Direct speech describes the exact words that is said or written by someone. When written, direct speech is normally written inside quotation marks:
‘do you understand the above?’
‘does that make sense?’
‘I understand this’
Reported speech
We use reported speech to describe what has been spoken, written or thought by someone else. When using reported speech, we use reporting verbs such as say, tell, advise, suggest, comment etc. When using reported speech we need to consider context such as who we are speaking to, whether the person we are speaking to knows the person who said the original comment and whether it is till still true.
Direct speech
I am from London.
I studied law.
Reported speech
He said that he is from London.
My teacher told me that he is form London.
Someone commented that he that he studied law.
Someone commented that the teacher had studied law.
We use direct speech when:
the precise words are important
They said ‘don’t touch that button!’
to dramatise
‘the martians are coming’ (said by someone else)
the words are important
On becoming Prime Minister, he said ‘I will improve everything’ (a promise was made)
Clauses for reported speech
I told you that I was ill. (that)
She told him a lie. (noun)
Topic/summarising verbs
When discussing or talking about a topic, we may not want to use detail:
They talked about the weather
Interpretation and judgement
When reporting what someone has said, we can have our opinion about it:
They claimed that the economic crash was to blame for the sales figures.
Are you telling me that I don’t work hard enough?
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