51 Reported Speech vs Direct Speech

When we want to report one person’s speech to another person we usually don’t use the exact words because we focus on the message rather than the exact words. That is why we transform the sentences. It is called Reported Speech.

Direct speech is the depiction of the original words. It is cited with the same words and sentences.

• In Reported Speech we transform the sentence. They are not the exact words of the speaker and we shift the time back. It is usually done with the verb said;
• In Direct Speech we quote the actual words of the speaker. There is no change of tense.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
“Do you want to work in textile industry?”	She asked me that whether I wanted to work in textile industry.
He said “I don’t want to be a technician.”	He said that he didn’t want to be a technician.
They told ” We brought cements and bricks”.	They told that they had brought cements and bricks.

If we want to report the exact sentence we use Direct Speech. We write the Direct Speech in quotation marks.

In Reported (indirect) Speech we use that when we report the sentence. Moreover, tense shift one tense back and we use reporting verbs like say, tell or ask.