We often have to give information about what people say or think.

In order to do this you can use

direct or quoted speech, or indirect or reported speech.

Direct Speech / Quoted Speech

Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes called quoted speech)

Here what a person says appears within quotation marks ("...") and should be word for word.

For example:

She said, "Today's lesson is on presentations."

or

"Today's lesson is on presentations," she said.

Indirect Speech / Reported Speech

Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech), doesn't use quotation marks to enclose what
the person said and it doesn't have to be word for word.

When reporting speech the tense usually changes. This is because when we use reported speech,
we are usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person who spoke
originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too.

For example:

Direct speech Indirect speech

"I'm going to the cinema", he said. He said he was going to the cinema.

Tense change

As a rule when you report something someone has said you go back a tense: (the tense on the left
changes to the tense on the right):

Direct speech Indirect speech

Present simple
› Past simple
She said, "It's cold." She said it was cold.
Present continuous
› Past continuous
She said, "I'm teaching English online." She said she was teaching English online.
Present perfect simple Past perfect simple
She said, "I've been on the web since › She said she had been on the web since
1999." 1999.
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, "I've been teaching English › She said she had been teaching English for
for seven years." seven years.
Past simple Past perfect
She said, "I taught online yesterday." › She said she had taught online yesterday.
Past continuous
› Past perfect continuous
She said, "I was teaching earlier." She said she had been teaching earlier.
Past perfect Past perfect
She said, "The lesson had already › NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had
started when he arrived." already started when he arrived.
Past perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
She said, "I'd already been teaching for › NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been
five minutes." teaching for five minutes.

Modal verb forms also sometimes change:

Direct speech Indirect speech

will would
She said, "I'll teach English online › She said she would teach English online
tomorrow." tomorrow.
can
She said, "I can teach English online." › could
She said she could teach English online.
must had to
She said, "I must have a computer to › She said she had to have a computer to
teach English online." teach English online.
shall
She said, "What shall we learn today?" › should
She asked what we should learn today.
might
may
She said, "May I open a new browser?" › She asked if she might open a new
browser.

!Note - There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.

Direct speech Indirect speech

"I might go to the cinema", he said. He said he might go to the cinema.

You can use the present tense in reported speech if you want to say that something is still true i.e.
my name has always been and will always be Lynne so:-

Direct speech Indirect speech

 She said her name was Lynne.

"My name is Lynne", she said. or

She said her name is Lynne.

You can also use the present tense if you are talking about a future event.

Direct speech (exact quote) Indirect speech (not exact)

"Next week's lesson is on reported She said next week's lesson is on reported
speech ", she said. speech.

Time change

If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the time
of reporting.

For example we need to change words like here and yesterday if they have different meanings at
the time and place of reporting.

Today + 24 hours - Indirect speech

She said yesterday's lesson was on
"Today's lesson is on presentations."
presentations.
Expressions of time if reported on a different day
this (evening) › that (evening)
today › yesterday ...
these (days) › those (days)
now › then
(a week) ago › (a week) before
last weekend › the weekend before last / the previous weekend
here › there
next (week) › the following (week)
tomorrow › the next/following day

In addition if you report something that someone said in a different place to where you heard it
you must change the place (here) to the place (there).

For example:-
 At work At home
"How long have you worked here?" She asked me how long I'd worked there.

Pronoun change

In reported speech, the pronoun often changes.

For example:

Me You
"I teach English online." She said she teaches English online.

Reporting Verbs

Said, told and asked are the most common verbs used in indirect speech.

We use asked to report questions:-

For example: I asked Lynne what time the lesson started.

We use told with an object.

For example: Lynne told me she felt tired.

!Note - Here me is the object.

We usually use said without an object.

For example: Lynne said she was going to teach online.

If said is used with an object we must include to ;

For example: Lynne said to me that she'd never been to China.

!Note - We usually use told.

For example: Lynne told me that she'd never been to China.

There are many other verbs we can use apart from said, told and asked.

These include:-
 accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed, apologised, begged, boasted, complained,
denied, explained, implied, invited, offered, ordered, promised, replied, suggested and
thought.

Using them properly can make what you say much more interesting and informative.

For example:

He asked me to come to the party:-

He invited me to the party.

He begged me to come to the party.
He ordered me to come to the party.
He advised me to come to the party.
He suggested I should come to the party.

Use of 'That' in reported speech

In reported speech, the word that is often used.

For example: He told me that he lived in Greenwich.

However, that is optional.

For example: He told me he lived in Greenwich.

!Note - That is never used in questions, instead we often use if.

For example: He asked me if I would come to the party.

September 1999

Revised: December 2008

Direct and Indirect Speech

When using indirect or reported speech, the form changes. Usually indirect speech is introduced
by the verb said, as in I said, Bill said, or they said. Using the verb say in this tense, indicates
that something was said in the past. In these cases, the main verb in the reported sentence is put
in the past. If the main verb is already in a past tense, then the tense changes to another past
tense; it can almost be seen as moving even further into the past.

Verb tense changes also characterize other situations using indirect speech. Note the changes
shown in the chart and see the table below for examples. With indirect speech, the use of that is
optional.

Direct Speech ⇒ Indirect Speech

simple present ⇒ simple past

He said, “I go to school every He said (that) he went to school every day.
day.”

simple past ⇒ past perfect

He said, “I went to school every He said (that) he had gone to school every
day.” day.

present perfect ⇒ past perfect

He said, “I have gone to school He said (that) he had gone to school every
every day.” day.

present progressive ⇒ past progressive

He said, “I am going to school He said (that) he was going to school
every day.” every day.
past progressive ⇒ perfect progressive
He said, “I was going to school He said (that) he had been going to
every day.” school every day,

future (will) ⇒ would + verb name

He said, “I will go to school every He said (that) he would go to school every
day.” day.

future (going to) ⇒ present progressive

He said, “I am going to school He said (that) he is going to school every
every day.” day.

past progressive
He said (that) he was going to school
every day

Direct Speech ⇒ Indirect Speech

auxiliary + verb name ⇒ simple past

He said, “Do you go to school He asked me if I went to school every
every day?” day.*
He said, “Where do you go to He asked me where I went to school.
school?”

imperative ⇒ infinitive
He said, “Go to school every day.” He said to go to school every day.

*Note than when a Yes/No question is being asked in direct speech, then a construction with if
or whether is used. If a WH question is being asked, then use the WH to introduce the clause.
Also note that with indirect speech, these are examples of embedded questions.

The situation changes if instead of the common said another part of the very to say is used. In
that case the verb tenses usually remain the same. Some examples of this situation are given
below.

Direct Speech ⇒ Indirect Speech

simple present + simple ⇒ simple present + simple present
present He says (that) he goes to school every day.
He says, “I go to school every
day.”

present perfect + simple ⇒ present perfect + simple present

present He has said (that) he goes to school every
He has said, “I go to school every day.
day.”

past progressive + simple past ⇒ past progressive + simple past

He was saying, “I went to school He was saying (that) he went to school
every day.” every day.

past progressive + past perfect

He was saying (that) he had gone to
school every day.

future + simple present ⇒ future + simple present

He will say, “I go to school every He will say (that) he goes to school every
day.” day.

Another situation is the one in which modal constructions are used. If the verb said
is used, then the form of the modal, or another modal that has a past meaning is
used.

Direct Speech ⇒ Indirect Speech

can ⇒ could
He said, “I can go to school every He said (that) he could go to school
day.” every day.

may ⇒ might
He said, “I may go to school every He said (that) he might go to school
day.” every day.

might
He said, “I might go to school
every day.”

must ⇒ had to
He said, “I must go to school He said (that) he had to go to school
every day.” every day.

have to
He said, “I have to go to school
every day.”

should ⇒ should
He said, “I should go to school He said (that) he should go to school
every day.” every day.

ought to ⇒ ought to
He said, “I ought to go to school He said (that) he ought to go to school
every day.” every day.

While not all of the possibilities have been listed here, there are enough to provide examples of
the main rules governing the use of indirect or reported speech. For other situations, try to
extrapolate from the examples here, or better still, refer to a good grammar text or reference
book.

Some other verbs that can be used to introduce direct speech are: ask, report, tell, announce,
suggest, and inquire. They are not used interchangeably; check a grammar or usage book for
further information.