Direct and Indirect Speech

1. What is Direct and Indirect Speech?

➤ Direct Speech

• The exact words spoken by someone.
• Uses quotation marks (" ").
• Includes punctuation marks inside the quotation marks.

✅ Example: Nosipho said, "My family will be going to a soccer match next Saturday."

➤ Indirect (Reported) Speech

• Reports what someone said without using their exact words.
• No quotation marks are used.
• The verb tense changes (backshifts).
• The word 'that' is often used to introduce the reported sentence. ✅ Example: Nosipho said that her family would be going to a soccer match the following Saturday.

---

2. Key Changes from Direct to Indirect Speech

✔ No Quotation Marks

✅ Sipho asked, "Are you coming to the party?" → Sipho asked whether I was coming to the party.

✔ Verb Tense Changes (Backshifting)

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
is/am → was	"I am sick." → He said (that) he was sick.
are → were	"They are happy." → She said (that) they were happy.
will → would	"She will help." → He said (that) she would help.
can → could	"I can swim." → She said (that) she could swim.
must → had to	"You must study." → He said (that) I had to study.
have/has → had	"I have finished." → She said (that) she had finished.

---

3. Other Important Changes

✔ Pronoun Changes

• I → he/she
• we → they
• us → them
• my → his/her ✅ Example:

"I love my school." → She said that she loved her school.

✔ Time and Place Changes

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
now → then	"I am happy now." → He said he was happy then.
today → that day	"We will meet today." → She said they would meet that day.
tomorrow → the next day	"I'll see you tomorrow." → He said he would see me the next day.
yesterday → the previous day	"I saw her yesterday." → He said he had seen her the previous day.
last week → the week before	"We visited last week." → She said they had visited the week before.

---

4. Punctuation in Reported Speech

• No exclamation marks or question marks (unless in a direct quote).
• No commas inside quotation marks. ✅ Example:

Direct: "We've won the competition!" they shouted.

Indirect: They shouted that they had won the competition.

---

5. Worked Examples

Convert to Reported Speech

1️⃣ Direct Speech: "I can't give my baby a good life here," the young lady said.

✅ Reported Speech: The young lady said that she couldn't give her baby a good life there.

2️⃣ Direct Speech: Graça Machel said, "It is something you give a young girl that can never be taken away."

✅ Reported Speech: Graça Machel said that it was something you gave a young girl that could never be taken away.

3️⃣ Direct Speech: He wanted to say, "I will never forget you or your parents."

✅ Reported Speech: He wanted to say that he would never forget him or his parents.

4️⃣ Direct Speech: Yesterday Robert Phipps said, "Mary, your eyes are the windows to your soul."

✅ Reported Speech: The previous day, Robert Phipps told Mary that her eyes were the windows to her soul.