Direct and indirect speech examples

Suppose, yo u w a n t to tell somebody what your friend Riya said. There are two ways of doing this : Direct Speech and Indirect speech. The first way, You can repeat Riya’s exact words without change : Riya said, ‘I’m feeling ill.’ This type of reporting is called direct speech. Direct speech refers to the direct quotation of something that someone else said. It is sometimes known as quoted speech b ecause we use quotation marks to show direct speech. American English uses double quotation marks ( “ ” ), while British English typically uses single quotation marks ( ‘ ’ ). The second way, you can use indirect speech : Riya said that she was feeling ill. When we tell other people what someone else told us without directly quoting that person, it is called indirect speech . Indirect speech is also known as reported speech or indirect quotation . In the reported speech, we write or present in our own words what someone else said. Reporting and Reported Clause Both direct speech and indirect consist of reporting clause and reported clause. Reporting Verbs We use reporting verbs to introduce the information that was spoken previously. Both direct and indirect speech use reporting verbs . The most common so-called “reporting verbs” are say, tell and ask. 1. Tell (Reporting Verb) When we use tell, we need to use another person’s name or a personal pronoun as an indirect object after tell. ( tell somebody…). We don’t use to after tell. For Example: He told me he was sad.(Not “ tol...

What are direct and Indirect Speeches? Indirect speech:In grammar, when we want to report what someone said, without speech marks and without necessarily using exactly the same words, we use indirect speech. It is also known as reported speech. Look at the following sentences: Direct speech:he says, “I am going to school.” Indirect speech:he says that he is going to school. In above sentences, the reporter delivers the message of the boy using his real words (e.g.“I am going to school.”) In the indirect speech sentence, the reporter delivers his message but in his own words without any change in the meaning. Thus, both direct and indirect speeches are two different ways of reporting a statement of person. In simple words, quoting a person using your own words is called an indirect speech. Direct speech:Direct speech is also called reporting speech. There are two parts in a sentence in direct speech first part is known as reporting speech (in this sentence we know about reporting person) and the second part which is known as reported speech (indirect narration “example”, or indirect discourse). When we want to describe what someone said, one option is to use direct speech. We use direct speech when we simply repeat what someone says, putting the phrase between speech marks: • Saif came in and said, “I’m really happy”. As you can see, with direct speech it is common to use the verb ‘to say’ and ‘to says’ (‘said’ in the past). But you can also find other verbs used to indicat...

Table of Contents • • Direct And Indirect Speech Examples While using English, we use direct and indirect speeches quite often. If a sentence is expressed exactly as it came out of the mouth of the person who said it, it becomes a direct speech. However Indirect Speech (also called reported speech) refers to transmitting a sentence that someone has said. It is often used in daily language. For example, • Susan told me she ate pizza yesterday. (Indirect Speech) Susan said, “I ate pizza yesterday.”. (Direct Speech) • Mathilda told me she had to go out. (Indirect Speech) Mathilda said: “I have to go out.”. (Direct Speech) • Julie asked if the train had left when she arrived at the ticket office. (Indirect Speech) Julie asked: “Did the train leave?” (Direct Speech) 50 Examples of Direct and Indirect Speech 1 Direct She says, “I am ill.” Indirect She says that she is ill. 2 Direct I will study”, Mary said. Indirect I will study”, said Mary. 3 Direct She said; “The exam is difficult. Indirect She said the test was difficult. 4 Direct I bought a car. Indirect He said he bought a car. 5 Direct My parents are very well. Indirect Alex said that his parents were very well. 6 Direct Please don’t be late. Indirect He asked their not to be late. 7 Direct I’m living in Texas now. Indirect Her father said that he was living in London now. 8 Direct I am living in Paris. Indirect He said that he was living in Paris. 9 Direct My mother isn’t very well. Indirect She said that her mother wasn’...

Interrogative sentence poses question. This type of sentence is very much different from assertive sentence which makes a statement. In interrogative sentence predicate (verb) comes first, then comes the subject. In some cases the helping verb comes before the subject and the main verb remains behind to form question. The entire verb can also be placed before subject in some instances. Interrogative sentence are two types – • WH – question. • Yes-no question. Rules • WH – question is formed with the use of who, which, when, where, how why. • Yes-no question is formed with the use of auxiliary verbs such as – am, is, are, was, were, do, did, can, shall, will, have, has, may. • A question mark should always be used at the end of interrogative sentence in direct speech. • To convert direct speech to indirect speech quotation marks should be omitted. • Ask is used as reporting verb instead of say, tell, say to. • In narration change, interrogative sentence changes to assertive form [direct to indirect speech] • After the conversion of interrogative sentence from direct to indirect speech, the question mark changes to full stop. • The conjunction ‘ that’ is not used to connect reporting and reported clause. • Instead ‘ if’ or ‘ whether’ is used for the conversion of yes-no question. • ‘ If’, ‘ whether’, ‘ that’ are not used in WH– questions. Examples Direct Speech Indirect Speech Ajay said to Rabi, “What did you do?” Ajay asked Rabi what he had done. He said to me, “ Are you wo...

Indirect speech is paraphrasing what someone said or wrote. In writing, it functions to move a piece along by boiling down points that an interview source made. Unlike direct speech, indirect speech is not usually placed inside quote marks. However, both are attributed to the speaker because they come directly from a source. Indirectly reporting an action in the future can change verb tenses when needed. In this next example, changing the am going to was going implies that she has already left for the mall. However, keeping the tense progressive or continuous implies that the action continues, that she's still at the mall and not back yet. Typically in fiction italics show a character's exact thoughts, and quote marks show dialogue. Free indirect speech makes do without the italics and simply combines the internal thoughts of the character with the narration of the story. Writers who have used this technique include James Joyce, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Henry James, Zora Neale Hurston, and D.H. Lawrence. Nordquist, Richard. "Indirect Speech Definition and Examples." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/what-is-indirect-speech-1691058. Nordquist, Richard. (2020, August 27). Indirect Speech Definition and Examples. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-indirect-speech-1691058 Nordquist, Richard. "Indirect Speech Definition and Examples." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-indirect-speech-1691058 (accessed June 15, 2023).