Reported Speech in French

What is the reported speech in French ?

In French, we distinguish the same as in English, between direct (French: le discours direct) and indirect speech (French: le discours indirect). You use the indirect speech when you want to report words that someone said or thoughts. The content of the statement should be reproduced more logically with the use of indirect speech. The report requires some grammatical transformations.

Recap: what is the direct speech in French ? 

In the direct speech, words are enclosed in quotation marks and without a linking term after the verb of speech. 

Examples: 

• Il pense: "c'est dommage" (he thinks: "it is too bad")
• Il dit 'peut être je devrais aller lui parler" (he says "maybe I should go talk to him")
• Maman a dit "viens me voir tout de suite" (mom said "come see me right now")

Formation of the indirect speech in French 

In the indirect style, the words are connected to the verb of speech by a conjunction as:

• 'que' in the indirect speech to assert something said in the direct speech
• 'si' in the indirect speech to report a simple question (yes or no)
• 'de' + infinitive in the indirect speech to report an imperative sentence
• 'ce qui' or 'ce que' in the indirect speech to report a 'qu'est ce que/qui ?' or 'que' sentence
• interrogative pronoun in the indirect speech to report an interrogative question 

The indirect speech is initiated by the following verbs: 

• dire (to say)
• demander (to ask)
• répondre (to answer)
• affirmer (to assert, affirm)
• déclarer (to declare)
• annoncer (to announce)
• raconter (to tell)
• expliquer (to explain)
• prétendre (to pretend)
• croire (to believe)
• penser (to think)
• ordonner (to order)

Grammatical rules of the indirect speech in French

As you know, the indirect speech is no longer in quotation marks and in colon, therefore the sentence will undergo grammatical transformations in relation with:

• tenses
• time markers
• personal pronouns
• possessive and demonstrative pronouns
• possessive adjectives

Change of tenses

When the sentence that designates the speaker is in the present tense, the tense remains in the indirect speech:

When the phrase that designates the speaker is in the past, the tense in the indirect speech change:

• present → imperfect
• future simple → conditional present
• future perfect (futur antérieur) → past conditional 
• completed past (passé composé) → pluperfect 

Change in time markers

You always keep the previous tenses matched but these changes are useful in narrations when doing indirect speech. 

Examples: 

• Elle pensait: "je vais aller faire les courses demain" → Elle pensait qu'elle allait faire les courses le lendemain. (She thought that she would go shopping the next day)
• Le juge a dit: "vous ne sortirez pas aujourd'hui" → Le juge a dit qu'il ne sortirait pas ce jour-là. (The judge said that he will not go out on that day)
• Mon père a dit "hier, j'ai acheté un cadeau pour ta mère" → Mon père a dit qu'il avait acheté un cadeau pour ma mère, la veille. (My father said that he had bought a gift for my mother, last night)
• Elle m'a dit: "mardi prochain, je vais à Londres" → Elle m'a dit qu'elle allais à Londres, le mardi suivant. (She told me that she was going to London, next Tuesday)

​Change in personal pronouns 

In the indirect style the tense stays the same, but you have to be logical with the situation. When the speaker talks about himself, you logically use the 3rd personal pronoun and as the others pronouns.

Examples

Change in demonstrative pronouns 

In the indirect speech, you use a demonstrative pronoun to report what the speaker has said. 

Change in possessive adjectives and pronouns 

In the indirect speech, you use a possessive pronoun and adjectives to report what is said. In this case, you also have to logically adapt to the situation just like the personal pronouns. 

 Keep your motivation and test your knowledge about the indirect speech with our exercises.