Indirect speech rules. Direct and indirect speech in English

If you need to convey what someone has said, you can do this using direct speech (Direct Speech) or indirect speech (Indirect Speech).
In direct speech, what someone said is conveyed exactly, without changes, and is written in quotation marks. In indirect speech, some of the speaker's words may be changed, and quotation marks are not used.

Examples:Direct Speech: Bob said, “Paris is great.” Bob said: “Paris is beautiful.”
Indirect Speech: Bob said (that) Paris was great. Bob said Paris was beautiful.

Rules for converting direct speech into indirect speech

There are simple rules transmission of direct speech by indirect speech:

1. Verbs in direct speech in present form Tense is used in indirect speech in the Past Tense form. More about .
Present Simple → Past Simple
Present Continuous → Past Continuous
Present Perfect → Past Perfect

2. Verbs in direct speech in the Past Tense form are used in indirect speech in the Past Perfect form (or may not be used). More about .
Past Simple → Past Perfect
Present Perfect → Past Perfect

3. Verbs in direct speech do not change in form.
Past Perfect → Past Perfect

4. Verbs in direct speech in any future tense pass into the corresponding future in the past in indirect speech. More about .
Future Simple → Future Simple in the Past
Future Continuous → Future Continuous in the Past
Future Perfect → Future Perfect in the Past

5. Forms in direct speech in the Past Tense form change in indirect speech as follows.
can → could
will → would
shall → should
may → might
But Past forms Tense from modal verbs could, would, should, might in indirect speech are preserved.

6. Modal verb must in indirect speech may not change, or may take the form of the past tense from the construction have to = had to.

7. and adverbs of time and place in direct speech are replaced in indirect speech by meaning with other words, as in the Russian language.

Direct speech	Indirect speech(Indirect speech)
here	there
this	that/the
these	those
now	then
today	that day
tonight	that night
tomorrow	the next day/the following day
yesterday	the day before/the previous day
next Monday	the following Monday
last friday	the previous Friday
the day before yesterday	two days before/two days earlier
ago	ago before

Examples: He said, “I shall do it tomorrow.” - He said he would do it tomorrow.
He said that he would do it the next day. - He said he would do it the next day.

8. and direct speech are replaced by meaning, as in the Russian language.

Examples: He says, “I have your T-shirt.” - He says: “I have your T-shirt.”
He says that he has my T-shirt. - He says he has my T-shirt.

The statements that a person makes are conveyed in writing in two ways: direct or indirect speech. This is typical for both Russian and English languages.

Differences between direct and indirect speech

Direct speech or Direct Speech is the literal transmission of someone’s speech (phrases, sentences) in writing. That's why it's in quotation marks.

Cyril said, “I’ve never been to London.”

Kirill said: "I've never been to London."

Indirect speech or Indirect or Reported Speech is not a literal transmission of speech. Indirect speech retains the content, but can change form, conveying the message inaccurately, in other words. In this case, quotation marks are not placed, and the sentence becomes a subordinate clause.

Fam said that she had never been to London.

Pham said she had never been to London.

Direct speech in English

Direct speech in English differs somewhat from Russian writing: upper quotation marks (“) are placed instead of the usual Russian “Christmas trees”. Moreover, in English, the period at the end of the sentence is placed before the quotation marks, like other signs, while in Russian, on the contrary, after the quotation marks.

She answered, “No, I can’t.”

She replied: “No, I can’t.”

After the introductory construction “He said”, “She answered”, “Someone exclaimed”, etc. use a colon or comma.

I said: “I don’t like fruit.”

I said, "I don't like fruit."

Direct speech includes not only affirmative sentences, but also interrogative, exclamatory or incentive sentences. Punctuation is always stored inside quotation marks.

We exclaimed, “It’s so easy!”

We exclaimed: “It’s so simple!”

To convey direct speech in English, the following verbs are usually used:

Say - to speak

Tell - tell

Ask - ask

Answer - answer

Explain - explain

Exclaim - to exclaim

Whisper - whisper

Scream - scream

As well as many other verbs whose meaning is related to the transfer of information.

Transformation of direct speech into indirect speech

Indirect speech is used more often than direct speech, especially in oral speech. But in English, the transformation from direct speech to indirect speech is not limited to the fact that quotation marks are omitted. It is also necessary to observe the rule of coordinating tenses, as well as a number of other rules. Also, in indirect speech, parts of a sentence are not separated by a comma.

Personal and possessive pronouns are replaced depending on the context.

Boris said, “We should work.”

Boris said they should work.

He said they should work.

Demonstrative pronouns also change:

this – that

these – those

She said to Moris, “Give me this shawl.”

She asked Moris to give her that shawl.

Adverbs of time are replaced:

today – that day

ago – before

tomorrow – the next day

He said, “I’ll call it off tomorrow.”

He promised to call it off the next day.

If the predicate in the main sentence is in the past tense (which happens most often), the subordinate clause in indirect speech also requires the transition of the predicate to the past tense.

They said, “We are working.”

They said they were working.

When learning English, you need to read literature, and the most difficult thing is to retell it when direct speech ( direct speech) turns into indirect ( reported/ indirect speech).

Let's look at it in more detail.

Direct speech is the literal introduction of any remarks into the author’s speech. Syntactic structures are used in accordance with the speaker's personality.

She says, "I will come"/ She says: “I’ll come.”

Indirect speech is a way of introducing someone else's speech into your speech. In this context, sentences are constructed in the third person.

She says that she will come/ She says she will come.

When considering the transition from direct to indirect speech, it is important to take into account two factors: the organization of syntax and punctuation (coordination and organization of words, abandonment of quotation marks, introduction of auxiliary conjunctions, word order) and coordination of tenses within the new sentence.

Syntax and punctuation of indirect speech:

When a transition is made from direct speech to indirect speech, the first thing that changes is the quotation marks going away. In fact, from two equivalent independent sentences, a complex sentence is obtained with a main and dependent part, which are united by a conjunction that. But in some cases you can do without it.

He told me, “I like black coffee” / direct speech

He told me that he liked black coffee. / reported speech

He told me he liked black coffee. / reported speech

Not only punctuation has changed, but also pronouns, and in this case by analogy with the Russian language, because we're talking about about the logic of presentation of information.

Ann asks me, “Will you come?”

Ann asks me if I will come.

This example shows that the pronoun you changes to I, because the speech is in relation to me, therefore in the presentation, as in the Russian language, pronouns will be agreed upon by person.

This example uses interrogative sentence in direct speech, which allows us to consider the principle of coordinating word order in translating questions from direct speech to indirect speech in English:

The question mark disappears and is replaced by a simple dot;

In indirect speech, sentences regain direct word order and end with a period.

The general question is introduced by conjunctions if or whether, which can be translated into Russian as “ whether».

John asked me, “Will you marry me?”

John asked me if I would marry him.

Special questions are introduced with question words:

"Why do you love me?" she said.

She said why I loved her.

Direct word order is restored, and in indirect speech the auxiliary verb is omitted.

Offers in imperative mood combined in indirect speech through a particle to. Punctuation marks disappear:

Paulo asked me, “Play the piano, please.”

Paulo asked me to play the piano.

Negative imperative sentences with don"t are introduced into indirect speech through not to:

Sean said, "Don't smoke, Lisa!"

Sean told Laura not to smoke.

Agreement of tenses in indirect speech:

Coordination of tenses can cause difficulties when the predicate of the main sentence (directly the words of the author) is used in one of the past tense forms. If the predicate of the main sentence is expressed by a verb in the present tense, then the sentence in indirect speech retains verb forms in all parts of the sentence:

Michael says, “You look so fine!”

Michael says I look great.

Sarah askes, “When do you come back?”

Sarah asks me when I come back.

Agreement with the predicate in the past tense:

Predicate subordinate clause(what was in quotation marks) will be introduced into indirect speech in time one step earlier, that is:

Present will turn into Past

Future will turn into Past

Past will become Past Perfect

It is, however, worth taking into account the changing circumstances of the time. For example, yesterday, according to the rules English grammar can never be used with perfect tenses. Therefore it is worth replacing the day before, keeping the essence of the concept of “yesterday”, and tomorrow – on the next day.

Last but not least, the tenses will not agree, but will remain the same in both sentences if it is a well-known fact or a specific date is used in the sentence.

Today we studied the translation of direct speech into indirect speech!

Today we will look at one of the most interesting topics in the English language - indirect (indirect) speech (Reported Speech). What is indirect (indirect) speech? Essentially, these are other people's words that we want to retell.

For example:
Elya said: “I want to go to the park.”

– Elya said: “I want to go to the park” - this is Direct Speech, a verbatim quotation of Elya’s words.

If we want to tell our friend about Elin’s plans, use indirect (indirect) speech, it will sound like this:
Elya said she wanted to go to the park. – Elya said that she wants to go to the park.

The government said it would increase taxes for farmers the following year. I protest!

We will talk in more detail about what changes need to be made to a sentence when translating from direct speech to indirect speech in English.

You can translate into indirect (indirect) speech:
1) Affirmative sentences(Statements);
2) Questions;
3) Commands or requests.

How to construct indirect speech in English. Instructions.

Affirmative sentences.

Diana says: “I am happy.” Diana says: "I'm happy."
Diana says (that) she is happy. Diana says she is happy.

2. It is necessary to change the pronoun I to she, and accordingly the form of the verb “to be”, since we are retelling her words, and not our personal ones.

3. The conjunction “that” can be used or not – the meaning will not change.

4. If the verb (say) is in the past tense (said), then when retelling the sentence we will need to “take a step back” in the time of the main sentence, in our case, also translate it into the past tense:

Diana said: "I am happy." Diana said: "I'm happy."

Diana said (that) she was happy. Diana said she was happy.

She said she would buy you a pet parrot.

Translation of direct speech into indirect speech. Table.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Present Simple He said: "I am asleep." Mary said “I want to have the rest.”	Past Simple He said that he was asleep. Mary said she wanted to have a rest.
Present Continuous He said: "I ‘ m drawing a picture".	Past Continuous He said that he was drawing a picture.
Past Simple He said: "I visited Australia last year."	Past Perfect He said that he had visited Australia the previous year.
Present Perfect John said: " I've worked here for a long time."	Past Perfect John said that he had worked there for a long time.
Past Perfect Jane said: "They had eaten the cake when I arrived«.	Past Perfect Jane said that they had eaten the work when she had arrived«.
Past Continuous My brother said: "I was sitting in the cafe when the accident occurred«.	Past Perfect Continuous My brother said that he had been sitting in the cafe when the accident had occurred.
Present Perfect Continuous My son said: "I have been playing baseball for three hours."	Past Perfect Continuous My son said that he had been playing baseball for three hours.
Past Perfect Continuous The student said: "I had been writing my essay when the light went off«.	Past Perfect Continuous The student said that he had been writing his essay when the light had gone off.
Future Simple (will+verb) My mom said: " I will open the door."	Future-in-the-Past (would+verb) My mom that she would open the door.
Future-in-the-Past or Conditional (would+verb) He said: "I would buy a private plane if I were rich"	Conditional (would+verb) He said that he would buy a private plane if he had been rich"

They promised to take me for a walk.

Questions

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While learning English, each of us inevitably encounters reading literature. Most often, the main difficulty lies precisely in retelling what has been read, when you need to turn direct speech into indirect speech (reported/indirect speech).
We have already talked about how to convey direct speech when writing using quotation marks, and now we will look at the oral nuances of its presentation.
You can often hear the question: “What did he answer you?” You start: “He said that...” Indeed, what next?
How to correctly coordinate all grammatical aspects, choose the right tense, word order, reflect the nature of the question or declarative sentence? Today we will look at and give examples of these interesting questions.

So let's decide:

Direct speech- a literal introduction into the author’s speech of any remarks. Syntactic structures are used in accordance with the speaker's personality.

He says, " I will come."/ He says: “I will come.”

Indirect speech- a way of introducing someone else's speech into your own speech. In this case, sentences are constructed in the third person.

He says that he will come./ He says he will come.

When talking about the transition from direct speech to indirect speech, two things should be taken into account: important factors: organization of syntax and punctuation (i.e. agreement and organization of words, elimination of quotation marks, introduction of auxiliary conjunctions, word order) and agreement of tenses within a new sentence.

Syntax and punctuation of indirect speech

In the case of a sentence transitioning from direct speech to indirect speech, the “loss” of quotation marks should be taken into account. By by and large from two equivalent independent sentences we get a complex sentence with a main and dependent part. Usually in English such sentences are united by the conjunction that, although its absence does not in any way disrupt the order:

She told me, "I like black coffee."/ direct speech

She told me that she liked black coffee./ reported speech
She told me she liked black coffee./ reported speech

Please note that not only the punctuation changes, but also the pronouns. We will coordinate the information by analogy with the Russian language. There is a 100% coincidence here, because we are talking more about the logic of presenting information.

Mary asks me"Will you come?"
Mary asks me, if I will come.

From this example it is clear that the pronoun you changes to I, since we are talking about me, accordingly, in the presentation, as well as in the Russian language, pronouns will be agreed upon by person.

This example is also interesting because in direct speech the sentence is a question. In English, there is a certain principle of agreeing on word order when translating questions from direct speech to indirect speech. Let us list the main features of the organization of such proposals:

Firstly, the question mark disappears and is replaced by a simple dot.

Secondly, in indirect speech, sentences again acquire direct word order. This can be explained very simply - there is a period at the end.

General question introduced by unions if or whether, which translates as " whether"in Russian languages ​​are not related to subjunctive conjunctions:

Brian asked me, "Will you marry me?"
Brian asked me if I would marry him.

Special questions are introduced with question words:

"Why do you love me?" she said.
She said why I loved her.

We restore direct word order and omit the auxiliary verb in indirect speech.

Sentences in the imperative mood combined in indirect speech through a particle to. Punctuation marks (quotes and exclamation mark, if there is one) disappear:

Matthew asked me, "Play the piano, please."
Matthew asked me to play the piano.

Negative imperative sentences With don"t are introduced into indirect speech through not to:

Bobby said, "Don't smoke, Laura!"
Bobby told Laura not to smoke.

Agreement of tenses in indirect speech

Coordination of tenses can cause difficulties when the predicate of the main sentence (directly the words of the author) is used in one of the past tense forms. If predicate the main clause is expressed by a verb in the present tense, then the sentence in indirect speech retains verb forms in all parts of the sentence:

Dan says, "You look so fine!"
Dan says I look great.

Julia askes, "When do did you come back?"
Julia asks me when I come back.

Agreement with the predicate in the past tense


The principle applies here - the predicate of the subordinate clause (the one that was in quotation marks) will be introduced into indirect speech in time one step earlier, that is:

Present will go to Past
Future will go to Past
Past will go to Past Perfect

1. The action of the subordinate clause occurs simultaneously with the main action or expressed by a verb in the future tense. In this case, Past Simple or Past Continuous is used:

He said, "I love my wife."
He said he loved his wife.

He asked, "What are are you doing?"
He asked what I was doing.

Mike was told, "They will arrive tomorrow."
Mike was told that they would arrive the next day.

2. The action of direct speech happened before. In this case, Perfect tenses are used:

Alex asked, " Did you go to the party yesterday?"
Alex asked if I had gone to the party the day before.

Please take into account changing circumstances of the time. Yesterday, for example, according to the rules of English grammar, can never be used with perfect tenses. We replaced it with the day before, preserving the essence of the concept itself " yesterday", A tomorrow in the first paragraph on the next day.

You can’t do without indirect speech exceptions. The tenses will not be consistent, but will remain in both sentences if there is a specific date or a well-known fact is being discussed:

He said, "The tower was built in 1255 ."
He said that the tower was built in 1255 .

We wish you interesting practice and success in coordination!

Victoria Tetkina