DIRECT AND INDIRECT

SPEECH

PREPARED BY : SAMA KAMGAR
INSTRUCTOR : ASHRAF HASSANI
 Contents

1) Reporting
2) Direct Speech ( Quoted Speech )
3) Rules for writing Quoted Speech
4) Indirect Speech ( Reported Speech )
5) Basic rules for Indirect Speech
6) The common Adverbs and their changes
7) The common Tenses and their changes
8) Model Verbs
9) Shall
10) Should
11) Perfect and Past Model forms
12) Exclamations
 Reporting

 There are two main ways of reporting people’s
words, thoughts , believes and etc.

1) Direct Speech ( Quoted speech )

Examples:
1) He said , “ I play football “ .
2) She said , “ My brother works in Afghanistan “ .
Rules for writing Quoted Speech

In order to write quoted speech sentence , follow the next
coming steps .
1) Put a comma ( , ) after said or any introductory (quoting)
clause . Example : He said ,
2) Put quotation marks ( “” ) after comma . Example :
He said , “
3) Capitalize the first letter of the sentence written inside
the quotation marks . Example : He
said , “ We
Rules for writing Quoted Speech

4) After completing quotation ( the sentence ) ,
punctuate the sentence by period ( . ) , it should be
mentioned that punctuation is related to the kind of
the sentence .
Example : He said , “ We want to go home .
5) Close the quotation marks after period .
Example : He said , “ We want to go home . “
 Rules for writing Quotation Speech

6) Quotation marks cannot be put after each sentence if
there are two or more than two sentences .
Example : The teacher said , “ Why is everyone upset?
“ Don’t worry about the exam .” Everyone will do well .
“ ( Incorrect )
7) In quotation , put quotation marks at the beginning and
end of the whole quote . Example :
The teacher said , “ Why is everyone upset? Don’t
worry about the exam . Everyone will do well . “
( Correct )
 Indirect Speech

We can make a speaker’s words or thoughts part of our
own sentence , using conjunction (e.g. ) ( that ) and
changing pronouns , tenses and other words where
necessary .
This kind of structure is called Indirect speech .

Example :
Ali said , “ I love this cat . “
Ali said that he loved the cat .
Basic rules for Indirect Speech

Change of situation :
Words that are spoken or thought in one place by one
person may be reported in another place at a different time ,
and perhaps by another person . Because of this , there are
often grammatical differences between direct and indirect
speech . These changes are mostly naturally and logically .
Example :
“ I don’t like this party “said , Jamshid.(On Friday night)
Jamshid said that he didn’t like (the) or (that) party.
(On Saturday)
Basic rules for Indirect Speech

Change of pronouns :
A change of speaker may mean a change of pronoun .
In the example below , you can see the difference .

Example :
John said , “ I am writing a letter now . “
John said that he was writing a letter then .
 The common adverbs and their changes


Direct Speech Indirect Speech
1) This 1) That , The
2) These 2) Those
3) Here 3) There
4) Now 4) Then
5) Thus 5) So
6) Tonight 6) That night
7) Tomorrow 7) The next day
8) Next d./w./m./y. 8) The following d./w./m./y.
9) Yesterday 9) The day before
10) Last d./w./m./y. 10) The previous d./w./m./y.
11) Last night 11) The night before
12) Just 12) Then
13) Ago 13) Before
Basic rules for Indirect Speech

Change of tenses ( Back shift in Indirect Speech ) :
A change of time means a change of tense , the person
reporting uses tenses that relate to the time when he/she
is making the report , not the time when the original
words were used . So, after past reporting verbs, the verbs
of the original speech are usually “back shifted” .
Example :
He said , “ I am sick.”
He said that he was sick.
The common tenses and their changes

Direct Speech Indirect Speech
1) Present Simple 1) Past Simple
2) Present Progressive 2) Past Progressive
3) Present Perfect 3) Past Perfect
4) Present Perfect Progressive 4) Past Perfect Progressive
5) Past Simple 5) Past Perfect
6) Past Progressive 6) Past Perfect Progressive
7) Past Perfect 7) Past Perfect
8) Past Perfect Progressive 8) Past Perfect Progressive
9) Future Simple 9) Future in Past
10) Future Progressive 10) Future in Past Progressive
11) Future Perfect 11) Future in Past Perfect
12) Future Perfect Progressive 12) Future in Past Progressive
 The common tenses and their changes

Examples :
1) He said, “ I go to school . “ He said that
he went to school .
2) He said, “ I am going to school . “ He said that
he was going to school .
3) He said, “ I have gone to school . “ He said that
he had gone to school .
4) He said, “ I have been going to school . “ He said that
he had been going to school .
5) He said, “ I went to school . “ He said that
he had gone to school .
6) He said , “ I was going to school . “ He said that
he had been going to school .
The common tenses and their changes

Examples :
7) He said, “ I had gone to school . “ He said that
he had gone to school .
8) He said , “ I had been going to school . “ He said that
he had been going to school .
9) He said, “ I will go to school . “ He said that
he would go to school .
10) He said, “ I will be going to school . “ He said that
he would be going to school .
11) He said, “ I will have gone to school . “ He said that
he would have gone to school .
12) He said , “ I will have been going to school . “ He said that
he would have been going to school .
Basic rules for Indirect Speech

Note :
When the introductory verb is in Present , Present Perfect
or Future , there is no change of tenses .
Example:
He says that… This is used when we are ;
a) Reporting a conversation that is still going on .
b) Reporting a letter and reporting what it says .
c) Reading instructions and reporting them .
d) Reporting a statement that someone makes very often .
 Model Verbs

“ Model Present “ becomes “ model past “ .
( e.g. ) “ CAN “ becomes “COULD“ , “ WILL “
becomes “ WOULD “ and “ MAY “ becomes “
MIGHT “ .

Example :
He said , “ I can / will / may see you later . “
He said that he could / would / might see me later .
 Shall

When ( SHALL ) is used with references for prediction ,
speculation and etc. It becomes ((WOULD)) in indirect speech.
Example :
She said, “ I shall tell him exactly what I think.”
She said that she would tell him exactly what she thought .
When (SHALL) is used in offers , suggestions or requests for
advice it becomes ((SHOULD)) .
Example:
He said,” Shall I speak to him?”
He asked whether he should speak to him .
 Should

Should can be used of (WOULD) , (e.g.) in conditional sentences .
Example :
If I were you , “ I should get another lawyer . “ She
said if she were me , she would get another lawyer .
These remain unchanged in Indirect Speech. Would –
Could – Might - Ought to - Used to .
Example :
I said to my dentist , “ I would like an appointment tomorrow.
I told my dentist ,
I would like an appointment the next day.
Perfect and Past Model forms

Forms such as ((MUST HAVE)) and ((COULD HAVE))
remain unchanged .

Example :
She said , “ I must have slept through the alarm . “
She said she must have slept through the alarm .
 Exclamations

The word order in reported exclamations. Example :
She exclaimed , “ What a silly boy ! “ She
told him a silly boy he was . / She told
him that he was a silly boy .
Reporting permanent states , facts and habits :
Permanent states and conditions are often reported in the Simple
Present after a reporting verb in the past to show that they are
matters of fact now . Example :

He said, “ Afghanistan is located in the heart of Asia . “ He