Direct and indirect speech in English : complete course

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Direct and indirect speech in English [B2] — VocaVerb

What Is Direct and Indirect Speech?

When we talk about what someone said, we can do it in two different ways. Direct speech repeats the exact words that someone said, using quotation marks. Indirect speech (also called reported speech) tells us what someone said without using their exact words.

  • Direct speech: She said, ‘I am tired.’
  • Indirect speech: She said that she was tired.

Simple Examples to Get Started

Let’s look at a few more basic examples to understand the difference clearly.

  • Direct: Tom said, ‘I love pizza.’
  • Indirect: Tom said that he loved pizza.
  • Direct: Anna said, ‘I will call you tomorrow.’
  • Indirect: Anna said that she would call me the next day.

Notice how the pronouns and verb tenses change when we move from direct to indirect speech. This is one of the most important things to learn!

The Key Elements of Direct and Indirect Speech in English

Understanding direct and indirect speech means learning how several elements change. Let’s look at the main ones.

1. Verb Tense Changes (Backshift)

When you report what someone said in the past, the verb tense usually shifts back one step. This is called backshift.

Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Simple present: ‘I work here.’ Simple past: He said he worked there.
Present continuous: ‘I am reading.’ Past continuous: She said she was reading.
Simple past: ‘I visited Paris.’ Past perfect: He said he had visited Paris.
Will: ‘I will help you.’ Would: She said she would help me.

2. Pronoun Changes

Pronouns often change in indirect speech because the perspective shifts. You need to think about who is speaking and who is listening.

  • Direct: He said, ‘I am happy.’ → Indirect: He said that he was happy.
  • Direct: She told me, ‘You look great.’ → Indirect: She told me that I looked great.
  • Direct: They said, ‘We are leaving.’ → Indirect: They said that they were leaving.

3. Time and Place Expressions

Words that refer to time and place also change in indirect speech. Here are the most common ones.

Direct Speech Indirect Speech
today that day
yesterday the day before
tomorrow the next day / the following day
here there
now then
last week the week before

Why Direct and Indirect Speech Really Matters

You use reported speech every single day, even if you don’t realize it. Think about these everyday situations:

  • Telling a friend what your teacher said in class.
  • Passing on a message from a colleague.
  • Writing an email to summarize a conversation.
  • Reading news articles where journalists report what politicians said.

If you don’t understand reported speech, it’s very hard to communicate naturally in English. Mastering this grammar point helps you tell stories, give information, and understand written and spoken English much more easily.

Comparison With Other Languages

Many learners wonder how English reported speech compares to French or Spanish. Here are some key differences and similarities.

Feature English French Spanish
Verb backshift Yes, required Yes, required Yes, required
Introducing verb said / told a dit dijo
Connector word ‘that’ (optional) ‘que’ (required) ‘que’ (required)
Quotation marks in direct speech ‘ ‘ or ‘ ‘ « » « » or —

One important note: in English, the word ‘that’ is optional in indirect speech. You can say ‘He said that he was tired’ or simply ‘He said he was tired.’ Both are correct! In French and Spanish, the equivalent of ‘that’ is always required.

A Full Example

Let’s take a short conversation and transform it into indirect speech step by step.

Original conversation (direct speech):

  • Maria said, ‘I finished the report yesterday. I will send it to you today.’

Reported speech (indirect speech):

  • Maria said that she had finished the report the day before and that she would send it to me that day.

Let’s break it down:

  • ‘I’ → ‘she’ (pronoun change)
  • ‘finished’ → ‘had finished’ (simple past → past perfect)
  • ‘yesterday’ → ‘the day before’ (time expression change)
  • ‘will send’ → ‘would send’ (will → would)
  • ‘today’ → ‘that day’ (time expression change)

Key Points to Remember

  • Direct speech uses the speaker’s exact words and quotation marks.
  • Indirect speech reports what was said without quotation marks.
  • Verb tenses shift back one step in reported speech (backshift).
  • Pronouns change depending on who is speaking and who is listening.
  • Time and place expressions also change in indirect speech.
  • The word ‘that’ is optional in English indirect speech.
  • Practice by taking real conversations and trying to report them!

Sources

  • Swan, M. (2005). Practical English Usage (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
  • Murphy, R. (2019). English Grammar in Use (5th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., and Finegan, E. (1999). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Pearson Education.

To practise what you learned in this lesson:

Practice exercises · Crossword puzzle

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