Direct Speech vs. Indirect Speech

When reporting the words spoken by a person, a speaker or writer has two options:

Report the Speech Directly (called Direct Speech)
- A form of reporting in which the exact words of the speaker are recorded.
- In English, a speech act that is direct is marked with quotation marks.
Report the Speech Indirectly (called Indirect Speech)
- A form of reporting in which the words of the speaker are paraphrased or described.
- In English, an act of speech which is indirect is never marked with quotation marks.

Below you will find a brief review of Indirect Statements, along with a quick preview of the additional types of Indirect Speech. Be sure to review each tab carefully and take notes in your study guide.

Indirect Statement Review
Indirect Statement Example
Indirect Speech Preview

Indirect Statement Review

When a statement is reported, rather than quoted, English removes the quotation marks and uses the word that to introduce the statement:

Direct: I say, "I am carrying my own books."
Indirect: I say that I am carrying my own books.

Meanwhile, Latin forms an indirect statement by using the following three parts:

The statement is introduced by a head verb
The subject of the statement is formed in the accusative case
The verb of the statement is formed as an infinitive

This formation is often referred to as the accusative+infinitive construction. The indirect statement above would be written:

Dico me libros ipsos portare.
- Dico = head verb
- me = accusative pronoun, acting as the subject of the indirect statement clause
- portare = present active infinitive, acting as the verb in the indirect statement clause

Notice that Latin does not use a word for that. Instead, the indirect statement is marked by the use of the accusative and infinitive forms.

Indirect Statement Example: Comparing Direct and Indirect Statements in Latin

Let's look at another example in Latin so that we can see how indirect statements are formed based on a direct statement.

Direct Statement:
- Dux dixit, "Prima luce, oppugnabimus."
- The general said, "We will attack at dawn."
Indirect Statement:
- Dux dixit nos prima luce oppugnaturi esse.
- The general said that we would attack at dawn.
- Nota Bene:
  - nos must be written as the subject of the indirect statement
  - The infinitive matches the tense of the direct statement: here, we used future because the attack had not happened at the time the general was speaking.

Indirect Speech Preview

In addition to indirect statements, there are two other types of indirect speech: Indirect Questions and Indirect Commands. We will be exploring these two additional types of indirect speech in this module. As a quick overview, here are the three types of indirect speech in both Latin and English:

Indirect Statement
- a reported statement
  - Caesar says that he will march to Gaul.
Indirect Question
- a reported question
  - Caesar wonders if he will march to Gaul.
Indirect Command
- a reported command
  - Caesar orders the troops to march to Gaul.

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