Year 6 English: Direct speech and reported speech compared
Part of the Year 6 English brackets, dashes, commas and speech chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Direct speech and reported speech compared
Direct speech gives the exact words in speech marks. Reported speech gives the meaning, without speech marks, and it usually changes the pronouns and tenses: I becomes he or she, and am becomes was.
Direct and reported speech
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| "I am tired," said Ella. | Ella said that she was tired. |
| "We will win," said the captain. | The captain said that they would win. |
| "I have finished," said Sam. | Sam said that he had finished. |
Key ideas
- Reported speech has no speech marks.
- Pronouns change to the third person: I becomes he or she.
- Tenses often move back: am becomes was, and have finished becomes had finished.
Method. Change the pronoun and the tense.
- Change the pronoun. I becomes she, because Ella is a she.she
- Change the tense. Am becomes was.was
- Write the reported speech. Ella said that she was tired.Ella said that she was tired.
- Write the answer. Ella said that she was tired.
Check. I becomes she, and am becomes was. ✓
Method. Change the pronoun and the tense.
- Change the pronoun. I becomes he, because Sam is a he.he
- Change the tense. Have finished becomes had finished.had finished
- Write the reported speech. Sam said that he had finished.Sam said that he had finished.
- Write the answer. Sam said that he had finished.
Check. have becomes had, and I becomes he. ✓
Method. Reported speech has no speech marks, and the verb moves back.
- Check the first. The first has speech marks, so it is direct speech.speech marks
- Check the second. The second has no speech marks, so it is reported speech.no speech marks
- Decide. The second sentence is reported speech.Sam said that he was tired.
- Write the answer. Sam said that he was tired.
Check. The second sentence has no speech marks. ✓
Watch out
Watch out: reported speech has no speech marks, and no question mark. A reported question is written as a statement: He asked where the bus was.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Ask your child to tell you what a friend said at school, first in direct speech, then in reported speech. Ask them which words changed.
Exercise 9E Practice: direct and reported speech
Method. Change the pronouns and tenses to match the reporting clause.
- Find the speaker. The speaker is the person named in the reporting clause.Ella
- Change the words. The pronouns change to third person, and the tense moves back.Ella said that she was tired.
- Write the answer. Ella said that she was tired.
Check. The reported sentence keeps the meaning. ✓
Watch out. In reported speech, I becomes he or she, and am becomes was.
Method. Change the pronouns and tenses to match the reporting clause.
- Find the speaker. The speaker is the person named in the reporting clause.The captain
- Change the words. The pronouns change to third person, and the tense moves back.The captain said that they would win.
- Write the answer. The captain said that they would win.
Check. The reported sentence keeps the meaning. ✓
Watch out. In reported speech, I becomes he or she, and am becomes was.
Method. Change the pronouns and tenses to match the reporting clause.
- Find the speaker. The speaker is the person named in the reporting clause.Sam
- Change the words. The pronouns change to third person, and the tense moves back.Sam said that he had finished.
- Write the answer. Sam said that he had finished.
Check. The reported sentence keeps the meaning. ✓
Watch out. In reported speech, I becomes he or she, and am becomes was.
Method. Change the pronouns and tenses to match the reporting clause.
- Find the speaker. The speaker is the person named in the reporting clause.Priya
- Change the words. The pronouns change to third person, and the tense moves back.Priya said that the bus was late.
- Write the answer. Priya said that the bus was late.
Check. The reported sentence keeps the meaning. ✓
Watch out. In reported speech, I becomes he or she, and am becomes was.
Method. Test each choice against the sentence or the text.
- Read what the question asks for. Decide what the sentence or the text needs.
- Test the choice. Reported speech has no speech marks, and the tense moves back.Priya said that the bus was late. fits
- Reject the other choices. The first has speech marks, so it is direct speech."The bus is late," said Priya. do not fit
- Write the answer. Priya said that the bus was late.
Check. The choice fits the sentence or the text. ✓
Method. Change will to would, and we to they.
- Change the pronoun. We becomes they, in the reported speech.they
- Change the tense. Will becomes would.would
- Write the answer. The captain said that they would win.
Check. will becomes would, and we becomes they. ✓
Method. Change the verb back, and the pronouns.
- Change was to is. Was becomes is in the direct speech.is
- Add the speech marks. The spoken words go in speech marks, with a comma inside."The bus is late," said Priya.
- Write the answer. "The bus is late," said Priya.
Check. The direct speech uses the present tense. ✓
Method. Compare the two sentences.
- Look at the marks. Reported speech has no speech marks.no speech marks
- Look at the words. Pronouns change, and tenses move back.pronouns and tenses
- Write the answer. Speech marks are removed, the pronouns change to the third person, and the tenses often move back.
Check. Speech marks, pronouns and tenses change. ✓
Method. Change the pronoun and the tense.
- Change I to he. I becomes he.he
- Change have finished to had finished. The tense moves back.had finished
- Write the answer. Sam said that he had finished.
Check. he and had finished are used. ✓
Method. Find the verb that reports the speech.
- Find the verb. Said reports what Ella stated.said
- Check the rest. Was is a verb, but it is inside the reported clause.said
- Write the answer. said
Check. said is the reporting verb. ✓
Method. Change she to I, and was to am.
- Change she. She becomes I, because Ruby is speaking.I
- Change was. Was becomes am in the direct speech.am
- Write the answer. "I am hungry," said Ruby.
Check. I and am are used. ✓
Method. Change the tense and the speech marks.
- Change started. Started becomes starts in the direct speech.starts
- Add the speech marks. The speech is in marks, with a comma before said Dev."The match starts at noon," said Dev.
- Write the answer. "The match starts at noon," said Dev.
Check. The direct speech uses the present tense. ✓
Method. Think about the sentence type.
- Think about the form. Reported speech is written as a statement.statement
- Think about the mark. The question mark belongs to direct speech only.direct speech
- Write the answer. A reported question is written as a statement, so it does not need a question mark.
Check. A reported question has no question mark. ✓
Method. Change am to was, and I to she.
- Change I to she. I becomes she, because Ella is speaking.she
- Change am to was. The tense moves back.was
- Write the answer. Ella said that she was cold.
Check. she and was are used. ✓