http://www.primaryresources.co.uk

Indirect Speech

Speech can be written in two ways:

Direct speech where the exact words spoken are put into speech marks;

Indirect speech where the exact words are not used so speech marks are not needed.

Look at these two sentences:

  1. The man said, "My dog can run very fast."
  2. The man said his dog could run very fast.

Sentence one is direct speech; the give away is the speech marks.

Sentence two is indirect speech, as the exact words are not being used.

Task One

Copy these sentences and write down whether they are examples of DIRECT or INDIRECT speech.

  1. "Watch out for that tree," said Ben
  2. The boy said he had won the race by miles.
  3. Cheryl explained that she had lost her book on the way to school.
  4. "I haven't seen the chocolate anywhere," said Mr Pitchford.
  5. "I don't believe we lost the match," shouted Mr Cockcroft.
  6. The jockey said that his horse could gallop fast.
  7. Peter said he hadn't been near the pencil pot.
  8. "Joseph!"cried Mark, "Keep away from that wasp."

Task Two

Change these sentences into indirect speech, you may have to change the word slightly. I have done the first one for you.

  1. "How old are you?" Bob asked the old man.

    2. Bob asked the old man how old he was.

  2. The nurse said, "Please take a seat Mr Teller."
  3. "Help!" shouted the man. "I can't swim!"
  4. "Take this back to the library," said Miss Lomas.
  5. "Where have I left my crown?" asked the Queen.
  6. "It's raining cats and dogs," remarked Uncle Bill.
  7. "You must learn your spellings," shouted the class teacher.
  8. "Do you know the way to the pub?" asked Tim.

Task Three

Change these sentences into direct speech. I have done the first one for you.

  1. Mr Pitchford asked Lee if he was all right.

    2. "Are you alright Lee?" asked Mr Pitchford.

  2. The girl said she knew the answer.
  3. Bill's Grandma said she would be eighty next year.
  4. Eve told Fay she had just found a purse in the road.
  5. Mr Cockcroft told Conor to put the dog down.
  6. Mr Parsnip asked his wife what he was having for supper.
  7. The doctor told Fred that the tablets would soon make him feel better.
  8. Mark's mother asked him to fetch some milk from the supermarket.