Indirect Speech

Many people believe that indirect speech is a way to avoid responsibility for what’s being said. Indirect speech allows you to use your words to talk about someone else’s, and the person speaking indirectly quite often takes a more responsible attitude towards those words (and to the person(s) they were spoken to). Indirect speech is often represented in an essay using a paraphrase. Indirect and reported speech are two expressions you will find very useful in your day to day life.

This article will show you how to use indirect speech in your everyday conversations and write properly.

Conversion of Direct Speech into Indirect Speech

You can also use “said” in indirect speech, but this is usually unnecessary.

• Direct speech: “I don’t want to go,” the boy said.

Indirect speech: The boy said (that) he didn’t want to go.

• Direct speech: “It is cold today,” she said.

Indirect speech: She said (that) it was cold today.

Indirect speech: She said (that) it had been cold that day.

In the example below, the verb in the past tense in the line of direct speech (had seen) may change to the present perfect (have seen) or the simple past (saw) in indirect speech. The choice may depend on context and whether we want to emphasise that the action happened at a specific time (simple past) or that it was completed before another event (present perfect).

• Direct speech: “I had seen her before,” he said.

Indirect speech: He said that he had seen her before.

Indirect speech: He said that he had seen her before.

Changing pronouns

She said, “I am ready for the test.”

She said (that) she was ready for the test.

He said, “My dog is very smart.”

He said (that) his dog was very smart.

They said, “Our team won the game.”

They said (that) their team had won the game.

We have to change the pronouns in indirect speech because we report what someone else has said when we use direct speech.

Indirect Speech Examples

Direct speech: “I am going to a party tonight,” he said.

Indirect speech: He said that he was going to a party.

Indirect speech: He said that he had been going to a party.

Direct speech: “I am going to the shops,” he said.

Indirect speech: He said (that) he was going to the shops.

Direct speech: “Are you going to the shops?” he asked me.

Indirect speech: He asked me if I was going to the shops.

Direct speech: “I can’t meet you tomorrow,” she told me.

Indirect speech: She told me (that) she couldn’t meet me the next day.

Free Indirect Speech

Most of the time, when we write, we don’t want to tell what a character is thinking. We want to show it. For that purpose, free indirect speech is invaluable.

One way to use free indirect speech is for the character to think out loud and then report what she has said. In this way, the technique can help show the voice of a particular person in a work of fiction.

Another way is to track a character’s thoughts without reporting them directly. We often do this in conversations when trying to understand how one person reacts to another.

Because we’re not saying directly what the character thinks, it’s easy for us as readers to fill in gaps in her conversation with our thoughts and guesses. Thus, a writer can give us information about a character without putting it directly into words, making the points clearer, more complicated, or less likely.

This works especially well if you are writing dialogue between two friends or acquaintances who know each other well enough that their thoughts never seem unnatural or unbelievable. The most common example of free indirect speech is when characters talking to each other do not think things through in detail; they let slip some hint of their feelings, opinions, etc.

Conclusion

Indirect speech is used when someone reports words of another person. Reported speech is preferred because it’s clearer or more concise than directly quoting the person involved. It adds perspective and can chage the tone of the said words according to the reporter. To be able to write direct and indirect speech correctly, one must be thorough with their rules.