Grammar: Sentence: Quoting and reporting speech and thoughts

Reporting speech and thoughts

Structure of indirect speech

We use 'indirect speech' when we wish to report the general meaning or 'gist' of what someone has said. In this case we do not pretend to represent the actual words used but merely their sense, with the words being the reporter's words rather than the original speaker's. We also use indirect speech for representing thoughts, and although there are no actual words spoken, we may report thoughts as if they had been spoken. 

The typical structure of indirect speech is a complex sentence (or clause complex) made up of two parts: a 'reporting clause' and a 'reported clause' (ie the report itself): 

GrumpyGhost told Granny Gong              reporting clause                                                that he had come through the keyhole.                 reported clause

 

Miss Lee thought     reporting clause that this looked like a job for Granny Gong.                  reported clause

A reported clause may optionally be introduced by the linker (or conjunction) that:

Kitty said that her father had been a good football player. Kitty said her father had been a good football player.

The linker that serves as a signal of a following reported clause. It is more likely to be used in writing than in speech, and it is more likely in formal language than in informal. The two clauses, reporting clause and reported clause, are generally spoken as one unit, and that is not stressed. Click on the audio icon to hear the two examples.

Punctuation is not used to signal indirect speech and therefore the fact that a clause is reported (or indirect speech) may not be indicated formally at all.

The reporting clause in indirect speech usually precedes the reported clause:

Granny said reporting clause (that) she didn't believe the ghost.            reported clause

Contrasting indirect speech with direct speech

Some of the most important differences between direct speech and indirect speech depend on the 'mood' of the clause, ie whether the clause is in the declarative, interrogative or imperative mood. Other differences concern how we refer to people, places, things etc, as well as the tense used in the verb group. Here is a summary of the grammatical differences between direct and indirect speech: 

Mood
Interrogative mood changes to declarative 'indirect speech', and the imperative mood adds to before reported clause:
		yes/no interrogative: changes to declarative, preceded by if or whether
			Dotty asked, "Is the movie on tonight?" [direct speech] Dotty asked // if the movie was on tonight. [indirect speech] Dotty asked // whether the movie was on tonight. [indirect speech]
		wh- interrogative: changes to declarative, preceded by wh- element
			Mr Gong asked, "Where is my toolbox?" [direct speech]  Mr Gong asked // where his toolbox was. [indirect speech]
		imperative: preceded by to
			Miss Lee said to the class, "Sit down!" [direct speech]  Miss Lee ordered the class // to sit down. [indirect speech]
Reference
		personal pronoun: changes from 1st and 2nd person to 3rd person
			Granny says, "I don't believe you." [direct speech] Granny says // (that) she doesn't believe him. [indirect speech]
		demonstrative determiner and pronoun: changes from near to remote
			Kitty said, "I don't like this song." [direct speech] Kitty said // (that) she didn't like that song. [indirect speech] Kitty said, "I didn't know about this." [direct speech] Kitty said // (that) she didn't know about that. [indirect speech]

		time and place: changes from near to remote (adverb)
			Inspector Fu said, "We'll arrest the robber tomorrow." [direct speech] Inspector Fu said // that they would arrest the robber the next day. [indirect speech] Mr Wing said, "I'll be waiting for you here." [direct speech] Mr Wing said // that he would be waiting for them there. [indirect speech]
Tense
Tense changes to more remote, eg present simple to past simple, past simple to past perfect etc:
			Bozo said, "I helped Miss Lee." [direct speech] Bozo said // (that) he had helped Miss Lee. [indirect speech]  Bozo said to Miss Lee, "I can help you." [direct speech] Bozo told Miss Lee // (that) he could help her. [indirect speech]

Grammar books usually state that when we change a clause from direct speech to indirect speech, its structure must be changed in respect of the features listed here. However, only some of these changes are obligatory and some depend very much on the context in which a speaker or writer reports what was said or thought. More importantly, since direct and indirect speech have different uses, we must not see them as being simply different forms that can be changed at will from one into the other without regard to their context. 

For information about some of the problems that students have with indirect speech, click here: