Direct and Indirect Speech(Third material)

Direct and indirect speech can be a source of confusion for English learners. Let's first define the terms, then look at how to talk about what someone said, and how to convert speech from direct to indirect or vice-versa.

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).

1. 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."

1. 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.

'Say' and 'tell'
Use 'say' when there is no indirect object:
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.

'Talk' and 'speak'
Use these verbs to describe the action of communicating:
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.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCE (SECOND MATERIAL )

Conditional sentences

The most common kind of conditional sentence that you are likely to meet will contain two clauses, one of which will start with the word if, as in If it rains, we'll have to stay at home. The clause without the if is the main clause of the sentence, while the if clause is subordinate. The order of the two clauses is generally not that important to the meaning of the sentence; so we can switch the if clause to the end of the sentence if we want to.

Most grammar books tend to recognise four basic configurations of tenses in conditional sentences which vary in structure according to the time that we are talking about (past, present or future) and the meaning. These four types are normally referred to as the zero, first, second and third conditionals; we will look at the forms and meanings of each of these in turn and also examine some of the alternatives to these four basic types.

·         Zero-type conditionals

·         Form and meaning

The form of the zero conditional causes no problems since the present tenses are used in both clauses.

Zero-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Present tense	Present tense
If you heat water	it boils.

The zero conditional is normally used to talk about facts and to express general truths.

1. 1.      First-type conditionals

Form and meaning

The basic form for this type of conditional sentence can be seen in the chart below. As before, the order of the clauses can be changed with no change in meaning.

This type refers to future possibilities that are certain or probable.

First-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Present tense	Future tense
If they don't arrive soon If they are late	we'll leave without them. I'm going to be angry.

You will note that on the if side of the sentence any present tense can be used, while in the main clause the speaker is free to choose any future that helps to express any additional meaning that the speaker wants to express.

If he's sleeping, he won't wake up until morning. (The Present Continuous in the first part of the sentence expresses the present temporary nature of the situation and the will in the second part is making a prediction about the future.)

Alan is going to post me the recipe, if he finds it. (In the first clause I am expressing Alan's intention so going to is the best future to use, while the second clause contains a Simple Present tense.)

If he's staying at the party, I'm leaving. (In the first clause I am thinking about the possible current state of affairs, so I choose the Present Continuous, while in the second I am referring to the future plan that I have in mind should he decide to stay, so again I choose the Present Continuous.)

If you have finished the essay, leave it on my desk. (By using the Present Perfect tense in the if clause I am stressing the completed nature of the action, while in the second clause I have used an imperative, which has a future meaning.)

1. 2.      Second-type conditionals

Form and meaning

This type is often called the hypothetical or 'unreal' future conditional since it is usually used to speculate about either very unlikely future situations or present and future impossibilities.

Second-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Past tense	would + verb
If I had time If I had wings	I would drop you off at school. I would fly.

Other examples are:

• If you were coming with us, you would have a great time. (Either I am not expecting you to come or you have already told me that you do not intend to come, so the situation is very unlikely to happen.)
• I'm sure my mother would help if you asked her. (I am unsure whether you are going to ask so I hedge my bets by using an 'unreal' conditional; if I had used I'm sure my mother will help instead, this gives the impression that I feel you are likely to ask.)
• If I were you, I'd call back later. (This is a fixed expression used for giving advice, but since I can never be you, I use the future hypothetical conditional; you should note that many people would say if I was you and this is becoming increasingly common.)

1. 3.      Third-type conditionals

Form and meaning

This type refers to hypothetical situations in the past. In this case we use the Past Perfect tenses in the if clause and would + have in the main clause.

Third-type conditionals
If clause	Main or conditional clause
If + Past Perfect tense	would have + past participle
If I had known about his condition If we had known about the storm	I would have phoned for you earlier. we wouldn't have started our journey.

The main uses of the third conditional are for speculating about the past, expressing regrets, excusing our own actions and criticising others. Some of the uses tend to overlap in practice as the examples below demonstrate:

• If we'd taken the first turning, we would have been at home by now.
• If I'd bought the lottery ticket, we would have won millions.
• If I'd realised you were going to be so sensitive, I'd have kept quiet.
• The meeting would've finished before 1:00 if you'd said less.

There is one other major variation to the form given in the chart above; in place of the more usual

If I had known about his condition...

we can use

Had I known about his condition... where the if is omitted and the subject and auxiliary verb are inverted.

4.      Mixed conditionals

The four types of conditional sentence discussed above appear to fit into very rigid patterns of form and meaning but we often find exceptions to these rules. In many cases we may want to talk about events that happened or did not happen in the past and the present results of those events. Therefore, we will often need to mix clauses from different conditional types in order to get our meaning across clearly and unambiguously. Taking one example from above, we might want to say:

If I'd bought the lottery ticket, we would be millionaires now.

In this sentence I want to refer to something that I did not do in the past (and probably regret) and the possible effect that this action might have had on the present - so I use a third-conditional if clause and a second-conditional main clause. Swapping around these two types we also get:

• If he was going to come, he would have arrived by now (with a second-conditional if clause and a third-conditional main).

This kind of mixing of conditional types is not uncommon.

QUESTION TAG (FIRST MATERIAL)

• Question Tag : Pertanyaan tambahan yang dipendekkan, digunakan untuk mengharapkan jawaban setuju ( kebenaran atau penegasan) atas suatu pernyataan / statement yang disampaikan. Biasanya terletak dibelakang kalimat.

Example : kalimat nominal = You are a student, are’t you?

                                                 You are not a student, are you?

                 Kalimat verbal    = They don’t go to school, do they?

                                                Ani goes to the school, doesn’t she?

v  Tag Question dalam positive statement.

Jika statmentnya negatif (+) maka Tag Questionnya negatif (-)

1. Menggunakan modals, to be, to have.

a). menggunakan modals auxiliary ( berhubungan dengan perasaan )

    seperti can, will, dsb.

    Example : You must go now, mustn’t you?

                      You can swim well, can not you?

2. Menggunakan kata kerja bantu “to be”

    Example: She is a teacher, isn’t she?

3. Menggunakan kata kerja bantu “to have”

    Example: He has a lot of book, hasn’t he?

                     I have to buy some matches, haven’t I ?

b). Tag Question yang mengandung statment verb seperti “do, does, did”

    Example: You like coffee, don’t you?

                     His wife cooks well, doesn’t she?

                     You broke the window, didn’t you?

c). Tag Question yang menggunakan “they” sebagai subject untuk everybody, everyone, somebody, someone.

    Example: Everyone warned you, didn’t they?

                     Someone had recognized him, hadn’t they?

v  Tag Question dalam negative statment 

Jika statmentnya negatif (-) maka Tag-nya adalah positif (+)

              a). Tag Question dari kalimat yang menggunakan modals (auxiliary), to be, to have.

              1. Modals → I mustn’t be late, must I ?

                                    They oughtn‘t to be here, ought I ?

              2. To be → I am not so fast so you, am I ?

                                It’s not holiday today, is it?

            3. To have → He hadn’t met you before, had he?

                                   Tom hasn’t got colour TV, has he?

            b). Tag Question yang mengandung “do, does, did”

                  Example: Boys do not like to wash, do they?

                                   You do not like sugar, do you?

c). Statment yang mengandung kata-kata seperti: Neither, None, Nobody, Nothing, Scarcely, Rarely, Hardly, Ever, Seldom, dianggap sebagai negatif.

      Example: None of your friends liked the film, did they?

                      Nobody cheated on the best, did they?

v  Kalimat Perintah (Command)

Untuk membentuk kalimat perintah Tag Question adalah “will you”

Example: Please close the door, will you?

                Please be careful, will you?

v  Kalimat Ajakan (Request)

Untuk membuat kalimat ajakan, kita menggunakan Tag Question “shall we”

Example: Let’s go home together, shall we?

                Let’s play football now, shall we?

v  Tag Question untuk complex sentence

Untuk membuat Tag Question-nya bukan pada induk kalimat (main clause) tapi pada anak kalimat (sub-clause)

Example: I think that you are clever, aren’t you?

                We hope you are happy, aren’t you?

Notes;

• “ I am” biasanya mempunyai Tag dengan “Aren’t”

Example : I am very late, aren’t I?

                 I am very stupid, aren’t I?

• “ Let’s” menpunyai Tag dengan “Shall”

Example : Let’s read aloud, shall we?

                 Let’s pretend we’re not here, shall we?

                 Let’s go, shall we?

• “Used to” dapat mempunyai Tag dengan “did”

Example : You used to leave in Bandung, didn’t you?

                  You used to smoke a pipe, didn’t you?

Exercise 1:

THE QUESTION TAGS

Tick  (P) the correct question tags to complete the questions.

1. She's an accountant, .................. ?

(A)  aren't she           (B)  isn't she   (C)  she isn't   (D)  doesn't she

2. I'm here, .................. ?

(A)  aren't we             (B)  aren't I      (C)  am I not   (D)  doesn't I

3. You and I are very busy right now, .................. ?

(A)  aren't you            (B)  isn't she   (C)  she isn't   (D)  aren't we

4. It isn't very windy today, .................. ?

(A)  hasn't it               (B)  isn't it       (C)  is it           (D)  doesn't it

Exercise 2:

These are sentences from real conversations. Put in the question tags.

1.  I'm cooking tonight,                                          ?

2.  He's not a baby,                                         ?

3.  It'll be all right,                                         ?

4.  Laura's still got short hair,                                         ?

5.  She doesn't feel well,                                         ?

6. They left early,                                           ?

7.  She didn't feel well yesterday,                                         ?

8. They've left early,                                           ?

Exercise 3:

THE QUESTION TAGS

Match the beginning of the sentences and the question tags .

Tag Question

Question Tag

She needs some help,

was it?

They are away for a few weeks,

don't you?

It's warm,

doesn't she?

It wasn't your turn,

will you?

There is a problem,

is she?

You're not serious,

aren't they?

You come here often,

isn't there?

She isn't Italian,

isn't it?

Don't forget,

are you?