A study on direct and indirect speech in english ( a contrastive analysis to vietnamese)

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ENGLISH

GRADUATION PAPER
A STUDY ON DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH IN ENGLISH
(A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS TO VIETNAMESE)

Name of student: Đỗ Hươ
ương Giang
Date of birth: 19/05/1992
Class: K 18- BPD 1.2
Supervisor: M.A Nguyễn
ễn Thị
Th Hồng Minh

Ha Noi – 2015


SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

&

And

A

Adverbial

Ncl

Noun clause

O

Object

Od

Direct object

Oi

Indirect object

P

Predicator

S

Subject

V

Verb

Wh – question

Question word

Ex

Example

i.e

That is

etc

Et cetera

+

Plus


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

At this stage of research accomplishment, I would like hereby to extend
my profound gratitude to my supervisor Mrs.Nguyễn Hồng Minh from
whom I have received enormous kindness and guidance.
Also, I am very grateful to all the teachers at the English Faculty and
Modern Languages of Hanoi Open University for their interesting and
useful lectures which have built in me a firm foundation with immense
ideas for the fulfillment of this paper.
In particular, my special thanks go to my parents who have, as it always
goes, encouraged and supported me so much in all respects.
Last but no least, I should also express many thanks to my dear friends
who have shared with me a lot during my studies and my research work as
well.

Hanoi, 1 May 2015

Student

Supervisor

Đỗ Hương Giang

Nguyen Thi Hong Minh


TABLE OF CONTENT
PART I: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………….1
1. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY……………………………...…………….....1
2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY……………...…………...….1
3. SCOPE OF THE STUDY…………...………………………………...………..2
4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS…………………………………………………….2
5. METHODS OF THE STUDY……………….....…………………....……….. 3
6. DESIGN OF THE STUDY………………………………………..……….…..3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………..…..5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………….…………...……5
1.1. Definition………………………………………………………………..………5
1.2. The study of direct and indirect speech in English and Vietnamese
…………………………………………………………………………………….……6

1.2.1The study of direct and indirect speech in English……………...........…6
1.2.2The study of direct and indirect speech in Vietnamese…….……..…....6
1.3. Some basic differences and similarities in indirect speech of some

particular kinds of sentences in English and Vietnamese…………..……...…8
1.3.1. Some basic differences…………………………………………….…….....8
1.3.2. Some basic similarities……………………………………………..….….13
1.3.2.1 .Function of the indirect speech……………………………………..…13
1.3.2.2 Reporting verbs……………………………………………………..….....13
1.3.2.3 The change of pronoun from direct to indirect speech…………….15
1.4 An overview of changing direct into indirect speech in English……..15
1.4.1. The use of punctuation marks…………………………………….……...15


1.4.2 Say, tell, and alternative introductory verbs………………………....…18
1.4.3 Questions in indirect speech…....................................................................19
1.4.4. Commands, requests, advice and suggestion in indirect
speech………………………………………………………………………..………23

CHAPTER 2: DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH IN ENGLISH AND
VIETNAMESE.........................................................................................................26
2.1. Reported speech in Vietnamese structures………………..……….…….26
2.1.1 Suggestions, requests an commands……………………….…….…...…26
2.1.2 Question …………………...……………………………………...………....27
2.2 Changes from direct speech to indirect speech in English……….........29
2.2.1 Changes of clause types………………..………………………...…......…29
2.2.2 Changes in Verb forms (tenses) …………….………………...…….…...33
2.2.3 Tense changes necessary..............................................................................34
2.2.4 Auxiliary verbs in indirect speech ……………………………………....39
2.2.4.1 Might, ought to, should, and would used to in direct speech……..39
2.3.4.2 Could in indirect speech…………………………………………....…...41
2.3.4.3 Must and needn’t in indirect speech......................................................42
2.3.4.5 Changes of pronouns and possessive adjectives……………....……44
2.3.6 Word order and structure in indirect questions. …………….…….…..47

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS……………….…..……49
3.1 The result……………………………………………………………………………….49
3.2 Discussions……………………………..………………………………………….......54
3.2.1The questionare...........................................................................................................54


3.2.2The mini-test.................................................................................................................54
3.3 Suggestions……………………………………….……………………………………55

PART III: CONCLUTION………………………………………………………….....58
1. Recapitulation……………………………………………………………...……………58
2. Limitation of the study……………………………………………………...…………59

REFERENCES…………………………………………….…………………..…………60


A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Nowadays, the need of learning foreign languages, especially learning English in
our society is in great demand because of the integration of Vietnam in
globalization. English has become the most widely - used language all over the
world. It has often been referred to a “global language” and used internationally
in business, political, cultural relation and education as well. However, as an
English student, in process of learning English, I realized that one of the big
problems Vietnamese students often encounter when they learn English is
learners often use the habits of his native language structure to the foreign
language word by word, there is a majority of difficulty in learning a structure of

a foreign language. To Vietnamese learners, English grammar is rather complex,
direct & indirect speech appears to be one of the most difficult criteria,
particularly the way to change direct to indirect speech. In the process of
learning English grammar, learners always face a lot of difficulties such as: tense
changes, possessive adjective changes, changes of personal pronouns, adverbials
of time and place, etc. Therefore, to help the learners clearly understand how to
change direct speech to indirect speech and use indirect speech in writing as well
as in speaking correctly, “A study on direct and indirect speech in English ( a
contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)” is chosen as the topic of the research paper.

2. Aims and objectives of the study
The main aims of the thesis are to:
- Present main features of direct and indirect speech in English and
Vietnamese structures.
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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

- Try to point out some similarities and differences between changing
direct into indirect speech in English and Vietnamese structures.
- Help learners understand how to form direct and indirect speech, use it
correctly as well.
- Describe and classify all the cases of changing direct to indirect speech.
- Predict common errors of Vietnamese students when using direct and
indirect speech in English structure and suggest a set of exercises for
teaching and learning the English direct and indirect speech to Vietnamese
learners.

3. Scope of the study

- The objective of the study is the direct and indirect speech in English and
Vietnamese structures.
- This thesis will concentrated itself within changes from direct to indirect
structures in only, especially in English structure and the errors which
Vietnamese students often make.

4. Research questions
- What is the direct and indirect speech of English and Vietnamese
structure?
- What are the changes of direct and indirect speech in English and
Vietnamese structures?
- What are some similarities and differences between English and
Vietnamese direct and indirect speech structures?
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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

- Which errors do Vietnamese students often make when changing direc
into in direct speech in English?

5. Methods of the study
- The main methods of this thesis are description, comparison and
contrastive analysis.
- We have considered English as the basic language of the study and
Vietnamese is the language to be compared.

6. Design of the report
The study is divided into three main parts:
Part One: The introduction dealing with the rationale of the topic, the aims and

the scope of the study, and the outline of the paper

Part Two: The development includes three chapters:
- Chapter 1 : Literature view
Chapter 1 is the theoretical background knowledge of the study. In this chapter,
emphasis is laid on the definition of direct speech & indirect speech in English,
their basic forms and functions in grammar, besides a quirk overview of
changing from Direct to indirect speech about the use of punctuation marks; say,
tell, and alternative introductory verbs; question in indirect speech; commands,
requests, advice and suggestions in indirect speech.
- Chapter 2: Direct and indirect speech in English and Vietnamese
Chapter 2 is the main part of the study, describes the changes from direct
speech to indirect speech. This chapter deals with four problems :
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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

- Changes of clause types.
- Changes in verb forms.
- Changes in use of pointer words.
- Auxiliary verbs in indirect speech
Chapter 3: Findings and suggestions
Chapter 3 is the last part of the research paper. It focuses on some errors made by
Vietnamese learners & solutions suggested to overcome the problems.

Part Three: Conclusion
It is the Conclusion of the whole study in which I summarize all the matters
discussed on the two previous parts, show reference used in the research paper
and some exercises for practicing well

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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Definition
Grammar in general, and direct and in direct speech in specific, is believed to be
a key and essential area of the development in a native language and in a second
of foreign language as well. Hence, they have been varieties of definitions of
direct and indirect speech.
According to, Thomson (1985, p269) ‘In direct speech we repeat the original
speaker’s exact words.’
Ex: He said I have lost my umbrella.
This definition is nearly the same with L.G. Alexander (1988, p286) ‘We use
indirect speech sometimes called ‘reported speech’) when we are telling
someone what another person says or said.’
Ex: The boss said that he could see you then.
However, in my opinion, the best way to define direct speech is that we use
direct speech whenever we speak. Ex: when we talk directly to the hearer. We
use the term direct speech word in writing; in direct speech we repeat the
original speaker’s exact words. Similar with direct speech’s definition, a number
of ways are defined about indirect speech by Thomson (1985, p.269) ‘In indirect
speech we give the exact meaning of a remark or a speech, without necessarily
using the speaker’s exact word.

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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

1.2. The study of direct and indirect speech in English and Vietnamese
1.2.1 The study of direct and indirect speech in Vietnamese
In Vietnamese, people do not pay much attention in direct and indirect
speech,they define reported speech as a kind of a sentence named “ Câu trần
thuật”( a narrative sentence). Narrative sentences is a sentence that narrate to
something like amood or scenery to others.In the field of saying, the narrative is
told normal voice. In written, we put the dots at the end of each narrative
sentences.
Ex: Ngoài đồng, lúa đã chín vàng.
People are identical concept narrative sentences in Vietnamese to indirect speech
in English.However,people can see that the narrative sentence in Vietnamese
includes more broadly features.

1.2.2 The study of direct and indirect speech in English
Direct and indirect speech has attracted the attention of scholar in several
different fields such as linguistic, poetics, logic and philosophy of language.
For example, Theo Janssen and Wim van der Wurff study reported speech in the
forms and functions of the verb. According to them, in sentences containing
reported speech, thought, or perception, it is possible to distinguish different
voices or views, associated with different discourse roles. The articles
concentrate on the Slavic languages Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian,
Croatian, and Slovene, the Romance languages Latin, Old and Modern French,
and Spanish, the Germanic languages Swedish, German, Dutch, and English, the
Indo-Iranian language Bengali, and Mandarin Chinese.
In the book direct and indirect speech (studies and monographs) of Florian
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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

Coulmas, which refer to approaches direct and indirect speech quite outside
linguistics in a narrow sense, he thought that reported speech is one of those
phenomena whose proper treatment necessarily transcends departmental
boundaries,etc.
However in my graduation paper, I will pay concern in linguistics and in
language use of direct and indirect speech.

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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

1.3. Some basic differences and similarities in indirect speech of some
particular kinds of sentences in English and Vietnamese.
1.3.1 Some basic differencesn nnn
- The use of tense:
• In English
Several changes are made in converting direct to indirect speech. The most
important alteration takes place, however, in the verb phrase: this is the change
of tense that is referred to as back – shift. When the reporting verb is in the past
tense (said, told, asked…), verbs in the reported speech are changed as follows:

Direct speech

Indirect speech

Present simple

Past simple

He whispered, “you are beautiful.”

He whispered that she was beautiful.

Present continuous

Past continuous

Marry said, “I’m making some

Mary said that she was cooking some

cookies.”

cookies.

Present perfect simple

Past perfect simple

They said, “we have gone to this

They said that they had gone to that

cinema for several times.”

cinema for several times.

Present perfect continuous

Past perfect continuous

David said,” I have been living in Los

David said that he had been living in

Angeles for ten years.”

Los Angeles for ten years.

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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

Past simple

Past perfect

They said,” we went camping

They said that they had gone camping

yesterday.”

the day before.
Past perfect continuous

Past continuous

Lan said that her family had been

Lan said, “My family was driving to

driving to Vung Tau the previous

Vung Tau last weekend.”

weekend.

Past perfect
Helen explained, “the tickets had been

Past perfect (no change)

sold before.”

Helen explained that the tickets had
been sold before.
Past perfect continuous
(no change)

Past perfect continuous

The professor said to Jim that the

The professor said to Jim, “The lesson

lesson had been starting for half an

had been starting for half an hour.”

hour.”

Notes:
• If, on the other hand, the reporting verb is in the present, there is no tense
change:
Ex. She keeps saying, “I am a failure.’
→ She keeps saying that she is a failure.
• When direct speech is reported very soon afterwards, there is often no
backshift in any tenses. As one might expect, this lack of backshift is

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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

characteristic more of the spoken than of the written language, in which it
may take some time to “report”.
Ex. “I’m so glad I went to the Sates,” said Susan on her return. “I’ll tell you all
about it in this evening when I’ve got over my jet lag.”
→Susan said she’s very glad she went to the States and that she’ll tell us all
about it this evening when she has got over her jet lag.
(Reported verbally and perhaps immediately or in any case before “this
evening”.)
• Sometimes the present tense is used as an alternative to the past tense in
reported speech if the verb in question refers to what is (or was) believed

to be a regular occurrence or existing fact:
Ex: Nam said, “Americans are generally very hospitable people.”
→ Nam said that Americans are/ were generally very hospitable people.
• The past tense does not undergo backshift when used to express non-fact
and therefore not directly related to time:
Ex: Christine said, “I’d visit Disneyland if I went to the States.”
→Christine said that she’d visit Disneyland if she went to the States.
The subjunctive “were”, used sometimes instead of “was” for non – fact, does
not undergo backshift either:
Ex “Ah, if only I were Mary!” cried Susan.
→Susan said with some feeling that she wished she were Mary.
Although he would go is not the past of he will go, it is the backshifted form in
indirect speech. So too with the other modal auxiliaries:
Ex : “May I go?” she asked
→She asked if she might go.
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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

“I can eat fifty apples” said John.
→John said he could eat fifty apples.
If a modal auxiliary in direct speech has no past tense equivalent (this includes
auxiliaries which are already past, such as could, might, as well as must, ought
to, need and had better), then the same form remains in indirect speech:
Ex: “I would like some tea,” he said.
→He said that he would like some tea.
The element of speaker involvement which is often present in the meaning of
some modal auxiliaries (ex: may = “permission”) is naturally assigned in indirect
speech to the subject of the indirect statement. Thus,

John said that I might go -> would mean that John was giving me permission to
go (corresponding to the direct “you may go”), whereas
I might go -> outside indirect speech would mean that I was considering the
possibility of going.
Notes:
• If the reporting verb phrase is modal and perfective, it counts as past for
purposes of the backshift rule. Compare:
→He asks what John is doing.
→He has asked what John is doing.
→He may have asked what John was doing.

•In Vietnamese
In Vietnamese we have no tenses. So when we change from direct speech to
indirect speech, we don’t need to consider anything about tense changes.
Ex: Mai nói: “Ngày mai qua nhà tớ chơi đi.”
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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

→Mai nói rằng ngày mai qua nhà cô ấy chơi đi.
- The use of abverb:
In both English and Vietnamese, if the reported sentence contains an expression
of time or place, we all must change it to fit in with the time or place of
reporting.
Ex: we need to change words like here and yesterday if they have different
meanings at the time and place of reporting.
Expressions of time and place if speech is reported on a different day

Direct speech

this (evening)

Indirect speech
that (evening)

today

yesterday ...

these (days)

those (days)

now

then

(a week) ago

(a week) before

last weekend

the weekend before / the previous weekend

here
next (week)

there
the following (week)/ the week after

tomorrow

the next/following day

Yesterday

The day before/ the previous day

However, there are still some differences in the way of change of “last year/
month” (năm ngoái/ tháng trước); “next year/month” (năm sau/ tháng sau) or “an
hour ago” (cách đây vài giờ) because indirect speech Vietnamese indirect speech
sometimes do not have any changes in these adverb phrase when changing from
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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

direct speech to indirect speech, but preserve them as “năm ngoái/ tháng trước”;
“năm tới/ tháng tới” or “cách đây vài giờ”.
E.x:Minh nói: “Năm ngoái tôi đi về Bắc thăm quê nội.”
→Minh nói rằng năm ngoái anh ta về Bắc thăm quê nội.

1.3.2 Some basic similarities
Direct and indirect speech in Vietnamese and English has something in common.
They are:
1.3.2.1.Function of the indirect speech
Indirect Speech (or “reported speech”) refers to a sentence reporting what
someone has said without using the exact words. It is almost always used in
spoken English and Vietnamese.

Indirect speech does not use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and
it does not have to be word for word.
Ex:Jim says to you "I don't feel well."
→Jim said (that) he didn't feel well.
Lan nói với mẹ qua điện thoại: “Hôm nay con đi học về trễ. Ba mẹ đừng chờ
cơm con.”
→Lan nói nó đi học về trễ, vợ chồng mình đừng chờ cơm nó.

1.3.2.2 Reporting Verbs
Said, told and asked (hỏi, kể, nói) are the most common verbs used in indirect
speech in both English and Vietnamese
We often use asked to report questions:
Ex: I asked John why he played the guitar.(tôi hỏi John tại sao chơi đàn ghi-ta. )
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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

We always use told with an object.
Ex: John told me he went to school by bus. (John kể với tôi (rằng/là) anh đi học
bằng xe buýt.)
We usually use said without an object.
Ex: Lynne said she found a good job. (Lynne nói (rằng) cô ấy tìm được công việc
tốt..)
If said is used with an object we must include to :
Ex: Lynne said to me that she wanted to buy a new car.(Lynne nói với tôi (rằng)
cô ấy muốn mua một chiếc ô tô mới.)
We also have many reporting word with the same meaning as “ said, told,
asked”. We can see them in the table below.
In English: add, admit, answer, argue, assure + object, boast, complain,

deny, explain, grumble, object, observe, point out, promise, protest,
remark, remind + object, reply, respond, warn, beg, order, advise,
suggest.
In Vietnamese: kêu, mời, gọi, tâm tình, đề nghị, than thở, phàn nàn…

Using them properly can make what you say much more interesting and
informative.
Ex:
She asked me to go shopping with her. ( cô ấy kêu tôi đi mua sắm.)
She invited me to go shopping with her.(cô ấy mời tôi cùng đi mua sắm.)
She begged me to go shopping with her. ( cô ấy năn nỉ tôi cùng đi mua sắm)
She ordered me to go shopping with her. (cô ấy yêu cầu tôi cùng đi mua sắm.)

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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

She advised me to go shopping with her.( cô ấy khuyên tôi nên cùng đi mua
sắm.)
She suggested me to go shopping with her. (cô ấy đề nghị tôi cùng đi mua sắm.)
1.3.2.3.The change of pronoun from direct to indirect speech
When changing one direct sentence into indirect sentence, we need to change the
personal pronouns and possessive adjectives. Because two people who give
speeches in two situations are not the same.
Moreover, the first and second person pronouns are changed to the third person.
For the third person we don’t make any change in the indirect sentence.
Ex: Direct: Last week, Nam said to me, “I come from Vung Tau”.
(The person who says this sentence is Nam.)
→ Nam said to me he came from Vung Tau.

(This sentence was said by me when I and my friends talked about Nam
yesterday.)
- Lan: “ tôi sẽ đi chơi cùng bạn tôi trong dịp nghỉ lễ”
→ Lan nói rằng cô ấy sẽ đi chơi cùng bạn cô ấy trong dịp nghỉ lễ.”

1.4 An overview of changing from direct to indirect speech in English.
1.4.1. The use of punctuation marks
Punctuation marks (Quotation marks or “inverted commas”)
Quotation marks go round what is actually spoken and enclose other punctuation
marks such as commas (,), full stop (.), question marks (?) and exclamation mark
(!). They may be single (‘…’), or double (“ ...” ) and are placed high above the
base line at the beginning and end of each quotation.

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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

(L.G Alexander, p284)
Ex:

Jack said, ‘My friend visited my new house yesterday.’

Or: Jack said, “My friend visited my new house yesterday.”
What is said, plus reporting verb and its subject, is considered as a whole unit.
When the subject + reporting verb comes at the beginning of a sentence, the
reporting verb is always followed by a comma (sometimes by a colon (:) in
American English) and the quotation begins with a capital letter.
Ex:

The teacher said, “Review exercises two and three for the test!”

When the subject + reporting verb come after what is said, the quotation has a
comma before the second quotation mark.
Ex:

‘Nice to see you again, Mary’, John said.

But if the quotation ends with an exclamation mark or a question mark, a comma
is not used as well.
Ex: “Where do you live?” John asked.
“How nice your new house is!” he said.
Subject + verb can come in the middle of a quotation-sentence.
Ex: ‘Met me at the post office yesterday’, he said, ‘9.20 pm tomorrow’.
The second part of the quotation does not begin with a capital letter because it is
not a separate sentence.
If there is a ‘quote within quote’ (That is if we are quoting someone’s exact
words), we use a second set of quotation marks. If double quotation marks have
been used on the “outside”, single ones are used on the “inside” and vice versa.
The inside quotation has its own punctuation, distinct from the rest of the
sentence.

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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

Ex: Ann said, ‘I need to come back home now’, a voice shouted, “Be
careful!”
What do you mean, “Are you all right”? Ann asked.

We can also use a second set of quotation marks when we mention the title of a
book, film or play.
Ex: “What is your opinion about our new film “beautiful life”?” I asked.
However, this is often a matter of personal taste. In print, titles often appear in
italics without quotation marks.
Noun + reporting verb may be in subject + verb order or may be inverted
(Verb + subject).
Ex: “I am cooking myself”, John said.
Or

“I am cooking myself”, said John.

If the subject is a long one, then inversion is usual.
Ex: “When will this play end?” asked the beautiful girl sitting next to me.
With a pronoun subject, inversion is rare in modern English.
Ex: “Where are you going, Ann?” I asked.
Some reporting verbs, particularly those requiring an object, such as assure,
inform and tell cannot be inverted. Adverbs of manner usually come at the end.
Ex: “Try again”, said Ann’s friends encouragingly.
Quotation marks are generally not required with reporting verbs such as ask
oneself, think and wonder when they are used to describe “direct thoughts” in
“free indirect speech”.
Ex: So that was the last time I saw her, he thought. How about her husband, he
wondered.

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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

1.4.2 Say, tell, and alternative introductory verbs
- Say with direct speech
Say is commonly associated with direct speech in writing.
Ex:

Jim said, “I like beer”.

We can also use say with short, ordinary questions in direct speech (not long and
complicated ones)
“Are you all right? ‟he said /asked. (Not *told me*)
Moreover, say can introduce a statement or follow it:
Ex: Harriet said “I'm getting married tomorrow”
Or: “I'm getting married tomorrow “Harriet said.
Particularly, inversion of say and noun subject is possible when say follows the
statement: “I’ve just heard the news” said Tom.
Say + to + person addressed is possible, but this phrase must follow the direct
statement; it cannot introduce it.
Ex: “You are wrong, John” Mary said to me (Inversion is not possible here)

- Tell with direct speech
Tell requires the person addressed: Tell me; He told us; I’ll tell Tom. But except
with tell lies/stories/the truth, when the person addressed need not be mentioned:
He told (me) lies; I’ll tell (you) a story. Furthermore, tell used with direct speech
must be placed after the direct statement
Ex: “I like your tie” she told John.
Note: Inversion is not possible with tell. Especially, say or tell can be used in
direct speech and can also introduce direct commands.
Ex: “Why don’t you take off your coat?” He told me/he
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A study on direct and indirect speech in English (a contrastive analysis to Vietnamese)

- Say and tell with indirect speech
Say and tell someone + optional that can introduce indirect statements. We never
use comma after say or tell someone.
Ex: Jack said (that)/told me (that) his wife had gone with him to the show.
If we need to mention the listener, tell + indirect object is generally preferable to
say + to someone.
Ex: He said he’d just heard the news. He told me that he’d just heard the news.
Note: tell…how/about:
Ex: He told us how he had studied English well. He told us about studying
English well.
- Alternative introductory verbs
There are many other verbs we can use apart from said and told. Here is a list of
verbs which are often used as reporting verbs: Accused, admitted, advised,
alleged, agreed, apologized, begged, boasted, complained, denied, explained,
implied, invited, ordered, promised, replied, suggested, thought ,etc. These can
be used with direct or indirect speech. With direct speech they follow direct
statements, but in indirect speech, they can all introduce indirect statements and
that should be placed after the verb.
Ex: “His horse died in the night” he assured us.
Tom assured us that it wouldn’t cost more. But Bill objected/pointed out that it
would take longer.

1.4.3. Question in indirect speech
Questions in reported structures are sometimes called reported questions or
indirect questions. The indirect question is really not a question at all. In a direct
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