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When someone says, said or has said something, we can report it either directly or
indirectly. When we report it directly, we call it direct speech; if we transform what
someone said to report it indirectly, we call it indirect or reported speech.
Direct speech:
Though there are many verbs used to introduce both a direct or a reported speech clause,
most often used ones are say and tell. There are some differences in use between the two of
them:
Say
- Direct:
“I’ve lost my umbrella”, he/ Tom said
, said Tom
, he/Tom said to me
- Indirect:
He said that he had lost his umbrella
(He said to me that he had lost his umbrella)
Tell
- Direct:
“I’ve lost my umbrella”, he told me
- Indirect:
He told me that he had lost his umbrella
He told me how/about ....
REPORTED SPEECH
We can either tranform statements, questions, commands, requests, or advice into reported
speech:
- When the introductory verb is in the Present, Present Perfect or Future, there are no
verbal changes in the reported clause:
- there are normally some tense changes in the reported clause (see chart)
- Changes in structure:
- Questions:
- To report a question, we use verbs such as: inquire, wonder, want to know, ... but
only ask can take an indirect object
- These are normally reported with an introductory verb, an object sometimes, and an
infinitive structure.
- Exclamations:
“Uf”, he said
“We have reached the summit!”