Ls 16. Direct and Indirect Quotations

Lesson 16. Direct and Indirect Quotations

A "quotation" is the exact word or words that a person speaks. It's good to understand the difference between a direct quotation the words you hear from someone speaking, and an indirect quotation which are the words that someone else used to describe another speaker. Confused? When you're confused it helps to look at an example.

Direct Quotation ( Direct Speech) "I need to go to the store" said my wife

Indirect Quotation (Indirect Speech) My wife said that she needed to go to the store

Notice that "said" is in the past tense, so the verb "need" also becomes past tense. There's something called the "sequence of tenses" which is useful to look at now:

The Sequence of Tenses

Direct Speech -> Indirect Speech Present -> Past Present Continuous -> Past Continuous Past -> Past Perfect Present Perfect -> Past Perfect Present Perfect -> Past Perfect

There are other tenses that could be added here, but this is a good start in learning that tenses change their form when using indirect speech. See the examples below.

Examples: What did he say?

"I am a beekeeper" He said he was a beekeeper

"I'm reading a book" He said that he was reading a book

"I was afraid of spiders when I was a little girl" She said she had been afraid of spiders when she was a little girl

"I have been in this same spot for an hour and I haven't caught a thing" He had been in that same spot for an hour and he hadn't caught anything

"We enjoy making breakfast" They said that they enjoyed making breakfast together

"I'll help you pick them up" He said he would help her pick up the apples.

"He can eat an entire watermelon" his wife said His wife said that he could eat an entire water melon

"This radio may be over 70 years old", said the owner of the antique shop