Direct and indirect speech in English are connected with the help of well-established rules that do not correspond to the rules of Russian grammar. Knowledge of algorithms for converting direct speech into indirect speech is necessary for understanding English speech.
What is direct and indirect speech in English
Direct Speech or Direct Speech - these are the words of the speaker, presented unchanged - exactly as they were said. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that direct speech in English is not drawn up in accordance with the rules of punctuation of the Russian language.
Example:
- A girl said, "I am admiring a beautiful flower". (The girl said: "I admire a beautiful flower.")
- "I am admiring a beautiful flower", said a girl. ("I'm admiring a beautiful flower," the girl said.)
Indirect/Reported Speech - these are also the words of the speaker, but presented in a modified form - transmitted in a conversation by other people. The translation of sentences from direct speech to indirect in English is carried outaccording to certain rules. As a rule, indirect speech consists of the main (author's words) and subordinate clauses (the author's direct speech). If the verb of the main clause is used in the present or future tense, then in the subordinate clause you can put any time that suits the meaning. If the main clause uses the past tense, the rules for coordinating tenses apply.
Example:
- A girl said, "I am admiring a beautiful flower". (Direct speech)
- A girl said that she was admiring a beautiful flower. (Indirect speech)
Direct and indirect speech in English are closely related to each other. Therefore, the rules for converting one type of speech into another must be studied by everyone who wants to learn the basics of the language for free communication. Exercises for direct and indirect speech in English will be the best simulator for memorizing the basic algorithms for constructing sentences in indirect form.
Changing Present group times
Translating direct speech into indirect speech in English for the present is quite simple - just replace the tenses of the Present group with the Past group:
Verbs in Present Simple take the Past Simple form:
Jenny said, "I feed the birds!". (Jenny said "I feed the birds"!)
Jenny said that she fed the birds. (Jenny said she was feeding the birds.)
Present Continuous becomes Past Continuous:
Tom answered, "Mymother is baking cookies". (Tom replied: "My mother bakes cookies.")
Tom answered that his mother was baking cookies. (Tom replied that his mother baked cookies.)
Perfect verb forms also change tense from present to past:
Lily read, "The old woman has seen her cat this morning". (Lily read: "The old woman saw her cat this morning.")
Lily read that the old woman had seen her cat that morning. (Lily read that the old woman saw her cat this morning.)
Present Perfect Continuous becomes Past Perfect Continuous:
I noticed, "You have been watching movies all day". (I noted, "You watch movies all day long.")
I noticed that he had been watching movies all day. (I noted that he watches films all day long.)
Change group times Past
If you need to translate direct speech into indirect speech with the English time of the Past group, you will have to remember a little more complicated rules. Past tenses are converted as follows:
| Direct Speech Time | Time in Reported Speech |
|
Past Simple: Din said, "We played baseball in the backyard". (Dean said, "We played baseball in the backyard.") |
Past Perfect: Din said that they had played baseball in the backyard. (Dean said theyplaying baseball in the backyard.) |
|
Past Continuous: Ann noticed, "I was walking". (Anne noted "I was out walking") |
Past Perfect Continuous: Ann noticed that she had been walking. (Ann noted that she was walking.) |
|
Past Perfect: Janny answered, "I had finished all my pressing matters by 3 o'clock". (Jenny replied, "I finished all my urgent business by 3 o'clock.") |
Past Perfect: Janny answered that she had finished all her pressing matters by 3 o'clock. (Jenny replied that she had finished all her urgent business by 3 o'clock.) |
|
Past Perfect Continuous: Nelly said, "I had been washing the dishes for 2 hours". (Nellie said "I've been washing dishes for 2 hours".) |
Past Perfect Continuous: Nelly said that she had been washing the dishes for 2 hours. (Nellie said she washed the dishes for 2 hours.) |
Changing future tenses
When working with direct and indirect speech in English, future tenses are changed by replacing will with would, that is, Future tense verbs are replaced with the Future-in-the-Past form.
Example:
- The boy said, "I will go for a walk tomorrow". (The boy said, "I'll go for a walk tomorrow.")
- The boy said thathe would go for a walk the next day. (The boy said that he would go for a walk tomorrow.)
Interrogative sentences
To work with interrogative sentences in direct and indirect speech in English, the following rules are provided:
1. When translating an interrogative sentence into an indirect form, a direct word order is established:
Example:
- She asked, "Do you notice the changes?" (She asked, "Do you notice changes"?)
- She ashed me if I noticed the changes. (She asked me if I noticed changes.)
2. General and alternative questions begin with the unions if (for colloquial speech) and whether (for the formal version):
Examples:
- Andrew asked, "Did you arrive by bus?" (Andrew asked "did you come by bus"?)
- Andrew asked her if she had arrived by bus. (Andrew asked if she had arrived by bus.)
- Mark asked, "Do you prefer green or black tea?" (Mark asked: "Do you prefer green or black tea"?)
- Mark asked whether she prefered green or black tea. (Mark asked if she prefers green or black tea.)
3. The verb ask in the main question can be replaced with similar verbs:
Example:
- Jane asked Lily, "Where do you prefer to live?"
- Jane wanted to know, where Lily prefered to live.
4. The affirmations yes and the negations no in the clauseindirect speech sentences are omitted:
Examples:
- They answered, "Yes, we are doing this exercises". (They answered, "Yes, we do these exercises.")
- They answered that they were doing that exercises. (They said they were doing these exercises.)
- Lucy answered, "No, I will not come". (Lucy replied, "I won't come.")
- Lucy answered that she would not come. (Lucy replied that she would not come.)
5. If interrogative words are used in direct speech, these words are also stored in an indirect subordinate clause:
Examples:
- She wondered, "What do you want to do?" (She asked: "What do you want to do"?")
- She wondered what he wanted to do. (She asked him what he wanted to do.)
- Nelly asked me, "Why are you sitting there?" (Nellie asked me "why are you sitting here"?)
- Nelly asked me why I was sitting there. (Nellie asked me why I'm sitting here.)
Incentives
When converting motivating sentences into an indirect form, the verb is replaced by the infinitive. The main sentence of Reported Speech uses the verbs allow ("allow"), ask ("ask"), tell ("order"), order ("order") and others.
Not is used to form the negative form.
Examples:
- David allowed, "Take this sweetcandy!" (David allowed: "Take this delicious candy"!)
- David allowed to take that sweet candy. (David let me take this delicious candy.)
- Thomas warned, "Don't touch this flower!" (Thomas warned me, "Don't touch that flower"!)
- Thomas warned me not to touch that flower. (Thomas warned me not to touch this flower.)
If the context does not specify a direct speaker, Passive Voice is used to translate the sentence into a command form.
Example:
- Nicky, give me some milk, please! (Nikki, give me some milk please!)
- Nicky was told to give some milk. (Nikki was asked for some milk.)
In the case of sentences with "Let …" the transition to indirect speech is carried out using the infinitive or the verb form with the ending -ing.
Sentences beginning with "Let's…" are converted into indirect speech using two combinations:
- verb suggest + conjunction that + should;
- suggest verb + verb form with -ing ending.
Examples:
- He said, "Let me solve this problem." (He said, "Let me solve this problem.")
- He offered to solve that problem. He suggested solving that problem. (He offered to solve this problem).
- Nelly said, "Let's do the homework!" (Nellie said "Let's do our homework"!)
- Nelly suggested that we should do the homework. Nelly suggested doing the homework.(Nellie suggested doing her homework).
Modal verbs
When translating direct speech into an indirect form, modal verbs are also subject to changes.
| Modal verb in Direct Speech | Modal verb in Reported Speech |
|
may James noticed, "It may snow". (James remarked "It might snow".) |
might James noticed that it might snow. (James noticed that it might be snowing.) |
|
can Tony said, "I can run fast". (Tony said "I can run fast".) |
could Tony said that he could run fast. (Tony said he could run fast.) |
|
must Bill said, "You must show them the terms of the treaty." (Bill said, "You have to show them the terms of the contract.") |
had to Bill said that we had to show them the terms of the treaty. (Bill said we should show them the terms of the contract.) |
|
have to Billy answered, "I have to go at school". (Billy replied "I have to go to school".) |
had to Billy answered that he had to go at school. (Billy replied that he had to go to school.) |
There are also modal verbs that, when translating a sentence into an indirect form, do notchange their appearance. These include the verbs would, ought to, should, could, and might.
Example:
- Dorothy said, "You should learn math with me". (Dorothy said, "You should teach math with me.")
- Dorothy said that I should learn math witn her. (Dorothy said I should teach math with her.)
Indicators of time and place
Indicators of time and place in sentences of direct and indirect speech in English do not always converge. Changing such pointers must be memorized. The table shows some of the words that are replaced when switching from direct speech to indirect speech.
| Direct speech | Indirect speech |
| Yeaterday |
The day before The previous day |
| Now |
Then At that time |
| Today | That day |
| Tomorrow |
The next day The following day |
| Last week |
The week before The previous week |
| This week | That week |
| Next week | The following week |
| Here | There |
| This/ These | That/ Those |
Examples:
- Andrew said, "We met Tom yesterday and he was glad to see us". (Andrew said, "We met Tom yesterday and he was happy to see us.")
- Andrew said that they had met Tom the previous day and he had been glad to see them. (Andrew said they met Tom yesterday and he was glad to see them.)
- A girl said, "I want this ice-cream". (The girl said, "I want this ice cream.")
- A girl said that she wanted that ice-cream. (The girl said she wanted this ice cream.)
Rules for Say and Tell
The verb to say, used in direct speech, may remain unchanged when the sentence changes to an indirect form, or it may be replaced by the verb to tell. If the indirect speech does not mention the person to whom the direct speech was addressed, the verb say is used. If the mention is present, the place of say is occupied by the verb tell.
Example:
- My father said, "You can go for a walk with your puppy". (My father said, "You can go out with your puppy.")
- My father said that I could go for a walk with my puppy. (My father said that I can go for a walk with my puppy.)
- My father told me that I could go for a walk with my puppy. (My father told me that I can go for a walk with my puppy.)
