Direct and Indirect Speech

1. Direct Speech

We can give the exact words (more or less) that were said, or that we imagine were thought. This kind of structure is called ‘direct speech’.

So he said, ‘I want to go home,’ and just walked out.

Did she say, ‘What do you want?’

And then I thought, ‘Well, does he really mean it?’

2. Indirect Speech

We can make a speaker’s words or thoughts part of our own sentence, using conjunctions (e.g.that), and changing pronouns, tenses and other words where necessary. This kind of structure is called ‘indirect’ or ‘reported speech’.

So he said that he wanted to go home, and just walked out.

Did she just ask what you wanted?

And then I wondered whether he really meant it.

Words that are spoken or thought in one place by one person may be reported in another place at a different time, and perhaps by another person. Because of this, there are often grammatical differences between direct and indirect speech. These changes are mostly natural and logical, and it is not necessary to learn complicated rules about indirect speech in English.

BILL (on Saturday evening): I don’t like this party. I want to go home now.

PETER (on Sunday morning): Bill said that he didn’t like the party, and he wanted to go home right away.

Let’s pay attention to the following explanations in short

A. Changes in Tense

Direct	Indirect
Simple Present Tense	Simple Past Tense
Present Continuous Tense	Past Continuous Tense
Simple Past Tense	Past Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Tense
Simple Future Tense	Conditional with “would”
Past Continuous Tense	Past Perfect Continuous

B. Changes in Time

Direct	Indirect
Today	On the day/that day
Tomorrow	The next day/the following day
Yesterday	The previous day; the day before
Next week	The following week/the next week
Last week	The previous week; the week before
Now	Then

C. Changes in Place

Direct	Indirect
Here	There; at that place
In this room	In that room

.            

                

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
A. Command e.g.: 1. “Stand up!”                                      2. “Close the window!”	I asked the boy to stand up. Mother asked me to close the window.
B. Statement e.g.: 1. Barry is very kind.         2. We should wait till he comes	They said that Barry was very kind. I suggested that we should wait until he came.
C. Question e.g.: 1. did you come last night?         2. Why are you so upset?	John asked me if I had come the previous night. I asked Linda why she was so upset.

Contoh-contoh kalimat direct and indirect

Direct: He said to his servant, “Go away at once!”

Indirect: He ordered his servant to go away at once

Direct: She said to her son, “Study hard!”

Indirect: He advised her son to study hard

Direct: He said to his friend, “Please lend me your pen!”

Indirect: He asked his friend to be kind enough to lend him his pencil

Direct: He said to his master, “Pardon me, sir”

Indirect: He begged his master to pardon him.

Direct: She said to her daughter, “Don’t go there”

Indirect: She forbade her daughter to go there

Contoh Direct and Indirect di Dalam Teks

*keterangan:

~kalimat yang di beri bold merupakan contoh kalimat Direct

~kalimat yang di beri underline dan italic merupakan contoh kalimat Indirect

The Miser and His Purse

There was once lived a miser in Durgapur. One day he went shopping. He had a thousand rupees in his purse. As he was stepping into a shop, he felt for the purse in his pocket. He could not find it. ”It must have dropped when I took out my handkerchief,” he thought. He hurried back along the street, looking for the purse. He could not find it. He was in great distress.

            The miser rushed to the town crier and sought his help. The town crier said that miser must offered a reward to the person who found the purse, or else miser wouldn’t get his purse back. The miser offered a reward of fifty rupees. The crier made the announcement.

            The next day, a farmer came to the miser. “I found this purse near the lamp-post over these,” said the farmer. “Does it belong to you?”

            The miser said that it was his purse, and he counted the money in the purse. “Thank you very much for returning my purse,” he added. But he did not give the farmer his reward.

            The farmer asked that where was his rewards.

            “There was a sum of one thousand and fifty rupees in my purse,” replied the miser. “Now I find only one thousand rupees. You have already taken you reward.”

            The farmer said that he hadn’t take some money from the purse.

            The miser shouted that the farmer was lying.

            The farmer went to the court of law. The judge heard the case and sent for the miser. He took the purse and examined it.

            “You say there was a sum of one thousand and fifty rupees in your purse,” said the judge. “This purse contains only one thousand rupees. So the purse can’t be yours.” He gave the purse to the farmer.