DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH
Direct Speech
Saying 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.
For example:
She said, "Today's lesson is on presentations."
or
"Today's lesson is on presentations," she said.
Indirect Speech
Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech), doesn't use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn't have to be word for word.
When reporting speech the tense usually changes. 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.
For example:
Direct speech Indirect speech
"I'm going to the cinema", he said. 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: (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right):
Direct speech Indirect speech
Present simple Past simple
She said, "It's cold." She said it was cold.
Present continuous Past continuous
She said, "I'm teaching English online." She said she was teaching English online.
Present perfect simple Past perfect simple
She said, "I've been on the web since 1999." She said she had been on the web since 1999.
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, "I've been teaching English for seven years." She said she had been teaching English for seven years.
Past simple Past perfect
She said, "I taught online yesterday." She said she had taught online yesterday.
Past continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, "I was teaching earlier." She said she had been teaching earlier.
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.
Past perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, "I'd already been teaching for five minutes." NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been teaching for five minutes.
Modal verb forms also sometimes change:
Direct speech Indirect speech
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
She said, "What shall we learn today?" She asked what we should learn today.
may might
She said, "May I open a new browser?" She asked if she might open a new browser.
Exercise :
1. Mother : Do you want meatballs or fried chicken?
Mother asked me ____
a. whether I wanted meatball or fried shicken
b. whether I want meatball or fried chicken
c. that I wanted meatball or fried chicken
d. that I want meatball or fried chicken
e. if I want meatball or fried chicken
Jawaban: A (direct: do/does + S +V1 maka indirect: if/whether + S + V2)
2. Mother : Don’t be so noisy, Herman. The baby is sleeping.
Herman : Okay, mom.
Rudy : What did your mother just told you?
Herman : She told me ___ because the baby was sleeping.
a. I wasn’t so noisy d. I am very noisy
b. not to be so noisy e. to be not so noisy
c. don’t be noisy
Jawaban : B (direct: don’t + be maka indirect: not + to be)
Reference :
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