Direct and Indirect Speech

Syllabus tag: Kenya CBC | Grade 9 English | Theme 14.0 Sports | Strand 14.3 Grammar | Sub-Strand 14.3.1 Direct and Indirect Speech (2 Lessons)

Lesson objectives

By the end of this sub-strand, you should be able to:

• Distinguish direct from indirect speech.
• Punctuate direct speech correctly.
• Convert direct speech to indirect speech, applying the necessary changes.
• Report questions, commands and requests accurately.

Summary

Direct speech gives a speaker's exact words inside quotation marks. Indirect or reported speech gives the substance of what was said without quoting it. Converting between them requires four systematic changes: tense usually shifts back, pronouns shift to match the new speaker, time and place words shift, and the punctuation of quotation is removed. Questions, commands and requests each follow their own reporting pattern, and those patterns are examined regularly.