4.2 Direct and reported speech

English home language

Grade 9

A true sense of freedom

Module 21

Direct and reported speech

Activity 1:

To identify and use direct and reported speech correctly

[lo 2.5]

• Freedom of speech is a right that is rated very highly by teenagers, journalists and almost every other human being. When we repeat a message or give our opinion, it is our responsibility to speak clearly and correctly. There should be no ambiguity about what we have said.

• Direct speech refers to the exact words of the speaker.

1. It is indicated by inverted commas, also known as quotation marks or speech marks.

2. It can be introduced by a verb such as ‘said’ or ‘asked’, but there are many others

3. If the spoken words are given first, then they are followed by a comma, exclamation mark or question mark, never a full stop.

4. The first word after the initial inverted comma begins with a capital letter, e.g.

Mary said, “Sir, I do not have my homework here,” or

“Sir, I do not have my homework here,” said Mary.

• Reported speech

1. Has no inverted commas.

2. The introductory verbs are linked to the reported speech by ‘that’, ‘if’ and ‘whether’.

3. Pronouns change from 1 ^st or 2 ^nd Person to 3 ^rd Person.

4. If the introductory verb is in the past tense, then the reported speech must also be in

the past tense.

1. Adverbs of time and place change and some adjectives change too.
2. Commands and exclamations are different and need to be given

special attention, e.g.

“Children, sit down!” Mr Jacobs said.

Mr Jacobs told the children to sit down.

“Whee, this game is exciting,” the little girl shouted.

The little girl shouted excitedly that that game was exciting.

• Read the following notes carefully. Using a telephone correctly is a basic business skill, which will help you in any profession.

Exercise on changing direct speech to reported speech

1. Charles said, “I saw Rosemary yesterday.” (3)

2. Jannie shouted, “Ouch, I burnt myself!” (4)

3. Mr Mbisi commanded, “Neil. Come here!” (1)

4. “Why can’t I go now?” asked Ingrid. (3)

5. Rafeeq said, “I feel so tense today.” (3)

Change REPORTED speech to DIRECT speech

6. The girl shouted happily that she had won.

7. Her mother asked her if that was the truth.

8. Thandi told Heinrich to do his homework before the next day.

9. The learner thanked the principal formally.

Activity 2:

To examine how language is used to construct gender, race, the environment, health etc. and to suggest ways of re-writing texts to create other possibilities

[lo 6.5.3]

exactly what you want to about people, whether it is a biased opinion or not. Biased words have connotations, which can sway us to believe a certain view. For example, a poet once said that an elderly woman could be described in three ways, namely:

that dear old soul

that old woman

that old witch

It is obvious from this example that we will think favourably of the woman in the first example, that the second statement is insulting and that the last statement gives a very negative impression.

We should not form any opinion about someone before we know that person. We should never pre-judge anyone. We should also remain impartial to any biased words until we can examine the facts critically. We should also reject any biased words which are hurtful or which discriminate against anyone. After all, we have the right to be treated equally.