You can answer the question What did he say? in two ways:
- by repeating the words spoken (direct speech)
- by reporting the words spoken (indirect or reported speech).
DIRECT SPEECH
Direct speech repeats, or quotes, the exact words spoken. When we use direct speech in writing, we place the words spoken between quotation marks (" ") and there is no change in these words. We may be reporting something that's being said NOW (for example a telephone conversation), or telling someone later about a previous conversation.
EXAMPLES
- She says, "What time will you be home?"
- She said, "What time will you be home?" and I said, "I don't know! "
- "There's a fly in my soup!" screamed Simone.
- John said, "There's an elephant outside the window."
INDIRECT SPEECH
Reported or indirect speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense of the words spoken. We use reporting verbs like 'say', 'tell', 'ask', and we may use the word 'that' to introduce the reported words. Inverted commas are not used.
She said, "I saw him." (direct speech) = She said that she had seen him. (indirect speech)
'That' may be omitted:
She told him that she was happy. = She told him she was happy.
She told him that she was happy. = She told him she was happy.
'SAY' AND 'TELL'
Use 'say' when there is no indirect object:
He said that he was tired.
He said that he was tired.
Always use 'tell' when you say who was being spoken to (i.e. with an indirect object):
He told me that he was tired.
He told me that he was tired.
'TALK' AND 'SPEAK'
Use these verbs to describe the action of communicating:
He talked to us.
She was speaking on the telephone.
He talked to us.
She was speaking on the telephone.
Use these verbs with 'about' to refer to what was said:
He talked (to us) about his parents.
He talked (to us) about his parents.
-DIRECT SPEECH-
-INDIRECT SPEECH-
Six killed in Central Java bus
plunge
Six
people died when a tour bus plunged into a 15-meter ravine in Gondosuli,
Tawangmangu district, Karanganyar regency, Central Java, at noon on Sunday.
The
bus operated by Sularis Jaya, and carrying 28 passengers, comprising teachers
from elementary school SD Jimbaran in Sidoarjo, East Java, and their families
who were on an outing, was traveling from Sidoarjo when the accident occurred.
A witness said the driver lost control
the bus on a sharp turn and it plunged into the Banaran River.
“Maybe the brakes could not function
properly. I was surprised the bus kept traveling at a high speed although the
road is very twisting. I shook when I saw the bus hit the central reservation
and plunge into the ravine,” said Didik Setyawan, 43.
The
police, supported by search and rescue personnel, conducted an evacuation of
the passengers led by Karanganyar Police deputy chief Comr. Prawoko. The
survivors were taken to Tawangmangu community health center while the dead were
taken to Karanganyar Regional General Hospital.
“The evacuation process is quite difficult
because the bus is at the bottom of the ravine. Most of the passengers who
survived the incident were badly shocked,” said Prawoko.
Meanwhile,
head of Karanganyar Police traffic unit First Insp. Maryadi said that apart from the six people killed
in the crash, dozens of other passengers suffered severe injuries.
“We took the severely injured victims
straightaway to the hospital. In the evacuation process, we prioritized the
survivors so they could immediately get medical treatment,” said Maryadi. (ebf)