Reported Speech

Indirect Speech (also referred to as reported speech) refers to a sentence reporting what someone has said.
1. If the reporting verb (i.e. said) is in the past, the reported clause will be in a past form. This form is usually one
step back into the past from the original..
For example:

He said the test was difficult.

She said she watched TV every day.

Jack said he came to school every day.

2. If simple present, present perfect or the future is used in the reporting verb (i.e. says) the tense is retained.
For example:

He says the test is difficult.

She has said that she watches TV every day.

Jack will say that he comes to school every day.

3. If reporting a general truth the present tense will be retained.

For example:The teacher said that phrasal verbs are very important.
Changing Pronouns and Time Signifiers
When changing from direct speech to indirect speech, it is often necessary to change the pronouns to match the
subject of the sentence.
For example:

She said, I want to bring my children. BECOMES She said she wanted to bring her children.

Jack said, My wife went with me to the show. BECOMES Jack said his wife had gone with him to the
show.

It is also important to change time words (signifiers) when referring to present, past or future time to match the
moment of speaking.

For example:

She said, I want to bring my children tomorrow. BECOMES She said she wanted to bring her children the
next day.

Jack said, My wife went with me to the show yesterday. BECOMES Jack said his wife had gone with him
to the show the day before.

Indirect Questions
When reporting questions, it is especially important to pay attention to sentence order. When reporting yes/ no
questions connect the reported question using if. When reporting questions using question words (why, where,
when, etc.) use the question word.
For example:

She asked, Do you want to come with me? BECOMES She asked me if I wanted to come with her.

Dave asked, Where did you go last weekend? BECOMES Dave asked me where I had gone the previous
weekend.

He asked, Why are you studying English? BECOMES She asked me why I was studying English.

1. Perubahan Stuktur kalimat

Jika kita lihat pada kalimat direct speech, terdapat ciri-ciri yang identik yaitu terdapat tanda petik ().
Tada petik tersebut merupakan cara yang sering digunakan untuk membedakan mana yang direct atau
yang indirect.

Ketika klimat direct speech tersebut dirubah menjadi kalimat indirect speech, tanda petik tersebut pun
dihilangkan atau digantikan dengan kata that atau to (untuk kalimat perintah). Misalnya:

No Direct Speech

Indirect Speech

01

He said that he had a present for me in his bag.

He said, I have a present for you in my bag.

02 He asked me, why do you come late.

He asked me why I came late.

03 He orderd me, dont bring a bag.

He ordered me to didnt bring a bag.

Perubahan struktur kalimat juga terjadi jika pada direct speech menggunakan kalimat tanya, maka akan
dirubah menjadi kalimat afirmatif (berita).

Untuk kalimat direct speech yang menggunakan kalimat tanya yes-no question maka akan dirubah
menjadi if/whether. Contohnya:

No Direct Speech
01

Indirect Speech

They asked me, Do you want to join us to play They asked me if/whether I want to join them to
football?
play football.

02 He asked me, Does she want to mary me?

He asked me if/whether she wants to mary her.

Untuk kalimat direct speech yang menggunakan 5W1H question (Why, Who, What, When, WHere, How),
maka akan dirubah menjadi kalimat afirmatif dengan cara sebagai berikut:

No

Direct Speech

Indirect Speech

01

He asked me, why do you come late?

He asked me why you came late.

02

He asked me, what does she eat?

He asked me what she ate.

03

He asked me, when did you come?

He asked me when I came.

04

He asked me, who are you?

He asked me who I was.

05

He asked me, who is she?

He asked me who she was.

2. Perubahan Tensis (Tenses)

Seperti yang dijelaskan dimuka, perbuahan dari direct ke indirect juga mempengaruhi tensis yang
digunakan. Kebanyakan siswa sulit memahami perubahan yang satu ini. Untuk itu, penulis sengaja
membuatkan tabel perubahan tensis agar mudah dimengerti.

Di bawah ini adalah tabel Perubahan Tenses dari direct speech ke indirect speech.

No

Direct Speech

Indirect Speech

01

Simple Present

Simple Past

02

Present Continuous

Past Continuous

03

Present Future

Past Future

04

Present Perfect

Past Perfect

05

Present Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous

06

Simple Past

Past Perfect

07

Past Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous

Atau bisa lebih dipermudah dengan tabel berikut di bawah ini, yaitu:

No Direct Speech

Indirect Speech

01

V2 (ate)

V1 (eat)

02 V2 (ate)

Had + V3 (had eaten)

03 Am/is/are

Was/were

04 Do/does

Did

05 Do/does not

Did not

06 Did not

Had not + V3

07 Was/were

Had been

08 Am/is/are + V-ing

Was/were + V-ing

09 Was/were +V-ing

Had been + V-ing

10

Has/have + V3

Had + V3

11

Will/shall/can/may/must

Would/should/could/might/had to

12

Could/might/should/would + V1/be

Could/might/should/would + have+ V3/been

3. Perubahan Pronoun

Perubahan pronoun dan possessive tergantung kepada sabjek dan objek yang dipakai di direct speech
(kalimat langsung) yang tentunya mempengaruhi perubahan pronoun pada indirect speech (kalimat tidak
langsung).

Kata ganti orang pertama (I dan We) pada reporting speech (lihat penjelasan di awal) berubah
sesuai subjek yang ada di reproted speech.
No Direct Speech

Indirect Speech

01

He said, I am busy.

He said that he was busy.

02

She said, I am unwell.

She said that she was unwell.

03

I said, I will be late.

I said that I would be late.

04

They said, We will not permit this.

They said that they would not permit that.

05

We said, We need to buy some clothes.

We said that we needed to buy some clothes.

Kata ganti orang kedua (You) di reporting speech pada direct speech berubah sesuai objek pada
reported speech.
No Direct Speech

Indirect Speech

01

He said to me, You have to come with me.

He told me that I had to go with him.

02

She said to me, You can go.

She told me that I could go.

03

She said to him, You can go.

She told him that he could go.

Kata ganti orang ketiga (He, she, it dan they) pada direct speech tidak mengalami perubahan
ketika dirubah ke indirect speech.
No Direct Speech

Indirect Speech

01

He said, She is a good girl.

He said that she was a good girl.

02

She said, They have invited us.

She said that they had invited them.

03

They said, He does not have the necessary

qualifications.

They said that he did not have the necessary

qualifications.

4. Perubahan Keterangan waktu dan tempat (Adverbs of time and place)

Tidak cuma itu, dalam perubahan dari direct speech ke indirect speech juga mempengaruhi adverbs
khusunya adverb of time (keterangan waktu) dan adverb of place (keterangan tempat). Untuk itu anda
wajib memahami tabel di bawah ini.
No

Direct Speech

Indirect Speech

01

Now

Then

02

To day

That day

03

Tomorrow

The next day

The day after
The following day
A day later

04

Next

The after
The following

05

Last

The before
The Previous

06

ago

before
earlier

07

Yesterday

The day before

The previous day
The preceeding day

08

The day before yesterday

Two day before

09

Here

There

10

This

That

11

These

Those

Di bawah ini adalah contoh-contoh direct dan indirect speech untuk menambah pemahaman mengenai
penjelasan di atas.

(+)

(-)

(?)

Direct Speech

Indirect Speech

He said, I have a present for you in my bag.

here

He said that he had a present for me in his bag

there.

He said, I do not have a present for you in my bag

He said that he did not have a present for me in his

bag.

He asked, Do I have a present for you in my bag?

He asked me if/whether he had a present for me in his

bag.

He asked me, Why do I have to have a present for

(?) you in my bag?

He asked me why he had to have a present for me

in his bag.

(!)

He ordered/commanded me, Bring my bag here He ordered/commanded me to bring his bag

now!
there then.

(!)

He ordered me, Dont bring your bag here!

He ordered me not to bring my bag there.