Reported speech: practical explanation and examples of indirect speech

[bitheerani319]

We have already talked several times on this blog about reported speech , or indirect speech, an essential tool in English but one that students sometimes find difficult to use. In this post we want to give a simple and systematic explanation of how to move from direct speech to reported speech .






Reported speech: easy explanation
Indirect speech is used to speak from a third person's point of view . When cameroon phone number list want to reproduce exactly what another person has said, we use direct speech, placing what the other person said in quotation marks. However, with indirect speech we do not reproduce the literal message, but only the part that interests us; this makes the message marked by our own opinion.

There are several elements of the sentence that change to convert direct speech into indirect speech, mainly pronouns and verbs, let's look at it in more detail.

Download the printable with exercises and explanation of Reported Speech :

Reported Speech: Step-by-Step Guide + Exercises


By downloading the Reported Speech: Step-by-Step Guide, you will get:
Introduction: What is Reported Speech or Indirect style for?
The 5 steps to follow to move from Direct Speech to Reported Speech
Reporting Verbs
Practical exercises and solutions
Email *
Province *

- Select -
Subscribe to the What's Up blog
I have read and accept the legal notice and privacy policy . *
I am looking for an English academy in Spain and I want you to call me without obligation

How to use reported speech
Starting from a sentence in direct style, we must follow the following steps to change it to indirect style :

Define the type of sentence:

Affirmation.

Ask.

Suggestion/order.

You can see this in more detail in this post about reported speech

Define the tense of the introductory sentence
The introductory clause is the one that will become the main clause in the new indirect speech sentence. It can be either in the present or in some past tense. If it is in the present, it will not be necessary to change the verb of the subordinate clause; if it is in the past tense, it will be necessary to change it so that it agrees. For example: