Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct Speech / Quoted 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 / Reported 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

Exercise

1. ‘Which way should I go?’ asked the son.
2.  Alladin said to the magician, ‘What have I done to deserve so severe a punishment?’
3. ‘Don’t you know the way home?’ I said to her.
4. ‘Do you write a good hand?’ the teacher said to the student.
5. ‘Have you anything to say on behalf of the accused?’ said the judge finally.

Answer

1. The son asked which way he should go.
2. Alladin asked the magician what he had done to deserve so severe a punishment.
3. I asked her whether she did not know the way home.
4. The teacher asked the student if he/she wrote a good hand.
5. The judge finally asked whether he/she had anything to say on behalf of the accused

http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/reportedspeech.htm