SPEECH

Speech

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Direct speech                                               Indirect speech

The first is direct speech, which means you say what the person has said EXACTLY as it is.

Example :           Molly : "Where has she been?"
Direct speech :  Molly asked " Where has she been?"

However, if it is merely what the person has said earlier, ( repeating it using different words, but have the same meanings) it is called indirect speech.

Example :            Abu : "I love her very much."
Indirect speech : Abu said that he loved her very much.

Get the idea? To make it easy to be understood, just imagine yourself listening to someone's conversations, (surely you can't be repeating his exact words). Instead, you will be telling the main points of what you remember and construct using your own sentences.

However, there are rules for the indirect speech.

When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:

• pronouns
• place and time expressions
• tenses 

Type	Example
Direct speech	“I live in Kuala Lumpur.”
reported speech (no changes in tense yet)	He says that he lives in Kuala Lumpur.
reported speech (has changed into past tense)	He said that he lived in Kuala Lumpur.