Forum newsfeeds |  | | Notices | You are welcome to answer questions posted in the Ask a Teacher forum as long as your suggestions, help, and advice reflect a good understanding of the English language. If you are not a teacher, you will need to state that clearly at the top of your post. Please note, all posts are moderated by our in-house language experts, so make sure your suggestions, help, and advice house the kind of information an international language teacher would offer. If not, and your posts do not contribute to the topic in a positive way, they will be subject to deletion. | 
24-Nov-2007, 18:42
| | Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: Pakistan
Posts: 132
Current Location: Right here! First Language: Urdu Member Type: Other Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Indirect English ;) He said,"I eat apples ." He said that he eats apples.
He says,"I eat apples ." He says that he eats apples.
He said,"I ate apples ." He said that he ate apples. Teachers, Please explain?  Thanks PTBM | 
25-Nov-2007, 08:56
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: Feb 2003 Country: USA
Posts: 14,455
Current Location: North Carolina First Language: English Member Type: Other Thanks: 85
Thanked 1,203 Times in 1,068 Posts
| | Re: Indirect English ;) Quote:
Originally Posted by ProudToBeMuslim He said,"I eat apples ." He said that he eats apples.
He says,"I eat apples ." He says that he eats apples.
He said,"I ate apples ." He said that he ate apples. Teachers, Please explain?  Thanks PTBM | The first sentence in each pair is a direct quote. The second sentence in each pair is reported speech. What is there to explain?
~R | 
25-Nov-2007, 09:14
| | Member | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Country: Canada
Posts: 399
Current Location: Canada First Language: English Member Type: Other Thanks: 0
Thanked 20 Times in 20 Posts
| | Re: Indirect English ;) The examples are correct. Choose whether "say" is past or present, and choose the right tense for "eat."
But the direct speech forms are very, very rarely used in speech, and aren't very common in writing either--unless the exact words are really significant: John Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you..."
Note that these two sentences sound the same when read aloud, but are different in meaning:
He said, "I ate apples."
He said I ate apples.
In the second sentence, it's the author of the sentence who supposedly ate the apples.
So you can speak good English and lead a happy and productive life without ever using direct speech.
best wishes
edward | 
25-Nov-2007, 12:09
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: Feb 2003 Country: USA
Posts: 14,455
Current Location: North Carolina First Language: English Member Type: Other Thanks: 85
Thanked 1,203 Times in 1,068 Posts
| | Re: Indirect English ;) Quote:
Originally Posted by baqarah131 Note that these two sentences sound the same when read aloud, but are different in meaning:
He said, "I ate apples."
He said I ate apples. | Another example: He said, "You're an idiot!"
He said you're an idiot. (In the first sentence there is likely to be a pause after said, and there might be other subtle differences between the two sentences.)
~R | 
25-Nov-2007, 15:39
| | Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: Pakistan
Posts: 132
Current Location: Right here! First Language: Urdu Member Type: Other Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: Indirect English ;) Quote:
Originally Posted by RonBee The first sentence in each pair is a direct quote. The second sentence in each pair is reported speech. What is there to explain?
~R |
It's so nice of you to tell me that the first sentence in each pair is direct and second sentence in each pair is indirect speech otherwise I would have been thinking what are they.
PS: italic part of the sentense is to practice what Steven teaches me few weeks ago. :) | 
25-Nov-2007, 15:48
| | Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: Pakistan
Posts: 132
Current Location: Right here! First Language: Urdu Member Type: Other Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: Indirect English ;) Quote:
Originally Posted by baqarah131 But the direct speech forms are very, very rarely used in speech, and aren't very common in writing either-
So you can speak good English and lead a happy and productive life without ever using direct speech.
best wishes
edward | Believe me I always avoid solving 'change following sentences into indirect speech' question in my English papers. I found solving Active/Passive Voice more confortable than Direct/Indirect.
Btw once can't get productive marks in English papers without ever using direct speech.
Thanks for your reply.
PTBM | 
25-Nov-2007, 15:52
| | Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: Pakistan
Posts: 132
Current Location: Right here! First Language: Urdu Member Type: Other Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: Indirect English ;) Quote:
Originally Posted by RonBee What is there to explain?
~R |
Did I changed the tenses right? | 
25-Nov-2007, 15:57
| | Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: Pakistan
Posts: 132
Current Location: Right here! First Language: Urdu Member Type: Other Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: Indirect English ;) Quote: |
John Kennedy said, " Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
|
John Kennedy said that one must not ask what his/her country can do for him/her but what he/she can do for their country. :)
John Kennedy was a wise person. | 
25-Nov-2007, 16:03
| | Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: Pakistan
Posts: 132
Current Location: Right here! First Language: Urdu Member Type: Other Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: Indirect English ;) Quote:
Originally Posted by RonBee Another example: Ron said to Proud, "You are an idiot." Ron said to Proud that she is an idiot.
Ron says, "Proud is an idoit."
Ron says that Proud is an idiot.
~R | You called me idiot.
Last edited by ProudToBeMuslim; 25-Nov-2007 at 16:10.
| 
25-Nov-2007, 16:09
| | Member | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: Pakistan
Posts: 132
Current Location: Right here! First Language: Urdu Member Type: Other Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
| | Re: Indirect English ;) "Well Sir", said I to the doctor, "I shall see you again tomorrow morning."
I said to the doctor that I would see him again the next morning.
Father said to us. "All right, I allow you to go to the picture today."
Father said to us that we could go to the picture today. | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes | Linear Mode |
Posting Rules
| You may post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | All times are GMT. The time now is 06:43. |  |