Kalimat Langsung Dan Kalimat Tak Langsung
Bilamana reported speech menyatakan kata-kata yang sebenarnya, ini disebut direct speech (kalimat langsung). Kalimat-kalimat tersebut tidak dihubungkan oleh “that” melainkan harus ditandai dengan (tanda baca) koma.
Bilamana reported speech memberikan isi pokok kata-kata yang dipakai oleh si pembicara dan bukan kata-kata yang sebenarnya ini disebut indirect speech (kalimat tidak langsung). Dalam indirect speech kalimat-kalimat itu dihubungkan dengan kata “that”.
Bentuk waktu reporting verb tidak diubah, akan tetapi bentuk waktu reported speech harus diubah berdasarkan atas bentuk waktu reporting verb.
Dua cara perubahan bentuk waktu pada reported speech :
Peraturan I
Kalau reporting verb itu past tense, bentuk waktu kata kerja dalam reported speech itu harus diubah ke dalam salah satu dari empat bentuk past tense.
Direct Speech - Indirect Speech
Simple present - menjadi - Simple past
He said ” The woman comes “ He said that the woman came
Dari contoh di atas dapat disimpulkan perubahan untuk bentuk waktu dari reported speech sebagai berikut :
Simple present simple past
Present continuous past continuous
Present perfect past perfect
Present perfect continuous past perfect continuous
Simple past past perfect
Past continuous past perfect continuous
Future past future
Present past
Kekecualian :
Kalau reported speech berhubungan dengan kebenaran umum atau fakta yang sudah menjadi
kebiasaan, present indefinite atau simple present dalam reported speech tidak diubah ke dalam
bentuk lampau yang sesuai, melainkan tetap persis sebagaimana adanmya, contoh :
Direct Speech - Indirect Speech
He said, “The sun rises in the east” - He said that the sun rises in the east
Dalam reported speech, bila present tense diubah ke dalam past tense dengan peraturan I, kata sifat, kata kerja atau kata keterangan umumnya diubah:
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
this = ini that = itu
these = ini those = itu
come = datang go = pergi
here = di sini, ke sini there = di sana, ke sana
hence = dari sini thence = dari sana
hither = ke tempat ini thither = ke tempat itu
ago = yang lalu before = lebih dahulu
now = sekarang then = pada waktu itu
today = hari ini that day = hari itu
tomorrow = besok next day = hari berikutnya
yesterday = kemarin the previous day = sehari sebelumnya
last night = tadi malam the previous night = semalam sebelumnya
next week = minggu depan the following week = minggu berikutnya
thus = begini so = begitu
contoh :
He said, “I will come here”. He said that he would go there
Akan tetapi kalau this, here, now dan sebagainya menunjukan pada benda, tempat atau waktu ketika berbicara, maka tidak dilakukan perubahan.
Agus said, “This is my pen”. - Agus said that this was his pen
(ketika berbicara pena berada di tangan pembicara)
Peraturan II
1) Bila reported speech kalimat berita
Dengan peraturan ini reporting verb dianggap dalam present atau future tense tertentu dan kapan saja ini terjadi, bentuk waktu dari kata kerja dalam reported speech tidak diubah sama sekali dalam mengubah direct menjadi indirect speech.
Reporting verb - Reported speech
Present tense - Any tense (bentuk waktu apapun)
Direct : She says to her friend, ” I have been writing “.
Indirect : She says to her friend that he has been writing. (tidak berubah)
Direct : She has told you, ” I am reading “.
Indirect : She has told you that he is reading. (tidak berubah)
Direct : She will say, ” You have done wrongly “.
Indirect : She will tell you that you have done wrongly. (tidak berubah)
Direct : She will say,” The boy wasn’t lazy “.
Indirect : She will tell them that the boy wasn’t lazy. (tidak berubah)
2) Bila reported speech merupakan kalimat tanya
a) Reporting verb say atau tell diubah menjadi ask atau inquire. Dengan mengulangi kata tanya dan mengubah tenses jika pertanyaannya dimulai dengan kata tanya diberitakan.
Direct
He said to me, “Where are you going?”
He said to me, “What are you doing?”
Indirect
He asked me where I was going
He inquired of me what I was doing
b) Dengan menggunakan if atau whether sebagai penghubung antara reporting verb dan reported speech dan mengubah tenses, jika pertanyaannya dimulai dengan kata kerja diberitakan :
Direct
He said to me, “Are you going
away today?”
He asked me , “can you come along?”
Indirect
He asked me whether I was
going away that day.
He asked me if I could come along.
3) Kalimat perintah (imperative sentences)
Bila reported speech merupakan kalimat perintah, reporting verb say atau tell harus diubah menjadi kata kerja tertentu yang menandakan :
· command (perintah), misalnya ordered, commanded, dsb yang berarti menyuruh, memerintahkan.
· precept (petunjuk, bimbingan, didikan), misalnya advised yang berarti menasehati.
· request (permohonan), misalnya asked yang berarti meminta, memohon.
· entreaty (permohonan yang sangat mendesak), misalnya begged yang berarti meminta, memohon (dengan sangat).
· prohibition (larangan), misalnya forbade yang berarti melarang.
Dalam perubahannya dari kalimat langsung menjadi kalimat tidak langsung, modus imperatif harus diganti dengan infinitif. Tegasnya, reported verb (kata kerja yang diberitakan atau kata kerja dalam reported speech) harus diubah menjadi infinitive with to.
a) Command :
Direct: He said to his servant, “Go away at once!”
Indirect:He ordered his servant to go away at once
b) Precept :
Direct: She said to her son, “Study hard!”
Indirect: He advised her son to study hard
c) Request :
Direct: He said to his friend, “Please lend me your pen!”
Indirect: He asked his friend to be kind enough to lend him his pencil
d) Entreaty :
Direct: He said to his master, “Pardon me, sir”
Indirect: He begged his master to pardon him.
e) Prohibition :
Direct: She said to her daughter, “Don’t go there”
Indirect: She forbade her daughter to go there
Kalau reporting verb say atau tell diubah menjadi reported verb ask, order, command dsb (tapi jika bukan forbid), predikatnya diubah ke dalam infinitive with to yang didahului oleh not atau no + infinitive with to.
Direct: She said to her daughter, “Don’t go there”
Indirect: She asked herdaughter not to go there.
4) Kalimat seru (exclamatory sentences)
Bilamana reported speech terdiri dari kalimat seru atau kalimat optatif, reporting verb say
atau tell harus diubah menjadi kata kerja tertentu yang semacam itu seperti exclaim, cry out,
pray dsb.
a) Exclamatory sentences
Direct: He said, “Hurrah! My old friend has come”
Indirect: He exclaimed with joy that his old friend had come.
b) Optative sentences (kalimat yang menyatakan harapan, pujian, dsb)
Direct: He said, “God bless you, my dear son “
Indirect: He prayed that God would bless his dear son
When using indirect or reported speech, the form changes. 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. If the main verb is already in a past tense, then the tense changes to another past tense; it can almost be seen as moving even further into the past.
Verb tense changes also characterize other situations using indirect speech. Note the changes shown in the chart and see the table below for examples. With indirect speech, the use of that is optional.
| Direct Speech | Þ | Indirect Speech |
| simple present He said, “I go to school every day.” | Þ | simple past He said (that) he went to school every day. |
| simple past He said, “I went to school every day.” | Þ | past perfect He said (that) he had gone to school every day. |
| present perfect He said, “I have gone to school every day.” | Þ | past perfect He said (that) he had gone to school every day. |
| present progressive He said, “I am going to school every day.” | Þ | past progressive He said (that) he was going to school every day. |
| past progressive He said, “I was going to school every day.” | Þ | perfect progressive He said (that) he had been going to school every day, |
| future (will) He said, “I will go to school every day.” | Þ | would + verb name He said (that) he would go to school every day. |
| future (going to) He said, “I am going to school every day.” | Þ | present progressive He said (that) he is going to school every day. |
| past progressive He said (that) he was going to school every day | ||
| Direct Speech | Þ | Indirect Speech |
| auxiliary + verb name He said, “Do you go to school every day?” He said, “Where do you go to school?” | Þ | simple past He asked me if I went to school every day.* He asked me where I went to school. |
| imperative He said, “Go to school every day.” | Þ | infinitive He said to go to school every day. |
| *Note than when a Yes/No question is being asked in direct speech, then a construction with if or whether is used. If a WH question is being asked, then use the WH to introduce the clause. Also note that with indirect speech, these are examples of embedded questions. The situation changes if instead of the common said another part of the very to say is used. In that case the verb tenses usually remain the same. Some examples of this situation are given below. |
| Direct Speech | Þ | Indirect Speech |
| simple present + simple present He says, “I go to school every day.” | Þ | simple present + simple present He says (that) he goes to school every day. |
| present perfect + simple present He has said, “I go to school every day.” | Þ | present perfect + simple present He has said (that) he goes to school every day. |
| past progressive + simple past He was saying, “I went to school every day.” | Þ | past progressive + simple past He was saying (that) he went to school every day. |
| past progressive + past perfect He was saying (that) he had gone to school every day. | ||
| future + simple present He will say, “I go to school every day.” | Þ | future + simple present He will say (that) he goes to school every day. |
| Another situation is the one in which modal constructions are used. If the verb said is used, then the form of the modal, or another modal that has a past meaning is used. |
| Direct Speech | Þ | Indirect Speech |
| can He said, “I can go to school every day.” | Þ | could He said (that) he could go to school every day. |
| may He said, “I may go to school every day.” | Þ | might He said (that) he might go to school every day. |
| might He said, “I might go to school every day.” | ||
| must He said, “I must go to school every day.” | Þ | had to He said (that) he had to go to school every day. |
| have to He said, “I have to go to school every day.” | ||
| should He said, “I should go to school every day.” | Þ | should He said (that) he should go to school every day. |
| ought to He said, “I ought to go to school every day.” | Þ | ought to He said (that) he ought to go to school every day. |
While not all of the possibilities have been listed here, there are enough to provide examples of the main rules governing the use of indirect or reported speech. For other situations, try to extrapolate from the examples here, or better still, refer to a good grammar text or reference book.
Some other verbs that can be used to introduce direct speech are: ask, report, tell, announce, suggest, and inquire. They are not used interchangeably; check a grammar or usage book for further information.
We may report the words of a speaker in two ways.1. Direct Speech
We may quote the actual words of the speaker. This method is called Direct Speech.
2. Indirect Speech
We may report what he said without quoting his exact words. This method is called Indirect Speech or Reported Speech.
Example:
• Direct: Clinton said, “I am very busy now.”
• Indirect: Clinton said that he was very busy then.
• Direct : He said, “ my mother is writing letter.”
• Indirect: He said that his mother was writing letter.
How to change Direct to Indirect Speech?
It will be noticed that in Direct Speech, we use inverted commas to mark off the exact words of the speaker.In Indirect Speech we do not use the inverted commas.
It will be further noticed that in changing the above Direct Speech into Indirect speech, certain changes have been made.
Thus:
i. We have used the conjunction ‘that’ before the Indirect Statement.
ii. The pronoun “I” is changed to “HE”. (The Pronoun is changed in Person)
iii. The verb “am” is changed to “was”.
iv. The adverb “now” is changed to “then”.
Rules for changing Direct into Indirect Speech:
A. When the reporting or principal verb is in the Past Tense, all the Present Tenses in the Direct Speech are changed into Past Tense.
a. A simple present tense becomes simple past tense.
Example:
• Direct : He said, “I am unwell.”
• Indirect: He said that he was unwell.
b. A present continuous tense becomes a past continuous.
Example:
• Direct : He said, “ my mother is writing letter.”
• Indirect: He said that his mother was writing letter.
c. A present perfect becomes a past perfect:
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
Example:
• Direct: He said, “I have passed the examination.”
• Indirect: he said that he had passed the examination.
d. As a rule the simple past tense in the Direct Speech becomes the past perfect tense in Indirect Speech.
Example:
• Direct: He said, “His horse died in the night.”
• Indirect: he said that his horse had died in the night.
NOTE:
The shall of the future is changed into should.
The will of the future is changed into would.
The can and may of the future are changed into could and might respectively.
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?B. The tenses will not change if the statement is still relevant or if it is a universal truth. We can often choose whether to keep The original tenses or change them.
Examples:
• Direct: “I know her address”, said John.
• Indirect: John said that he knows/knew her address.
In this Indirect Speech, both the past tense and the present tense make the sentence a correct one.
• Direct: The teacher said, “The earth goes round the sun.”
• Indirect: The teacher said that the earth goes/went round the sun.
• Direct: She said, “German is easy to learn.”
• Indirect: She said that German was/is easy to learn.
The past tense is often used when it is uncertain if the statement is true or when we are reporting objectively.
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
C. If the reporting verb is in present tense, the tenses of the Direct Speech do not change. For example, we may rewrite the above examples, putting the reporting verb in the present tense.
Examples:
• Direct : He says, “I am unwell.”
• Indirect: He says that he is unwell.
• Direct : He says, “ my mother is writing letter.”
• Indirect: He says that his mother is writing letter.
• Direct: He says, “I have passed the examination.”
• Indirect: he says that he has passed the examination.
• Direct: He says, “His horse died in the night.”
• Indirect: he says that his horse died in the night.
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
D. The pronouns of the Direct Speech are changed where necessary, so that their relations with the reporter and his hearer, Rather than with the original speaker are indicated.
Examples:
• Direct: He said to me, “I do not believe you.”
• Indirect: He said that he did not believe me.
• Direct: She said to him, “I do not believe you.”
• Indirect: She said to him that she did not believe him.
• Direct: I said to him, “I did not believe you.”
• Indirect: I said to him that I did not believe him.
• Direct: I said to you, “I do not believe you.”
• Indirect: I said to you that I do not believe you.
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
E. Words expressing nearness in time or places are generally changed into words expressing distance.
Examples:
• Direct: He said, “I am glad to be here this evening.”
• Indirect: he said that he was glad to be there that evening.
• Direct: He said, “I was here yesterday.”
• Indirect: He said that he was there the day before.
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
Now, let us see the words which get changed when the Direct Speech is changed into Indirect Speech.
• Now becomes then
• Here becomes there
• Ago becomes before
• Thus becomes so
• Today becomes that day
• Tomorrow becomes the next day
• Yesterday becomes the day before
• Last night becomes the night before
• This becomes that
• These becomes those
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
F. How the questions used in the Direct Speech are changed into Indirect Speech?
In reporting questions, the indirect Speech is introduced by such verbs as asked, inquired etc…
Examples:
• Direct: He said to me, “What are you doing?”
• Indirect: He asked me what I was doing.
• Direct: A stranger asked me, “Where do you live?”
• Indirect: A stranger enquired where I lived.
• Direct: The Policemen said to us, “Where are you going?”
• Indirect: The Policemen asked us where we were going.
• Direct: He said, “Will you listen to such a man?”
• Indirect: He asked them whether they would listen to such a man.
• Indirect: Would they, he asked, listen to such a man.
• Direct: His angry mother jeered, “Do you suppose you know better than your father?”
• Indirect: His angry mother jeered and asked whether he supposed that he knew better than his father.
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
G. How the Commands and the Requests in the Direct Speeches are changed when the Direct Speeches are changed into indirect Speeches?
In reporting commands and requests, the indirect speech is introduced by some verb expressing commands and requests, and the Imperative Mood is changed into Infinitive Mood.
Examples:
• Direct: Raja said to John, “Go away.”
• Indirect: Raja ordered John to go away.
• Direct: He said to Mary, “Please wait here till I return.”
• Indirect: he requested Mary to wait there till he returned.
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
• Direct: “Call the first witness”, said the Judge.
• Indirect: The Judge commanded them to call the first witness.
• Direct: He shouted, “Let me go.”
• Indirect: he shouted to them to let him go.
• Direct: He said, “Be quite and listen to my words”.
• Indirect: He urged them to be quite and listen to his words.
Are you clear about the conversion of Direct to Indirect Speech?
H. How the Exclamation and the Wishes in the Direct Speeches are changed when the Direct Speeches are changed into Indirect Speeches?
In reporting exclamation and wishes, the Indirect Speech is introduced by some verb expressing Exclamation and Wishes.
Examples:
• Direct: He said, “Alas! I am undone”.
• Indirect: He exclaimed sadly that he was undone.
• Direct: Alice said, “How clever I am?”
• Indirect: Alice exclaimed that he was very clever.
• Direct: He said, “Bravo! You have done well.”
• Indirect: he applauded him, saying that he had done well.
• Direct: “So help me, Heaven!” he cried, “I will never steal again”.
• Indirect: He called upon Heaven to witness his resolve never to resolve.
