CANADIAN COLLEGE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY (CCMT)

LECTURE MATERIALS FOR WEEK.4

MODULE Communication Skills

DEPARTMENT(S) BAM, BIT, GRIC. ,

COMPT.SCI. ,MASS
COMM., ACC.& FIN.,

YEAR 1
SEMESTER 1
WEEK. 4
TOPIC Direct and Indirect
Speech
LECTURER Khalil Ibrahim Abdul-

Rahman Fofanah
DIRECT AND INDIRECT/REPORTED SPEECH
What is a Direct Speech?
A speech is said to be direct when the exact words of a speaker
or writer are being re-echoed or re-written by another person in
speech/utterance or writing. In speech, direct speech is identified
or is made known to the audience or readers by the use of the
phrase, quote and unquote or, and I quote. In writing, direct
speech is identified by the use of the quotation marks (‘….’)
What is a Indirect Speech?
A speech is said to be indirect when the exact words of a
speaker or writer are transformed into other words, maintaining
the same meaning but has some changes in structure.
BASIC RULES FOR REPORTING
When reporting, the following techniques/guide lines should be
taken into consideration/account:
1. VERB.
In reporting, when the present tense is used in the direct
speech, it most times changes in the indirect/report form.
This however is not the case when the idea in the direct
speech is one that is said to be habitual, or generally
accepted, regular event, or of universal truth.
The verbs in the direct speech change as follows:

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

Simple present simple past
Present perfect past perfect
Simple past past perfect
Is/am was
Are were
Have/has had
Can could
Will would
Shall should
May might
Dare dared

Example
(i) ‘I am here to see you’, said the man```.(Direct speech)
The man said that he was there to see you (Indirect speech)

(ii) ‘I eat rice every day’, said the man (Direct speech)
The man said that he eats rice every day (Indirect speech)

(iii) ‘I am an African’ said the boy. (Direct speech)

The boy said that he is an African (Indirect speech)

(vi) ‘We have gone home’, said the old man (Direct Speech)
The old man said that they had gone home. (Indirect speech)

Note
When changing the pronoun used in the Direct speech, such as, ‘I’; there is
the need to change the verb form as well; as demonstrated in the examples
above.
 2. THE PRONOUN
The pronouns in the direct speech change as follows in the indirect speech

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

I he/she
We they
You you
Us them
Me him/her
Our there
Ours theirs
My his/her
Mine His/hers
This that
These those

3. ADVERB OF PLACE AND TIME

The adverbs of place and time that are used in the direct speech change as
follows:

DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH

Here there
Now then
Today that day
Yesterday previous day/day before
Tomorrow following day/next day
This year that year
These years those years

4. INTRODUCTORY PHRASE FOR INDIRECT/REPORTED

SPEECHES

When reporting, there are introductory phrase to be used depending on the

expression used in the direct speech. Generally, we begin our reported speech with
the following

(i) …….said that……,( here we know the speaker/writer only)

(ii) ……..told….that/to……,(here both the speaker and the person(s) being

addressed are known)
Example

(a) ‘I have an unparalleled beauty’ , Susan said(speaker only)

Susan said that, she had an unparalleled beauty.

(b)‘I have an unparalleled beauty’ , Susan said to her friend (speaker and
person spoken to)
Susan told her friend that she had an unparalleled.

However, the tone of the voice, the mood, the punctuation marks (?, !), the
choice of words are other determinants for the introductory phrases for
indirect speech.

(i)When the Direct speech is in a form of a question, we use either of the

following:

(a)……..asked…..whether……

(b)……asked…..if………..

Examples
’ill you go with me to the house?’ ,said John to Mary
John asked Mary whether/if she would go with him to the house

(ii)When the direct speech is in a form of a command or exclamatory, we use the

following:

(a)…….ordered…..to…..
(a) ……instructed…..to…..

Example

‘Get out of my room Joseph’, shouted the man.

The man ordered John to get out of his room

(iii)When the direct speech is in a form of a wish or request, advise, warning, we
the use the following as introductory phrases

(a) ……..called on……to

(b) ……..appealed to……..
(c) ……requested (for) (his/her)…….
(d) …….admonished/advised (his/her)….
(e) ……warned his/her………..

Example

‘Beware of bad friends’ said the woman to her daughter.

The woman advised/warned her daughter to be mindful of bad friends.

‘May I have your attention, son?’, the old woman said

The old woman requested for the attention of her son.

PLEASE DO FURTHER READINGS; THE

MATERIALS ARE NOT EXHAUSTIVE.