Translation of direct speech into indirect English online. Indirect speech in English: rules, examples and exceptions in various tense forms
Direct speech V English language (Direct Speech), literally quoting the statement. The response is enclosed in quotation marks on both sides, and you add the words of the author to it, for example, He says: “I swim well”.
Indirect speech in English ( Reported Speech/ Indirect Speech), which conveys the content of the conversation from a third person. In this case, the accuracy of the statement is violated: you change the tenses and word order in the sentence.
let's consider Reported Speech rule and learn how to correctly express the opinion of the interlocutor, without inventing anything.
Indirect speech in English always depends on what time is used in the words of the author. If there is real, then you can exhale and relax: you will not have to change almost anything. The tense in the subordinate clause will remain the same, just watch the verb form and capricious pronouns:
Melissa says: I am a good cook.” – Melissa says that she is a good cook.
Jack said: like cats.” ( present simple) – Jack said that he liked cats. (Past Simple)
In more detail, we will consider the timing ( Sequence of Tenses) separately.
Examine the Reported Speech table. With it, you will be able to express yourself grammatically correctly. And one more piece of advice - always try translate sentences into Russian, he will tell you which words will have to be replaced.
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
| Affirmative sentences turn into complex sentences with the union That (what). See if you know who we're talking to. If yes, then the verb to say should be changed to to tell. | |
| They say: "Annie, we read a lot of books." | They tell Annie that they read a lot of books. |
| When you translate negative sentences into indirect speech in English, pay special attention to the form of the verb and don't lose the not. | |
| Mark says:"I don't like computer games". | Mark says that he doesn't like computer games. |
| Imperative sentences, namely orders and requests, become infinitive. At the same time, in the main sentence, use the verbs to ask - to ask, to tell - to say, order, to order - to order, etc. and indicate the person being addressed. | |
| Mother said: "Open the window." | Mother asked me to open the window. |
| Questions become subordinate clauses with direct word order. a) General questions are introduced by a subordinate clause using the unions if and whether |
|
| Jim asks me: "Do you watch TV?" | Jim asks me if I watch TV. |
| b) Special questions are attached to the main sentence with the interrogative words that are used in them. | |
| Tony wonders: “What is your favorite food?” | Tony wonders what my favorite food is. |
If the sentence you are translating into indirect speech in English contains demonstrative pronouns or adverbs of time and place, then our table will help to replace them correctly:
To master this vast topic, you only need a Reported Speech table, a list of adverbs, and your defense-ready brain. Keep in mind that exercises for translating direct speech into indirect(Reported Speech Exercises) are found in all kinds of work and exams that you can only imagine. Moreover, without this knowledge, you will be stuck and will not progress in learning English.
When it comes to (Reported speech or Indirect speech), at least two grammar rules come to mind: and the use of . We will not repeat ourselves, because a lot of attention has been paid to these rules on the pages of our blog. What we didn't mention at all is general rules transformation of direct speech into indirect. Let's take a closer look at them.
There are several types of English sentences: statements, questions, requests / orders. Depending on the type, there are different rules for converting direct speech into indirect speech.
1. Statements
In statements, everything is simple - use the rule of time coordination. At the same time, do not forget that in indirect speech, some circumstances of time and place change their form.
Table 1. English time and place markers for indirect speech
|
Direct speech |
Indirect speech |
|
the next year |
|
|
the next day / the next day |
|
2. Questions in indirect speech
With questions, things are a little more serious. The fact is that you need to take into account the type of question - general (without a question word) or special (with a question word). In addition, you need to be more careful with word order.
Table 2. Translation of English questions into indirect speech
Please note that in the interrogative part of indirect speech, the word order is direct, and not as in the question. After the interrogative word (what/why/where/when etc.) or whether/if unions, we put the subject, then the predicate, and then everything else. An auxiliary verb is not needed.
In general questions, whether / if are unions "whether", they are interchangeable. We always use them as a bundle when transmitting direct speech in indirect speech.
3. Requests, orders in English
Requests and orders are sentences in the imperative mood. Examples in Russian are "Get up", "Bring water", "Close the window", etc. If you want to convey them in indirect speech, then you need an appropriate verb like “say”, “order”, “ask”, etc.: for example, “he asked to bring water”, “she ordered to stand up”, etc.
In English, this is done using the combination of the verb of transmitting someone else's speech + (not) to + the main verb.
Get up! → He told me to get up.
Don't speak! → She asked me not to speak.
And do not forget to go through our grammar exercises for knowledge of indirect speech. Good luck!
How often do we convey other people's words to someone? Every day!
For example: “She told you to call her. He said he would be late. They ask if we will go with them.”
In all these sentences, we retell the words of other people, that is, we use indirect speech.
In English, such sentences are formed according to certain rules. It is easy to understand and remember them.
In the article I will tell you how to correctly translate direct speech into indirect speech in English.
From the article you will learn:
- 4 steps to translate direct speech into indirect speech in English
What is direct and indirect speech?
Direct speech (Direct speech) - verbatim statement of another person.
Such a speech, that in Russian, that in English, is highlighted in quotation marks in writing. For example:
"I won't be able to come," she said.
He replied, "I don't understand."
Indirect speech is the transmission of the words of another person.
That is, we retell to someone what someone said.
For example:
She said she couldn't come.
He said he didn't understand.
The English language has its own rules and features of translating direct speech into indirect speech.
Let's look at the main ones.
Attention: Confused in English rules? Learn in a free lesson in Moscow how to speak English.
4 steps to translate direct speech into indirect speech in English
In order to translate direct speech into indirect speech, you need to do certain actions. To make it easier for you to remember them, I divided these steps into 4 steps.
So, to convey someone's words in English (that is, translate direct speech into indirect speech), we:
1. Remove the quotes and put the word that
For example, we have a sentence:
To convey these words to someone, just as in Russian, we remove the quotes and put the word that - “what”.
She said that…..
She said that….
Note that that can often be omitted, especially in colloquial speech.
2. Change the character
In direct speech, a person usually speaks on his own behalf. But in indirect speech, we cannot speak on behalf of this person. So we change "I" to another actor.
Let's go back to our offer:
She said, “I will buy a dress.”
She said, "I'll buy a dress."
Since we are transmitting the words of a girl, we put “she” instead of “I”:
She said that she…..
She said that she….
3. We coordinate the time
In English, we cannot use the past tense with the present or future in the same sentence.
Therefore, if we say “said” (that is, we use the past tense), then the next part of the sentence must be coordinated with this past tense.
Let's take our offer:
She said, “I will buy a dress.”
She said, "I'll buy a dress."
To match the first and second parts of the sentence, change will to would.
She said that she would buy a dress.
She said she would buy a dress.
Let's look at the main tense agreement table when translating direct speech into indirect speech.
In the left column - the time that is used in direct speech. On the right - the time to be used in indirect speech.
| Direct speech |
Indirect speech |
| present simple For example: He said, "I drive a car". |
past simple For example: He said that he drove a car. |
| Present Continuous She said, “I am working.” |
Past continuous She said that she was working. |
| Present Perfect They said, "We have cooked dinner". |
past perfect They said that they had cooked dinner. |
| Future tense - will She said, “I will read the book.” |
Future tense - would She said that she would read the book. |
| past simple He said, “I called you”. |
past perfect He said that he had called me. |
Note: If we convey the words of a person in currently, that is, we say “he / she says”, then it is not necessary to coordinate the times.
Direct speech:
She says, “I am studying”.
She says, "I'm doing it."
Indirect speech:
She says that she is studying.
She says she does.
4. Change some words
In some cases, we must agree not only on tenses, but also on individual words.
What are these words? Let's look at a small example.
She said, “I am driving now.”
She said, "I'm driving now."
That is, she is in this moment behind the wheel.
However, when we transmit her words, we will not talk about the moment (the one when we are talking now), but about the moment in the past (the one when she was driving).
Therefore, we change now (now) to then (then).
She said that she was driving then.
She said she was driving then.
Look at the table of such words, and you yourself will understand this logic.
| Direct speech |
Indirect speech |
| this, these this, these |
that, those that, those |
| here Here |
there there |
| now Now |
then Then |
| today Today |
that day in that day |
| tomorrow Tomorrow |
the next day the next day |
| yesterday yesterday |
the day before per day |
You must use this substitution logically.
For example:
The man told you this while you were in the building where he works. Already at home, you tell someone about it:
If you are in the same building where he works, then you do not need to replace the word.
And now let's look at how to translate from direct speech into indirect speech interrogative sentence.
Questions in indirect speech in English
Questions in indirect speech, in fact, are not questions, since the word order in them is the same as in the affirmative sentence. We do not use auxiliary verbs(do, does, did) in such sentences.
Let's look at the question in direct speech.
He asked, “Do you like this cafe?”
He asked: "Do you like this cafe?"
To ask a question in indirect speech, we remove the quotes and put if or whether, which translate as "li".
Coordination of tenses occurs in the same way as in ordinary sentences.
Our proposal will look like this:
He asked if I liked that cafe.
He asked if I liked that cafe.
She said, “Will he call back?”
She said, "Will he call back?"
She said if he would call back.
She said if he would call back.
Special questions in indirect speech
Special questions are asked with the following question words:
- what - what
- when - when
- how - how
- why - why
- where - where
- which - which
When translating such questions into indirect speech, we leave the direct word order (as in affirmative sentences), and put an interrogative word in place of if.
For example, we have a question in direct speech:
She said, "When will you come?"
She said, "When are you coming?"
In indirect speech, such a question would look like this:
She said when I would come.
She said when I come.
Let's look at another example:
So, we have analyzed the basic rules that you will need to translate direct speech into indirect speech. Now let's try to do it in practice.
Reinforcement task
Convert direct speech to indirect speech. Leave your answers in the comments.
1. She said, "I will come tomorrow".
2. He said, "I am working at my garden".
3. They said, "We play the piano".
4. He said, "Do you like the house?"
5. She asked, "When will you go to this concert?"
Consider when indirect speech is used in English. The concept of "indirect speech" refers to sentences that tell us information from the words of another person. Such sentences are almost always used in spoken English.
Past tense form
If the verb that conveys the speaker's words to us is in the past tense (i.e. said), then the part of the sentence that actually contains the speaker's words will also be in the past tense. Thus, we kind of take a “step back” from the verb form in the initial sentence
Present tense form
If the verb that conveys the words of the speaker to us is in the form of the present simple, present perfect or future tense (for example, says), then the tense form of the verb in the part of the sentence that actually contains the words of the speaker remains unchanged.
Hard Facts
If we convey someone's words containing indisputable facts, then in the part of the sentence that actually contains the words of the speaker, the present tense form is also preserved.
Pronoun change
When we convert a sentence from direct speech to indirect speech, it is often necessary to change the pronoun so that it matches the form of the subject.
Changes in the adverb of time
It is also important to replace adverbs of time so that they coincide with the moment of speech. Therefore, when translating a sentence from direct speech into indirect speech, we replace adverbs with a suitable one in meaning.
today, tonight→ that day, that night
tomorrow→ the day after / the next day / the following day
yesterday→ the day before / the previous day
now→ then / at that time / immediately
this week→ that week
next week→ the week after / the following week
last week→ the week before / the previous week
ago→ before
here→ there
Questions in indirect speech
When we use indirect speech to convey questions, special attention should be paid to connecting unions and word order in a sentence. Note that when we pass general issues, implying a yes or no answer, we connect the question itself with the words of the author using 'if'. If we are passing questions that use question words (why, where, when, etc.), we use that question word.
When learning English, it is necessary to read literature, and the most difficult thing is to retell it when direct speech ( direct speech) becomes indirect ( reported/indirect speech).
Let's take a closer look.
Direct speech is a literal introduction to the speech of the author of any replicas. Syntactic structures are used in agreement with the face of the speaker.
She says, "I will come"/ She says: "I will come."
Indirect speech is a way of introducing someone else's speech into your speech. In this context, sentences are built in the third person.
She says that she will come/ She says she will come.
When considering the transition from direct to indirect speech, it is important to consider two factors: the organization of syntax and punctuation (coordination and organization of words, the rejection of quotation marks, the introduction of auxiliary conjunctions, word order) and the coordination of tenses within a new sentence.
Syntax and punctuation of indirect speech:
When a transition is made from direct speech to indirect speech, the first thing that changes is the quotation marks. In fact, from two equivalent independent sentences, a complex sentence is obtained with a main and dependent part, which are united by the union that. But in some cases, you can do without it.
He told me, "I like black coffee" / direct speech
He told me that he liked black coffee. / reported speech
He told me he liked black coffee. / reported speech
Not only punctuation has changed, but also pronouns, and in this case by analogy with the Russian language, because we are talking about the logic of presenting information.
Ann asks me Will you come?"
Ann asks me if I will come.
This example shows that the pronoun you changes to I, because it is about me, so in the presentation, as in Russian, there will be an agreement on pronouns by person.
This example uses an interrogative sentence in direct speech, which allows us to consider the principle of matching word order in translating questions from direct speech into indirect speech in English:
The question mark disappears and is replaced by a simple dot;
In indirect speech, sentences regain direct word order and end with a dot.
The general question is introduced by conjunctions if or whether, which can be translated into Russian as " whether».
John asked me, "Will you marry me?"
John asked me if I would marry him.
Special questions are introduced with interrogative words:
"Why do you love me?" she said.
She said why I loved her.
The direct word order is restored, and the auxiliary verb is omitted in indirect speech.
Imperative sentences are combined in indirect speech through a particle to. Punctuation marks are missing:
Paulo asked me, "Play the piano, please."
Paulo asked me to play the piano.
Negative imperative sentences with don't introduced into indirect speech through not to:
Sean said, "Don't smoke, Lisa!"
Sean told Laura not to smoke.
Coordination of tenses in indirect speech:
Coordination of tenses can cause difficulties when the predicate of the main sentence (directly the words of the author) is used in one of the forms of the past tense. If the predicate of the main sentence is expressed by a verb in the present tense, then the sentence in indirect speech retains the verb forms in all parts of the sentence:
Michael says, "You look so fine!"
Michael says I look great.
Sarah Askes - When do you come back?
Sarah asks me when I come back.
Agreement with the predicate in the past tense:
Predicate subordinate clause(what was in quotes) will be introduced into indirect speech in time a step earlier, that is:
Present will go to Past
Future will go to Past
Past will go to Past Perfect
True, it is worth considering the changing circumstances of the time. For example, yesterday, according to the rules of English grammar, can never be used with perfect tenses. So it should be replaced the day before, keeping the essence of the concept of "yesterday", and tomorrow - on the next day.
Last but not least, tenses will not agree, but will be preserved in both sentences if it is a well-known fact or a specific date is used in the sentence.
Today we studied the translation of direct speech into indirect!
