Reported Speech in French
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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.
examples | styles | translations |
---|---|---|
il m'a dit: "je vais bien" | direct | he said: "I am fine" |
il m'a dit qu'il allait bien | indirect | he said to me that he was fine |
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In the direct speech, words are enclosed in quotation marks and without a linking term after the verb of speech.
Examples:
In the indirect style, the words are connected to the verb of speech by a conjunction as:
uses | direct speech | indirect speech | translation |
---|---|---|---|
"que" | Paul dit: "il pleut" | Paul dit qu'il pleut | Paul says that it is raining |
"si" | est ce que vous sortez ? | il a demandé si vous sortez | he asked if you were going out |
"de" + infinitive | viens maintenant! | elle demande de venir maintenant | she wants you to come right now |
"ce qui" or "ce que" | qu'est ce qui se passe? | il demande ce qui se passe | he asks what is going on |
interrogative pronoun | où allez-vous ? | il demande où vous allez | he asks where you are going |
The indirect speech is initiated by the following verbs:
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:
When the sentence that designates the speaker is in the present tense, the tense remains in the indirect speech:
direct speech | indirect speech |
---|---|
Paul dit: "il pleut" | Paul dit qu'il pleut |
When the phrase that designates the speaker is in the past, the tense in the indirect speech change:
uses | direct speech | indirect speech | translation |
---|---|---|---|
present → imperfect | il m'a dit: "je vais bien" | il m'a dit qu'il allait bien | he told me that he was fine |
future → conditional | il m'a dit: 'je partirais" | il m'a dit qu'il partirait | he told me that he would go |
future perfect → past conditional | il m'a dit: "nous aurons terminé de faire nos devoirs | il m'a dit qu'ils auraient terminé de faire leurs devoirs | he told that they would have finished their homework |
completed past → pluperfect | il m'a dit: "j'ai appris ma leçon" | il m'a dit qu'il avait appris sa leçon | he told that he has learned his lesson |
You always keep the previous tenses matched but these changes are useful in narrations when doing indirect speech.
direct speech | indirect speech |
---|---|
aujourd'hui (today) | ce jour-là (that day) |
hier (yesterday) | la veille (last night) |
demain (tomorrow) | le lendemain (the next day) |
le jour prochain (the following day) | le jour suivant (the next day) |
Examples:
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
direct speech | indirect speech | translation |
---|---|---|
elle m'a dit: "je pense aller lui parler" | elle m'a dit qu'elle pensait aller lui parler | she told me that she was thinking about going to talk to him |
il m'a raconté: "nous sommes sortis avec eux" | il m'a raconté qu'ils étiez sortis avec eux | he told me that they were out with them |
il m'a demandé: "vous viendrez aussi ?" | il m'a dit si nous viendrions aussi | he asked me if we would come too |
elle m'a demandé: "tu vas partir en vacances ?" | elle m'a demandé si j'allais partir en vacances | she asked me if I will go in holidays |
In the indirect speech, you use a demonstrative pronoun to report what the speaker has said.
direct speech | indirect speech | translation |
---|---|---|
il m'a dit: "je n'ai plus ce jouet" | il m'a dit qu'il n'avais plus ce jouet-là | he told me that he did not have that toy anymore |
elle a dit: "cet enfant est malin" | elle a dit que cet enfant-là était malin | she said that this child was wise |
elle a dit: "je vais régler ce problème" | elle a dit qu'elle réglerait ce problème-là | she said that she will fix the problem |
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.
direct speech | indirect speech | translation |
---|---|---|
il m'a demandé: 'tu pourrais me rendre mon livre ?" | il m'a demandé si je pouvais lui rendre son livre | he asked if I could give him back his book |
elle m'a dit: "je suis dans votre maison" | elle m'a dit qu'elle était dans notre maison | she told that the she were in our house |
elle m'a dit: "cette robe est à moi" | elle m'a dit que cette robe-là était le sien | she told me that this dress was hers |
nous avons dit: "nous avons volé votre repas" | nous avons dit que nous avions volé leur repas | we said that we had stolen their meal |
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I am a multilingual teacher with experience in teaching French to German, Japanese, English, Bulgarian and Italian-speaking students, etc. (levels A1 to C1).
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I do my best to make you feel comfortable to speak and for you to have a pleasant time. According to me, using humour will help you learn more easily.
Whether you need to learn French for business, integration in a French-speaking country or studying, I will be happy to help you. Do not hesitate to contact me for a free trial lesson.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
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Hello,
I am a multilingual teacher with experience in teaching French to German, Japanese, English, Bulgarian and Italian-speaking students, etc. (levels A1 to C1).
I have been teaching French for 8 years in Luxemburg and now in Bulgaria for 4 years, to teenagers, housewives, businessmen, employees, doctors, etc. I can also help you with DELF and DALF preparation. I give lessons via Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams in several countries.
My teaching method for each class : a grammar point together with listening, a lot of speaking with conversation questions or games. While you speak, I write all the new words you need to express yourself, illustrated by pictures or translated in your language.
I do my best to make you feel comfortable to speak and for you to have a pleasant time. According to me, using humour will help you learn more easily.
Whether you need to learn French for business, integration in a French-speaking country or studying, I will be happy to help you. Do not hesitate to contact me for a free trial lesson.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Katia
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