Speech and Indirect Speech (Or Reported Speech)
Speech and Indirect Speech (Or Reported Speech)
Speech and Indirect Speech (Or Reported Speech)
INTRODUCTION.
There are many occasions in which we need to describe an event or action that happened, and very often
that includes repeating what someone said. Such occasions can include a social situation as well as in a work
email or presentation. In order to describe what people said there are two different types of speech – direct
speech and indirect speech (or reported speech).
In order to better understand this topic, let's look at the following table that succinctly explains tense by
tense.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT.
There are lots of reasons why you might want to report speech in English – and the most common way of
doing it is by using direct and indirect speech. Read on to find out how to use these!
Using direct speech means repeating the spoken phrase or word exactly as it was said. You can use this to
repeat something that was said in the past – but you can also use it to express something being said in the
present, too.
When used in written English, you must place the direct speech in inverted commas (“ “) at the beginning and
end of the piece of speech. You will also need to use a verb such as “to say” or “to tell”, to describe the
moment of speech.
For example:
An important point to note is that when you are describing multiple speakers, each person’s speech starts on
a new line – even if it is just a short word or phrase.
For example:
The direct speech can come before or after the pronoun and verb, and in some cases, you can even leave it
out entirely. This is common in written English where there is a long conversation being described and it is
obvious who is saying what.
For example:
My mother asked him, “How long have you known each other?”
Indirect or reported speech is used to describe speech that happened in the past, where you are recounting
something that was said to you before.
Because of this, you only ever use indirect speech in the past tense – and never in the present tense.
To construct indirect speech, you usually use reporting verbs like “to ask”, “to say” and “to tell”, and you may
often include the word “that” to describe what was said.
For example:
Indirect speech does not use the exact words that were originally spoken – instead, you will usually give a
summary and the key message of what was said. Another important point to note is that you do not use
inverted commas to describe the speech in indirect speech.
She said, "I saw him." (direct speech) = She said that she had seen him. (indirect speech)
Always use 'tell' when you say who was being spoken to (i.e. with an indirect object):
He talked to us.
Tim wandered along the path thinking aloud; "If I continue this diet I should lose twenty pounds by the end
of..." when BOOM! he bumped into another city dweller out for a day's walk in the park.
"I'm terribly sorry," he apologized, "I was so caught up in my thoughts, I didn't see you!" he managed to
stammer.
Smiling, Sheila responded, "It's OK. Nothing's broken... No really, I wasn't watching my step either."
Suddenly they both stopped making excuses and stared at each other.
"Don't I know you from somewhere?" inquired Tim while Sheila exclaimed, "You're Tim, Jack's brother, aren't
you?!"
They both began to laugh as they had met each other the week before at a party that Jack had given.
Still laughing, Tim suggested, "Why don't we have a cup a coffee and donut?" to which Sheila replied, "I
thought you wanted to continue your diet!" They both were still laughing by the time they reached the
Swimming Donut cafe.
https://www.thoughtco.com/reported-speech-and-quiz-4176664
???
ME: Because she said “I like to see the unique pictures of the stamps”. How about you, what is your hobby?
ME: Not really. But in our lives we must have something we like most which is called hobby.
ME: That is your hobby. Reading novels. Do you have all of Sherlock Holmes’s collection?
Elijah: Some of them. Usually I always borrow novel from my Uncle. He has a lots of Sherlock Holmes’s
collection, even the old one. He has it. He said that I can borrow them but must have to take care of it. How
about her stamps collection?
ME: She said to me that she has collected stamps from some countries but she still should find other stamps.
ME: Yes of course she need much money because she orders the stamps so it costs little bit expensive, she
said that to me.
Elijah: This is will long conversation, let’s go to my house, I’ll make sure you will fall in love with my
collections.
Margaret had a bad stomachache yesterday afternoon. She called her doctor and asked him what she should
do. Her doctor told her to rest in bed. He told her not to eat too much for dinner. And he told her to call him
in the morning if she was still sick. Margaret felt better after speaking with her doctor.. She is glad she can
always depend on him for good advice.
I want you to show me that you understand everything. And for that, I have prepared these points for you to
solve and socialize with your teacher and classmates, Let's get to work.
REMEMBER! You can You can group up with a partner and work on this pedagogical handout.