What is an example of an indirect statement?
Matthew Harrington
Updated on January 02, 2026
Indirect Statement is a form of subordinate clause, in this case “a subordinate clause which relates a thought or statement indirectly” (e.g. “He said that he was very good.”). It is the opposite of direct statement, which entails quoting a person’s words or ideas directly (“He said, “I am so good!”).
What is direct and indirect speech with examples?
For example: Direct speech: “I’m seeing my brother tomorrow.” Indirect speech: She said she was seeing her brother the following day.
What is indirect and direct speech?
Direct speech describes when something is being repeated exactly as it was – usually in between a pair of inverted commas. Indirect speech will still share the same information – but instead of expressing someone’s comments or speech by directly repeating them, it involves reporting or describing what was said.
What is indirect form of speech?
Usually indirect speech is introduced by the verb said, as in I said, Bill said, or they said. Using the verb say in this tense, indicates that something was said in the past. In these cases, the main verb in the reported sentence is put in the past. With indirect speech, the use of that is optional.
What are the components parts of indirect statement?
In Latin, the indirect statement has two main parts: an accusative noun and an infinitive verb. Let’s translate our example statements into Latin. I have put the accusative noun in the indirect statements into underlined bold letters, and the infinitive verb in underlined italics.
What is the another name for indirect speech?
indirect discourse
Indirect speech is a report on what someone else said or wrote without using that person’s exact words (which is called direct speech). It’s also called indirect discourse or reported speech.
What is the example of direct?
The definition of direct is something that is the shortest way or someone honest and to the point. An example of direct is a non-stop plane trip from Los Angeles to Seattle. An example of direct is someone telling a friend they would look better wearing make up.
How many types of direct and indirect speech are there?
There are two main types of reported speech: direct speech and indirect speech….Reported speech: reporting and reported clauses.
| reporting clause | reported clause |
|---|---|
| Then a man shouted, | “Get out of there, fast!” |
How do you identify direct and indirect speech?
Direct Speech: the message of the speaker is conveyed or reported in his own actual words without any change. Indirect Speech: the message of the speaker is conveyed or reported in our own words. a) Direct: Radha said, “I am very busy now.” b) Indirect: Radha said that she was very busy then.
What are the rules for direct and indirect speech?
Rules for conversion of Indirect Speech to Direct Speech
| Indirect (Conjunction) | Direct (Kind of Sentence) |
|---|---|
| That | Statement (or) Exclamatory sentence |
| to, not to | Imperative |
| requested + to | Begin the imperative sentence with “please” |
| if or whether | Interrogative sentence (Helping Verb + Subject + Main Verb + …?) |
How do you identify 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.
What are the three elements of an indirect statement?
Indirect questions have three components:
- Verb of Asking, Requesting, Demanding, etc. Indirect questions must be introduced by a word which can express a question indirectly, e.g. think (why…), wonder (how…), realize (who…), etc.
- Question Word.
- Subordinate Verb.
What are the 4 types of verbs that introduce an indirect statement?
Indirect statement Four main tenses of the infinitive are used: the present, the perfect, the future participle with esse (which is often omitted), and the future participle with fuisse.
How do you write indirect speech?
To construct indirect speech, you usually use reporting verbs like “to ask”, “to say” and “to tell”, and you may often include the word “that” to describe what was said. For example: “My mother said that he had not come back in months.” “She told him that he had to stop calling her.”
What are the rules of direct and indirect speech?
Changes as per Tense
Direct Speech Indirect Speech Present simple (Subject +V1st + Object) Past simple (Subject +V2 + Object) Present continuous (Subject +is/am/are+V1 +ing+ Object) Past Continuous (Subject +was/were+V1 +ing+ Object) Present perfect (Subject + has/have+V3+Object) Past perfect (Subject+had+V3+Object) What is a indirect object definition and examples?
An indirect object is an object that is used with a transitive verb to indicate who benefits from an action or gets something as a result. For example, in ‘She gave him her address. ‘, ‘him’ is the indirect object. Compare direct object.
How do you write a direct and indirect sentence?
Examples: Direct Speech: He said, “ I eat two apples”. Indirect Speech: He said that he ate two apples. Direct Speech: She said to me, “ I like your book”.
How do you identify direct and indirect objects?
The direct object is the thing that the subject acts upon, so in that last sentence, “cereal” is the direct object; it’s the thing Jake ate. An indirect object is an optional part of a sentence; it’s the recipient of an action.
How do you write direct and indirect speech?
Converting Direct speech into Indirect Speech Reporting Verb: The verb of the first sentence (i.e. she said, he said, she says, they said, they say etc.) before the actual words of the speaker is called a reporting verb. Examples: She said, “I am listening to music”.
What is an indirect question Latin?
Both Latin and English indirect questions are introduced by a “question word” (e.g. who, how, when, whether, etc.). 3. Subordinate Verb. In Latin, where no such shift of word order would create meaningful syntax, indirect questions take the subjunctive, as opposed to direct questions which use the indicative.
What is direct and indirect statement?
What is a direct statement?
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.
How do you make an indirect statement?
Usually indirect speech is introduced by the verb said, as in I said, Bill said, or they said. Using the verb say in this tense, indicates that something was said in the past. In these cases, the main verb in the reported sentence is put in the past.
What is indirect speech in simple words?
In linguistics, indirect speech (also reported speech or indirect discourse) is a grammatical mechanism for reporting the content of another utterance without directly quoting it. For example, the English sentence Jill said she was coming is indirect discourse while Jill said “I’m coming” would be direct discourse.
What are the two basic rules for direct and indirect speech?
Rules for changing Direct into Indirect Speech Present Tenses in the Direct Speech are changed into Past Tense. If the reporting or principal verb is in the Past Tense. If in direct speech you find say/says or will say. Direct speech the words within the quotation marks talk of a universal truth or habitual action.
The definition of direct is something that is the shortest way or someone honest and to the point. An example of direct is a non-stop plane trip from Los Angeles to Seattle. An example of direct is someone telling a friend they would look better wearing make up. Straightforward and candid; not devious or ambiguous.
What is a direct speech and examples?
Direct speech is a sentence in which the exact words spoken are reproduced in speech marks (also known as quotation marks or inverted commas). For example: “You’ll never guess what I’ve just seen!” said Sam, excitedly.
How is an indirect statement expressed in English?
An indirect statement is expressed by changing the case of the subject noun phrase from nominative to accusative and by replacing the main verb with an infinitive (as in the English phrase “You believe me to be a traitor” above).
When do you use indirect speech in a sentence?
Indirect speech is also known as reported speech. We use it to report on what someone has said, much like direct speech, but not as a direct quote. To show you what we mean, let’s take one of the examples from above and turn it into an indirect statement:
How does an indirect statement replace a verb?
An indirect statement or question can replace the direct object of a verb that is related to thought or communication. An indirect statement is expressed by changing the case of the subject noun phrase from nominative to accusative and by replacing the main verb with an infinitive (as in the English phrase “You believe me to be a traitor” above).
How is an indirect question embedded in a statement?
Take a quick test. An indirect question can be embedded in a statement, another question, or an order. I wonder whether Anne is happy. (The embedded direct question is “Is Anne happy?”. This is a direct question within a statement, i.e., within a declarative sentence .)
