Direct and indirect speech
Direct and indirect speech are two ways of reporting what someone said. Direct speech repeats the exact words in quotation marks, for example: She said, "I am tired." Indirect (reported) speech expresses the same meaning without quotation marks, usually changing tense and pronouns, for example: She said that she was tired.
Types of direct and indirect speech
Direct speech
Reports the speaker's exact words, enclosed in quotation marks with the original tense and pronouns unchanged.
e.g. He said, "I love this city.", "We will arrive tomorrow," she said.
Indirect speech (statements)
Reports what someone said without quotation marks, usually shifting the tense back and adjusting pronouns.
e.g. He said that he loved that city., She said they would arrive the next day.
Indirect speech (questions)
Reports a question using statement word order, with no question mark, introduced by 'if/whether' or a question word.
e.g. She asked if I was ready., He asked where the station was.
Indirect speech (commands and requests)
Reports orders, requests or advice using an infinitive structure with 'to', often after verbs like tell, ask or advise.
e.g. She told me to sit down., He asked her not to leave.
Rules to remember
- When the reporting verb is in the past tense (said, told, asked), the tense of the reported clause usually shifts back one step: present simple becomes past simple, present perfect becomes past perfect, and 'will' becomes 'would'.
- Pronouns and possessives change to match the new speaker's perspective, for example 'I' becomes 'he' or 'she', and 'my' becomes 'his' or 'her'.
- Time and place expressions often change: 'today' becomes 'that day', 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day', 'here' becomes 'there', and 'this' becomes 'that'.
- Reported questions use normal statement word order (subject before verb) and end with a full stop, not a question mark; yes/no questions use 'if' or 'whether'.
- Reported commands, requests and advice use 'to' plus the base verb (or 'not to' for negatives) after verbs such as tell, ask, order or advise, without 'that'.
Examples in sentences
| Example | How it works |
|---|---|
| Direct: "I am learning English," she said. Indirect: She said that she was learning English. | Present continuous shifts to past continuous when the reporting verb is past. |
| Direct: "We have finished the project," they said. Indirect: They said that they had finished the project. | Present perfect shifts back to past perfect. |
| Direct: "Where do you live?" he asked. Indirect: He asked where I lived. | Question word order changes to statement order and 'do' disappears. |
| Direct: "Please close the door," she said. Indirect: She asked me to close the door. | A request becomes an infinitive structure with 'to'. |
| Direct: "I will call you tomorrow," he said. Indirect: He said he would call me the next day. | 'Will' becomes 'would' and 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day'. |
| Direct: "Don't touch that," the guide said. Indirect: The guide told us not to touch that. | A negative command becomes 'not to' plus the base verb. |
| Direct: "Are you coming to the party?" she asked. Indirect: She asked if I was coming to the party. | A yes/no question is introduced by 'if' with statement word order. |
Common mistakes
Incorrect: She asked me where did I live.
Correct: She asked me where I lived.
Incorrect: He said that he will come tomorrow.
Correct: He said that he would come the next day.
Incorrect: The teacher told to the students to be quiet.
Correct: The teacher told the students to be quiet.
Why this matters for IELTS
Using direct and indirect speech accurately shows the grammatical range and control examiners reward under Grammatical Range and Accuracy in both Writing and Speaking. Correct tense backshift, pronoun agreement and reported question structure demonstrate sentence-level control beyond simple statements, and mixing both forms naturally (for example when describing a conversation in Task 2 or Part 2 speaking) signals higher-band flexibility rather than repeating one fixed pattern.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between direct and indirect speech?
Direct speech quotes a speaker's exact words inside quotation marks, while indirect speech reports the meaning of those words without quotation marks, usually with changed tense, pronouns and time expressions.
Do you always need to change the tense in reported speech?
No. If the reporting verb is present tense, or the statement is a general truth or still true, the tense often stays the same, for example: She says she is happy.
How do you report a question in indirect speech?
Use statement word order instead of question order, remove the question mark, and add 'if' or 'whether' for yes/no questions, or keep the question word (what, where, why) for wh- questions.
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