Everything that you need to know about Reported Speech.

 

The way to present spoken words as reported or direct speech is an important skill to acquire. Reported speech is sometimes called indirect speech, and in order to understand this fully a good knowledge of how to write direct speech is really important.

Direct speech refers to the actual words that are spoken by a person, in a situation or in a story. 

Punctuation of Direct Speech

There are specific rules for punctuating direct speech:

• Speech Marks: The actual words spoken appear between speech marks (single or double). All other punctuation appears within the speech marks.

‘How do you feel now?’ I asked.

• End of dialogue: Often, when writing direct speech, the speaker will be identified with something like he said or cried Juan. If this comes after a piece of direct speech, then that direct speech will usually end with a comma, although it can use a question mark, ellipses or exclamation mark, but not a full stop.
• Sentences: Direct speech is considered a sentence within its own right, and is punctuated accordingly.
• Paragraphing: Every time there is a change of speaker there should be a new paragraph. Normally, unless just a few words are being spoken, direct speech should begin a new paragraph.

Reported Speech

·         However, often a writer simply wants to express the essence, or meaning, of the actual words a person uses. This is when indirect speech comes into play. Not only is this punctuated differently, but sometimes the tense of the verb forms can change.

·         In reported speech tenses, pronouns, and adverbial phrases often, but not always, change. 

Tense	Direct speech	Reported Speech
Present	‘I regularly jog,’ he said.	He said that he jogs regularly.
Present Continuous	‘I am repairing the television,’ said John.	John said that he was repairing the television.
Past	‘He ate his sandwich,’ said Mum.	Mum said that he had eaten his sandwich.
Present Perfect	‘I have been swimming,’ said my wife.	My wife told me that she had been swimming.
Past Perfect	‘I just finished the test,’ said the Maria.	Maria said that she had just finished the test.
Present Perfect Continuous	He yelled, ‘We have been waiting for your call.’	He yelled that they had been waiting for her call.
Past Continuous	‘I was reading,’ he explained.	He explained that he had been reading.
Future	‘I will be paying my share on Tuesday,’ he said.	He said that he would be paying his share on Tuesday.
Future Continuous	‘I’ll be visiting your home on Thursday,’ she explained.	She explained that she would be visiting their home on Thursday.

Pronouns in Reported Speech

Next, we will consider how pronouns can be changed when shifting from direct to reported speech. There are rules to remember. They are complex, but can soon be learned.

1. First Person Pronoun – we, I, me, mine, us, our

If we are talking about a third person pronoun (for example, she, it, he, their etc) then the pronoun changes.

‘I love studying English,’ he told me.
He told me that he loves studying English.

If we are talking about another first person then the pronoun, then the pronoun does not change.

I said, ‘I love studying English.’
I said that I love studying English.

2. Second Person Pronoun – you, yours

The pronoun changes to fit with the object of the sentence.

She said to me, ‘You are my favorite teacher!’
She said to me that I was her favorite teacher.

‘You are my favorite teacher,’ she said to him.
She said to him that he was her favorite teacher.

3. Third Person Pronoun – she, he, it, they, his, him, them, his

The pronoun is not changed when direct speech is switched to reported speech.

‘It will fail completely,’ he said.
He said that it would fail completely.

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