1. Dell Youth Learning
Implemented by
Learning Links Foundation
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DELL YOUTH LEARNING

2. www.learninglinksindia.org

3. Meaning
In English language, there are two ways of conveying what someone
else has said: direct/quoted speech and indirect/reported speech.
Direct or quoted speech is a sentence (or several sentences) that
reports speech or thought in its original form, as phrased by the
original speaker. It is usually enclosed in quotation marks.
Indirect/reported speech, on the other hand, does not have to be
within quotes or reported word-to-word. In fact, unless one is
relaying the exact words spoken, one should never use quotation
marks.
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DELL YOUTH LEARNING

4. Definition
Direct or quoted speech is a sentence (or
several sentences) that reports speech or
thought in its original form, as phrased by the
original speaker. It is usually enclosed in
quotation marks.
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DELL YOUTH LEARNING

5. Definition
Indirect speech, also called reported speech
or indirect discourse, is a means of expressing
the content of statements, questions or other
utterances, without quoting them explicitly as is
done in direct speech.
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DELL YOUTH LEARNING

6. Reporting speech:
There are two ways of reporting what
somebody says:
•Direct speech
•Indirect (or reported) speech.
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7. Direct/Quoted Speech
Here are some examples for Direct Speech :
She said, “I won’t be coming home tonight”
Note that in this type of speech, a comma is most often
used before starting the exact quote within the
inverter commas.
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DELL YOUTH LEARNING

8. Indirect/Reported speech
Here are some examples for Indirect/reported
speech:
She told us that she wouldn’t be coming home
that night.
The verb tense necessarily changes in reported
speech. This is because when we report
speech, we are talking, about something that
was said in the past.
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9. When using direct speech in your writing you need
to use the correct punctuation.
• The exact words spoken must be enclosed in
speech marks.
• The first word of the speech must begin with a
capital letter.
• The words in the speech marks must be
separated from the rest of the sentence by a
comma.
• You must use a new line when a new speaker
begins to speak.
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10. Exercise
Tense
present simple
present continuous
past simple
past continuous
present perfect
past perfect*
will
would*
can
could*
shall
should*
might*
must
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Direct Speech
“I like ice cream”
“I am living in London”
“I bought a car”
“I was walking along the street”
“I haven't seen Julie”
“I had taken English lessons before”
“I'll see you later”
“I would help, but..”
“I can speak perfect English”
“I could swim when I was four”
“I shall come later”
“I should call my mother”
"I might be late"
"I must study at the weekend"
DELL YOUTH LEARNING

11. Exercise
Tense
present simple
present continuous
past simple
past continuous
present perfect
past perfect*
will
would*
can
could*
shall
should*
might*
must
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Reported Speech
She said (that) she liked ice cream.
She said she was living in London.
She said she had bought a car OR She said she bought
a car.
She said she had been walking along the street.
She said she hadn't seen Julie.
She said she had taken English lessons before.
She said she would see me later.
She said she would help but...
She said she could speak perfect English.
She said she could swim when she was four.
She said she would come later.
She said she should call her mother
She said she might be late
She said she must study at the weekend OR She said
she had to study at the weekend
DELL YOUTH LEARNING

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