English Second Language·Grammar & language usage · NSSCO 1.8
Direct & indirect (reported) speech
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There are two ways to write down what a person said. Direct speech gives their exact words inside inverted commas — Selma said, “I am tired.” Indirect, or reported, speech folds those words into your own sentence — Selma said that she was tired. In this gentle lesson Miss Veronica shows you how to punctuate direct speech neatly, then makes the three changes that turn it into reported speech: the tenses shift back, the pronouns switch, and the time words move. We finish with reported questions, commands, the say-versus-tell trap, and a wrong report fixed together.
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCO English Second Language 1.8):
- Learners should be able to explain the difference between direct speech (a person's exact words) and indirect or reported speech (what was said, folded into a sentence)
- Learners should be able to punctuate direct speech correctly, using a comma, a capital letter, inverted commas, an end mark inside the inverted commas, and a new line for each new speaker
- Learners should be able to shift the tenses back correctly when reporting speech, using a backshift table (present to past, past to past perfect, will to would, can to could)
- Learners should be able to change the pronouns and the time and place words when turning direct speech into reported speech
- Learners should be able to use 'say' and 'tell' correctly (tell needs a person after it)
- Learners should be able to report questions using asked with whether or if and normal statement word order, and report commands and requests using told or asked someone to do something
- Learners should be able to identify and correct a wrongly reported sentence
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