Direct and indirect speech.
Direct and Indirect Speech. LIST OF CONTENTS. 0. Introduction. 1. Direct vs. indirect speech. 2.
Statements in reported speech. -Verb changes. -Modal auxiliaries in reported speech. -Pronoun changes. -Adverb changes.
3.
Reporting verbs. -Differences in meaning. -Differences in construction. -Use of “that� in reported speech. -Reporting what someone says.
4.
Questions and exclamations in indirect speech.
5.
Commands in indirect speech.
6. Other types of direct and indirect speech. -Free Direct Speech. -Free Indirect Speech. -The narrative report of speech acts. 7. Conclusion. 8.. Bibliography.
0.Introduction. In this work I am going to speak about the indirect and direct speech. I am going to do a distinction between them to see the differences. Moreover, I am going to speak about statements in reported speech and about the changes which verbs, modal auxiliaries, pronouns and adverbs suffer. Besides, I am going to speak about questions, exclamations and commands in indirect speech. I will do a section on reporting verbs, differences in meaning, differences in construction and the use of “that� in reported speech and I will give some information about other different types of direct and indirect speech (Free Direct Speech, Free Indirect Speech and the narrative report of speech acts). Finally, I will speak about the didactic application which this topic has, I will write a conclusion and I will put the information about the bibliography.
1.Direct vs. indirect speech. Firstly, I am going to express the different definition of direct and indirect speech to understand which the difference between these two types is. Direct speech (sometimes called Quoted Speech) is used to give the exact words used by another speaker that is, saying exactly what someone has said. The words are given between quotation marks (" ") in writing and add a speech tag such as "he said" or "she asked" either before or after the quote. For example: "Are you free tonight?" she asked. We can also use direct speech to say what someone is saying right now, as in: She says "Hurry up." Indirect Speech (also called Reported Speech) is used to communicate what someone else said, but without using the exact words. For example: He said that he was going to come. (The person's exact words were "I'm going to come.").
2. Statements in reported speech. 2.1 Verb changes. 2.2 Modal auxiliaries in the reported speech. 2.3 Pronoun changes.
2.4 Adverb changes. 2.1 Verbs changes. 2.2
In this section I am going to explain the different changes which are necessaries to obtain indirect speech (Reported Speech). Firstly, I am going to start with the changes which suffer the verb to express the indirect speech. The verb is one of the elements in clause structure, like the subject and the object and is a member of a word class, like a noun and an adjective. When we use reported speech, the tense usually changes. This is because when we use it, 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. This process of changing the tense of a verb from present to past is called backshift. The changes are the following: -If you use to direct speech the present simple you have to put the verb in past simple to indirect speech. Present simple She said, "It is cold."
à
Past simple She said it was cold.
-If you use to direct speech the present continuous you have to put the verb in past continuous to indirect speech. Present continuous Past continuous She said, "I am teaching English online." à She said she was teaching English online. -If you use to direct speech the present perfect simple you have to put the verb in past perfect simple to indirect speech. Present perfect simple Past perfect simple She said, "I have been on the web since à She said she had been on the web since 1999. 1999." -If you use to direct speech the present perfect continuous you have to put the verb in past perfect continuous to indirect speech.
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous She said, "I have been teaching English for She said she had been teaching English for seven seven years." à years. -If you use to direct speech the past simple you have to put the verb in past perfect to indirect speech. Past simple She said, "I taught online yesterday."
à
Past perfect She said she had taught online yesterday.
-If you use to direct speech the past continuous you have to put the verb in past perfect continuous to indirect speech. Past continuous She said, "I was teaching earlier."
à
Past perfect continuous She said she had been teaching earlier.
-If you use to direct speech the past perfect you will not change the verb to indirect speech. Past perfect She said, "The lesson had already started when he arrived." à
Past perfect NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already started when he arrived.
-If you use to direct speech the past perfect continuous you will not change the verb to indirect speech. Past perfect continuous Past perfect continuous She said, "I had already been teaching for NO CHANGE - She said she had already been five minutes." à teaching for five minutes. The most common verbs used in indirect speech are said, told and asked. -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. (Here me is the object). -We usually use said without an object. For example: Lynne said she was going to teach online. There are many other verbs we can use apart from said, told and asked. These include: accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed, apologized, begged, boasted, complained, denied, explained, implied, invited, offered, ordered, promised, replied, suggested and thought.
2.2Modal auxiliaries in reported speech. The past tense modals could, might, would, and should are used quite regularly as past tense equivalents of can, may, will, and shall in indirect speech constructions. For example: You can/ may do as you wish (=permission) It may rain later (=possibility). The plan will succeed (=prediction).
à She said we could/might do as we wished. à
We were afraid that it might rain later. à
I felt sure that the plan would succeed.
Must, together with need (as auxiliary), ought to, and had better, has no present/ past distinction. These verbs are therefore unchanged in indirect speech constructions, even where they refer to past time.
The past tense modals can be used in the hypothetical sense of the past tense in both main and subordinate clauses. Now, you can see better the changes of the modal verbs. Will She said, “ I will teach English online tomorrow”.
Would à
Can She said, “I can teach English online”.
Could à She said she could teach English online.
Must She said, “ I must have a computer to
She said she would teach English online tomorrow.
Had to à
She said she had to have a computer to teach.
teach English online”. Shall She said, “What shall we learn today?”
Should à
May She said, “May I open a new browser?”
She asked what we should learn today. Might
à
She asked if she might open a new browser.
2.3 Pronoun changes.
Now, I am going to explain the changes which pronouns suffer to create the indirect speech. -First person pronouns (I, we, me, mine, us, ours) in the direct speech change according to the subject of the reporting verb in the indirect speech, normally change to the third person (he, she, they, his, her, their, him, her, them).
For example:
Direct: He/she said, ‘I am busy.’ Indirect: He/she said that he/she was busy.
There will be no change in the pronoun when the speaker reports his own words. For example: Direct: I said, ‘I will be late.’ Indirect: I said that I would be late. -Second person pronouns in the direct speech change according to the object of the reporting verb in the indirect speech. For example: Direct: He said to me, ‘You have to come with me.’ Indirect: He told me that I had to go with him. -Third person pronouns in the direct speech will not change in the indirect speech. For example: Direct: They said, ‘He/she does not have the necessary qualifications.’ Indirect: They said that he/she did not have the necessary qualifications. While changing the pronouns in the manner stated above, it should be noted that the new (changed) pronoun will have the same case and number as the original one.
2.4 Adverb changes. And finally, I am going to speak about the changes which adverbs suffer. -If in the direct speech appears the adverb now, in reported speech the adverb changes to the form then. -If in the direct speech appears the adverb last (it can refer to year, month, week...), in reported speech the adverb changes to the form the (year, month, week...) before or in the form the previous (year, month, week). -If in the direct speech appears the adverb yesterday, in reported speech the adverb changes to the form the day before or the form the previous day. -If in the direct speech appears the adverb tomorrow, in reported speech the adverb changes to the form the next day or in the form of the following day. -If in the direct speech appears the adverb next (it can refer to the week, month, day), in reported speech the adverb changes to the form the ( week, month, year) after or in the form the following (week, month,year...). -If in the direct speech appears the adverb here, in reported speech the adverb changes to the form there. It can be observed better in the following chapter: DIRECT SPEECH
INDIRECT SPEECH
Now
à
Then
Last
à
The (year, month, week...)before/the previous (year, month,week)
Yesterday
à
The day before/ the previous day
Tomorrow
à
The following day.
Next following
à
The (week, month, year) after/ the
(week, month, year...). Here
à
There
3. Reporting verbs. Reporting verbs differ in terms of their strength – for example “to suggest” is much weaker, and more tentative, than “to argue”. Some reporting verbs are used principally to say what the writer does and does not do. These verbs do not indicate any value judgement on the part of the writer – they are called ‘neutral’ reporting verbs, like for example: describe, show, reveal, study, demonstrate, note, point out, indicate, report, observe, assume, take into consideration, examine, go on to say that, state, believe (unless this is a strong belief), mention, etc. A second group of verbs is used to show when the writer has an inclination to believe something but still wishes to be hesitant – we call these ‘tentative’ reporting verbs, like for example: suggest, speculate, intimate, hypothesise, moot, imply, propose, recommend, posit the view that, question the view that, postulate, etc. Finally, if the writer has strong arguments to put forward and is absolutely sure of his or her ground, we can use ‘strong’ reporting verbs to refer to these ideas, like for example: argue, claim, emphasise, contend, maintain, assert, theorise, support the view that, deny, negate, refute, reject, challenge, strongly believe that, counter the view/argument that, etc. There are many reasons for using a reporting verb. You may want to comment on someone’s work, agree or disagree with someone else’s study, or evaluate someone’s ideas. There are three basic reasons for using a reporting verb. Its usage depends largely on whether you are focusing on the: -Aim of the study. -Results of the study. -Opinion of the study.
Differences in meaning. 1.ORDERS, REQUESTS, SUGGESTIONS. When we want to report an order or request, we can use a verb like 'tell' with a to-clause. The pattern is verb + indirect object + to-clause. (The indirect object is the person spoken to.) - Requests for objects are reported using the pattern ask + for + object. -Suggestions are usually reported with a that-clause. 'That' and 'should' are optional in these clauses. Suggest can also be followed by a gerund: I suggested postponing the visit to the dentist. 2. HOPES, INTENTIONS, PROMISES. When we report an intention, hope or promise, we use an appropriate reporting verb followed by a that-clause or a to-infinitive. Other verbs used in this pattern include: hope, propose, threaten, guarantee, swear.
Differences in construction. 1. We use reporting verbs to report what someone said more accurately than using 'say' and 'tell'. -verb + infinitive (agree, decide, offer, promise, refuse, threaten). For example: They agreed to meet on Friday.
-verb + object + infinitive (advise, encourage, invite, remind, warn). For example: Tom advised me to go home early. -verb + gerund (deny, recommend, suggest). For example: They recommended taking the bus. -verb + object + preposition (+ gerund) (accuse, blame, congratulate). For example: He accused me of taking the money. -verb + preposition + gerund (apologize, insist). For example:They apologized for not coming. -verb + (that) (admit, agree, decide, deny, explain, insist, promise, recommend, suggest). For example: Sarah decided (that) the house needed cleaning. 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. That is never used in questions, instead we often use if. For example: He asked me if I would come to the party. Reporting what someone says Reporting what someone has said can be a difficult task in a foreign language. The first question to ask you is: did the speaker give information or ask for a favor? For example, let's imagine that somebody says, "There's a mouse in my house." He has just given me information. Now, if somebody says, "Give me a mousetrap," he is asking for a favor. It is important to distinguish between the two because it will determine how I report what somebody said to a third party. For example, let us now imagine that somebody didn't hear another person who is saying this and he asks me what he said. For the first sentence I would respond, "Somebody said that there was a mouse in his house." The second sentence would require a different form, "Somebody told me to give him a mousetrap."
4. Questions and exclamations in indirect speech. In the interrogative sentences we use the same grammatical order: the subject goes after the verb but it is not necessary to use the auxiliary "do" or "did", for example: "Where does Peter live?" She asked him where Peter lived. The final punctuation mark (question mark or exclamation point) should be changed to a full stop (period) in an indirect statement. In some cases, the word order may have to be changed slightly. For example: Direct: Why should we include this question in the agenda? Indirect: Several Committee members asked why they should include the question in the agenda. The interrogative structure is replaced by an affirmative construction. There are different types of question. 1. Yes-No questions: Linking items "if" or "whether". "Whether" usually implies choice. "Whether" is used when the indirect question precedes the main clause. For example: Whether this is my turn or Susan's, I can not say. 2. Wh-questions: (do not use "if"). This type of question is reported by using 'ask' (or another verb like 'ask') + question word + clause. The clause contains the question, in normal word order and with the necessary tense change. 3. Questions beginning with SHALL I / WE, this use is given to speculations, offers, suggestions and requests for instructions or advice (To be + infinitive or should), this part I have commented
previously in the section of the differences of meaning in reporting verbs but now I am specifying it a bit more and I am applying it to the topic of the questions. 4. Questions beginning with WILL YOU? , this use is given to ordinary questions (future: would), requests (take an infinitive), invitations (offer) and commands (verb of command + infinitive). 5. Polite Requests: Verb of asking or requesting + object + to + infinitive.
Exclamation Exclamations are used to express the speaker's feeling or attitude. For example: "How marvellous!". Mary exclaimed that it was marvelous. Examples of exclamation: Direct: Such acts of aggression should not be tolerated by the international community! Indirect: The Ambassador declared that such acts of aggression should not be tolerated by the international community.
5. Commands in indirect speech. For commands in reported speech use introductory verb like tell, order, command, direct, warn, beg, advise … + infinitive with “to”. The imperative form becomes infinitive: "Write down the exercise!" The teacher told the students to write down the exercise. To express negative commands use 'tell' or 'advise' + not + infinitive with 'to'. "Don't move!".
He ordered them not to move.
Other different types of commands can be will you? Or be+to+infinitive.
6.Other types of direct and indirect speech. Two variants of reported speech occur mainly in fiction: free direct speech and free indirect speech: -Free direct speech lacks a reporting clause to show the shift from narration to reporting; it is often used in fiction to represent the mental reactions of characters to what they see or experience. It is a speech without any evidence of the narrator's presence. We are given only the words of the characters, without the interventions of someone who is organising the dialogue. Novelists and short-story writers who like to leave the reader to infer all that is unspoken are often drawn to this technique. Ernest Hemingway was one of the first to show its powers of implication. There is another mode of projection which is sometimes described as “intermediate between direct and indirect speech”, namely “free indirect speech”. -Free indirect speech resembles indirect speech in shifting tenses and other references, but there is generally no reporting clause and it retains some features of direct speech (such as direct questions and vocatives).
What distinguishes free indirect speech from normal indirect speech is the lack of an introductory expression such as "He said" or "he thought". It is as if the subordinate clause carrying the content of the indirect speech is taken out of the main clause which contains it, becoming the main clause itself. Using free indirect speech may convey the character's words more directly than in normal indirect, as he can use devices such as interjections and exclamation marks, that can not be normally used within a subordinate clause. Free indirect speech is a style of third-person narration which uses some of the characteristics of third-person along with the essence of first-person direct speech. For example: Quoted or direct speech: He laid down his bundle and thought of his misfortune. "And just what pleasure have I found, since I came into this world?" he asked. Reported or normal indirect speech: He laid down his bundle and thought of his misfortune. He asked himself what pleasure he had found since he came into the world. Free indirect speech: He laid down his bundle and thought of his misfortune. And just what pleasure had he found, since he came into this world? Free indirect speech can be projected both verbally and mentally, and included both propositions and proposals-everything, in fact, that can be both quoted and reported. -The narrative report of speech acts. NRSA (Narrative report of Speech Acts) refers either to the speech acts of characters, excluding the content of their speech, or, to the speech acts of characters plus a vague or general description of what has been said, using a circumstantial adjunct instead of a reported clause. It is useful for summarising relatively unimportant stretches of conversation. This includes sentences that merely report that speech occurred but not what was said, either as sense or as the words themselves. For example: He said, “I’ll come back to see you again tomorrow.” → He promised to return/he promised to visit her again.
7.Conclusion. Finally, I am going to do a conclusion and I am going to explain what I have done in this work. Firstly, I have explained the distinction between the direct and indirect speech, I have spoken about the changes of verbs, adverbs, modal verbs, pronouns... Besides, I have explained the different construction and meaning of the reporting verbs and I have spoken about the different types of direct and indirect speech, between others things. Also, I have explained some ways which you can use to teach this topic in a class and try people understand better this issue. In conclusion, I have spoken about the direct and indirect speech, I have offered some information which is useful to understand this topic and to you can teach or explain other people and now I am going to give some information about the bibliography which I have
used to understand this topic and to have more information.
8. Bibliography. -Halliday, M.A.K.(1985). An introduction to functional grammar. London: Edward Arnold. -Quirk, Randolph & Sidney Greenbaum (1990). A student's Grammar of the English Language. Longman. -UsingEnglish.com. Term: Reported Speech. Document retrieved from the World Wide Web on 5th May 2010: http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/reported-speech.html. -Leo Network. Learn English. Document retrieved from the World Wide Web on 5th May 2010: http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/reportedspeech.htm.. -Teach me. Direct vs Indirect speech. Document retrieved from the World Wide Web on 5th May 2010: http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/online_free_002. -English,baby! Free Grammar Checker. Document retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6th May 2010: http://www.englishbaby.com/lessons/grammar/direct_vs_reported_speech. ReportedSpeech. Document retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6th May 2010:http://pagespersoorange.fr/absolutenglish972/notes/grammar/reportedspeech.htm. -Reported Speech. Document retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8th May 2010: http://users.servicios.retecal.es/sgarci18/Ingles/Explicaciones/reported.html. -Eslbase. Reporting verbs. Document retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8th May 2010:http://www.eslbase.com/grammar/reporting-verbs.