Direct/Indirect Speech
In French, reporting what someone said can follow two main paths: direct speech repeats their exact words and indirect speech integrates their message into your sentence. Each way carries different marks and sometimes shifts in tense or pronouns. This guide walks you through both with clear sections and quick examples.
Direct Speech
Direct speech in French places the speaker's exact words between quotation marks or after a dash, and keeps all original tense, pronouns, and expressions. You signal the speaker with a verbal tag like il a dit and reproduce the sentence as they said it.
| French Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| ☀️ « Le ciel est magnifique ce soir ! » dit-elle. | "The sky is beautiful tonight!" she said. |
| 🌊 « Les vagues sont parfaites pour le surf demain matin, » dit-il. | "The waves will be perfect for surfing tomorrow morning," he said. |
| 🔥 « Le feu de plage commence à 20 heures, » annonça-t-elle. | "The beach bonfire starts at 8 PM," she announced. |
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Indirect Speech
Indirect speech removes quotation marks and folds the reported message into your sentence, often introduced by a conjunction such as que, si, or an infinitive. You typically adjust tense, pronouns, and time expressions to fit the new perspective.
| French Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| 🌅 Elle a dit que le ciel était magnifique ce soir. | She said that the sky was beautiful tonight. |
| 🌪️ Il a dit que les vagues seraient parfaites pour le surf demain matin. | He said that the waves would be perfect for surfing tomorrow morning. |
| 📢 Elle a annoncé que le feu de plage commencerait à 20 heures. | She announced that the beach bonfire would start at 8 PM. |
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Reporting Verbs
Reporting verbs in French go beyond dire to include demander, répondre, annoncer, préciser and more, each guiding how you introduce the reported speech and whether you use que, si, or an infinitive. Choosing the right verb helps convey the speaker's intention.
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 🌟 Elle a affirmé que la soirée serait inoubliable. | She affirmed that the evening would be unforgettable. | Strong certainty |
| 🤔 Il a suggesté de commencer la soirée par un volley sur la plage. | He suggested starting the evening with beach volleyball. | Idea or proposal |
| ⚠️ Elle a averti que la marée montante limiterait l’espace de jeu. | She warned that the rising tide would limit the playing area. | Caution or alert |
| 😊 Il a promis d’apporter des lampes pour le circuit de frisbee. | He promised to bring lights for the frisbee course. | Commitment |
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Backshifting Tenses
Backshifting moves the reported clause's tense one step back when you turn direct speech into indirect speech and when the introductory verb is in the past. This aligns the reported action with the moment of reporting and keeps time relations clear.
Present Tense Backshifts
When backshifting from the present tense, présent becomes imparfait, passé composé becomes plus-que-parfait, and so on, so that je mange reported with a past introducer turns into je mangeais or j'avais mangé depending on the original form.
| Direct Speech (French) | Indirect Speech (French) | Direct Speech (English) | Indirect Speech (English) |
|---|---|---|---|
| « Je mange une pomme » | il disait qu'il mangeait une pomme | "I am eating an apple" | he said he was eating an apple |
| « J'ai mangé une pomme » | il a dit qu'il avait mangé une pomme | "I ate an apple" | he said he had eaten an apple |
| « Je mangerai une pomme » | il a dit qu'il mangerait une pomme | "I will eat an apple" | he said he would eat an apple |
| « Je mangeais une pomme » | il a dit qu'il mangeait une pomme | "I was eating an apple" | he said he was eating an apple |
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Future and Conditional
The future tense in direct speech typically becomes the conditional in indirect speech after a past introducer, so je mangerai turns into je mangerais, preserving the time relation from the reporter's standpoint.
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Passing Questions Indirectly
Questions pass into indirect speech with verbs like demander and are introduced by si for yes/no questions or by comment, pourquoi, etc. for wh-questions; the reported clause then follows normal sentence order without quotation marks.
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Commands and Requests
Commands and requests in indirect speech use an infinitive after verbs like ordonner, demander, prier when possible, or a subordinate clause with que plus the subjunctive when needed, to relay the force of the original utterance smoothly.
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Signal Words
Signal words in the surrounding context help decide whether to keep direct speech or switch to indirect, and they guide backshifting and time expression changes; words like hier, ce jour-là, maintenant often shift when you move to indirect reporting.
| French Example | English Translation | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| 🌅 « Ce soir, » dit-elle. | "Tonight," she said. | Time marker |
| 🏐 Puis il expliqua les règles du jeu. | Then he explained the rules of the game. | Sequence |
| 🔍 Elle a dit que le jeu commencerait à la tombée de la nuit. | She said that the game would start at nightfall. | Reporting phrase |
| ⚡ Après l’annonce, tout le monde s’est préparé. | After the announcement, everyone got ready. | Transition |
| 💡 Il a demandé si on pouvait changer l’équipe à la pause. | He asked if they could switch teams at the break. | Indirect question |
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Summary
Direct speech keeps the original wording, punctuation, and tense while indirect speech integrates the message into your sentence with any needed backshifts and pronoun changes. Reporting verbs and signal words steer the process, so paying attention to them makes reported speech clear and natural.
Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025