5. Punctuation in Direct Speech

In direct speech, various punctuation conventions are used to separate the quoted words
from the rest of the text: this allows a reader to follow what’s going on. Here are the basic
rules:
A)We use inverted commas (also called quotation marks, quotes or speech marks) to
indicate direct speech. Double quotes (“) are preferred in American English, while single
quotes (‘) are more common in British English:
 “I’m coming home late tonight,” she said. (American English)
 ‘I’m coming home late tonight,’ she said. (British English)
B) Every time a new speaker says something, you should start a new paragraph:
 “They think it’s a more respectable job,” said Ali.
 “I don’t agree,” I replied.
C) There should be a comma, full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark at the end of
a piece of speech. This is placed inside the closing inverted comma or commas.
 He asked, “Can I go outside?”
 She shouted, “Sit down!”
 We said, “They are wrong.”
D) If the direct speech is broken up by information about who is speaking, you need a
comma (or a question mark or exclamation mark) to end the first piece of speech and a
full stop or another comma before the second piece (before the inverted comma or
commas):
 “You’re right,” he said. “It feels strange.”
 “Thinking back,” she said, “he didn’t expect to win.”
 “No!” he cried. “You can’t leave now!”


4
EXERCISE 1: Punctuate the following to put them in Direct Speech:

1. He says I was a fool

2. She says she will be more experienced
3. I said he loves crickets
4. She said he was in the club
5. They said we will achieve greatness

EXERCISE 2: Change to Reported Speech:

1. The man said, “I must go as soon as

possible.”
2. She said to us, “I don’t want to see
any of you here again.”
3. “I am too tired to carry on,”
complained Alan to his friend.
4. “I want to be a hero someday,” Brad
announced to his friends.
5. “I was listening to the radio
yesterday.” Ahmed told his mom.

6. “I was in Spain last week,” she said.

7. “I want to visit my parents this

evening,” Suzy said.
8. “I'll give you the money back next
week,” he said.
9. “He said, “I watched the movie 2
days ago.”