reporting clause first
reported clause
reporting clause second
The reporting clause may sometimes come in the middle of the reported clause, especially in literary styles:
“No,” she said , “I’ve never seen it before.”
‘Was it,’ he asked , ‘the first time you had spoken to Mrs Dalton?’
We can use adverbs with the reporting verb to describe the way someone said something. This is more common when the reporting clause comes second:
“I will not accept it!” he said angrily .
‘Can I speak to the doctor?’ she asked rather nervously .
Reported speech: punctuation
Reported speech: reporting and reported clauses
In narratives, especially novels and short stories, when the reporting clause comes second, we often invert the subject (s) and reporting verb (v):
“Things have always been the same in this village,” [V] said [S] the old man .
‘Hold on! I’m coming!’ [V] cried [S] Maurice .
Informal narratives.
In informal conversation, we sometimes use the present simple in the reporting clause. This makes the direct speech more vivid and dramatic:
So then this guy says , “I’ve got something for you. Come over here.” And he picked up a box and he says , “Open that.”
We can make the direct speech even more vivid and dramatic by using the present continuous. This is very informal:
And he’s looking at me and he ’s asking , “Who are you?” and I said, “I’m your nephew” and he ’s mumbling , “I don’t know you. I’ve never seen you before in my life.”
In very informal conversation, people sometimes use says as a reporting verb for all persons ( I, you, she, he, we, they ):
She says , ‘What’s going on here?’ and I says , ‘Nothing. There’s nothing happening – everything’s okay.’
Many speakers consider the above examples to be incorrect. This applies especially to the use of says with all persons.
We also use the present simple in newspaper headlines. This makes the reported words more dramatic:
‘I WON’T RESIGN,’ SAYS MINISTER
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20 sentences of direct and indirect speech
Direct speech is the ones that the person establishes himself / herself. Usually used in writing language such as novels, stories etc.
Transferring the sentence that someone else says is called indirect speech . It is also called reported speech . Usually, it is used in spoken language . If the transmitted action is done in the past, the sentence becomes the past tense.
Here are 20 examples of direct and indirect speech;
1. Direct : My boyfriend asked, “Do you like horror films?” Indirect : Do you like horror films? my boyfriend asked.
3. Direct : She said, “I might come early.” Indirect : She said she might come early.
4. Direct : I am leaving home now.” Indirect : He said that he left home then.
5. Direct : Are you living here? Indirect : He asked me if I was living here.
6. Direct : I’m going to come. Indirect : She said that she was going to come.
7. Direct : We can communicate smoothly. Indirect : They said that they could communicate smothly.
8. Direct : My mother isn’t very well. Indirect : She said that her mother wasn’t very well.
9. Direct : I need help with my work. Indirect : George said “I need help with my homework.”
10. Direct : I was walking along the Street. Indirect : He said he had been walking along the Street.
11. Direct : I haven’t seen George recently. Indirect : She said that she hadn’t seen George recently.
12. Direct : I would help, but… Indirect : He said he would help but…
13. Direct : I’m waiting for Michael, she said. Indirect : She said (that) she was waiting for Michael”.
14. Direct : They said, “They have taken exercise.” Indirect : They said that they had taken exercise.
15. Direct : I can speak perfect Spanish. Indirect : He said he could speak perfect Spanish.
17. Direct : What is your name? she asked me. Indirect : She asked me what my name was.
18. Direct : I was sleeping when Mary called. Indirect : He said that he had been sleeping when Mary called.
19. Direct : Please help me! Indirect : He asked me to help his.
20. Direct : I have been to France, she told me. Indirect : She told me that she had been to France.
About the author.
In English grammar , the term ‘speech’ refers to the process of communicating or expressing one’s thoughts. It is an exchange of ideas or even a conversation. There are two ways in which you can report speech – direct speech and indirect speech . Direct speech is used to report or rather repeat the words spoken by the speaker or writer in the way it is told by the speaker, whereas indirect speech is the way in which you convey what someone said to another person, not necessarily using the exact words of the speaker.
In this article, you will learn the meaning and definition of direct speech. Also, go through the rules to be followed when using the direct speech and the examples given to understand how to use them accurately.
Definition of direct speech.
Examples of direct speech, test your understanding of direct speech, frequently asked questions on direct speech in english, what is direct speech.
Direct speech is a word-to-word repetition of what the speaker or writer has conveyed. In other words, it is a way in which you can report the exact words of the speaker. Direct speech can be used to convey something that is being said in the present or to tell someone about something that is to happen at a later point of time. Let us now take a look at how various dictionaries define direct speech to further understand what it is.
According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, direct speech is defined as “a speaker’s actual words.” According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “when you use direct speech, you repeat what someone has said using exactly the words they used.” The Collins Dictionary defines direct speech as “speech which is reported by using the exact words that the speaker used” and according to the Macmillan Dictionary, direct speech is defined as “the exact words that someone has said.”
Like every other grammar topic, there are rules to be followed when using direct speech. Let us look at each one of them to know how direct speech can be used accurately and effectively.
Name of the speaker says/said, “Exact words of the speaker.” |
---|
You can become an expert in using direct speech if you practise well. Here are some ways you can do it.
Now that you know the rules to be followed, take a look at the following examples to have a better idea of how it is done.
Rearrange the following sentences to form direct speech and punctuate them appropriately.
1. vishal / my / is / in / brother / participating / race / said / the / running
2. asked / i / devi / like / maths / problems / solving / free time/ your / in / do / you
3. friends / said / wearing / we / my / are / red / for / dresses / wedding / the / reception
4. responded / teacher / nobody / when / have / completed / the / you / project / many / of / how / asked / the
5. reach / says / tonight / bangalore / he / will / i
6. guest / the / danced / children / the / chief / said / beautifully
7. mom / Finn’s / they / all / said / singing / favourite / are / songs / his
8. Bellas / susan / are / the / said / live / performing / world / the / acapella / at / raiser / curtain
9. love / father / said / i / my / you
10. sing / asked / you / with / maria / her / me / will
Now, if you finished rearranging the sentences, check if you have done it correctly from the answers given below.
1. Vishal said, “My brother is participating in the running race.”
2. I asked Devi, “Do you like solving maths problems in your freetime?”
3. My friends said, “We are wearing red dresses for the wedding reception.”
4. Nobody responded when the teacher asked, “How many of you have completed the project?”
5. He says, “I will reach Bangalore tonight.”
6. The chief guest said, “The children danced beautifully.”
7. Finn’s mom said, “They are singing all his favourite songs.”
8. “The Bellas are performing live at the World Acapella Curtain Raiser”, said Susan.
9. My father said, “I love you.”
10. Maria asked, “Will you sing with me?”
Direct speech is a word-to-word repetition of what the speaker or writer has conveyed. In other words, it is the way in which you report the exact words of the speaker. Direct speech can be used to convey something that is being said in the present or to tell someone at a later point of time.
What is the formula of direct speech.
When using direct speech, you can follow the formula given below. Name of the speaker says/said, “Exact words of the speaker.”
Immediately after the phrase mentioning who said the particular sentence, add a comma followed by open quotation marks, the words of the speaker (capitalise the first letter of the first word) followed by a period, question mark or exclamation mark and the close quotation marks.
Here are a few examples of direct speech that you can refer to.
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40 Examples of Direct and Indirect Speech Sentences
Table of Contents
While using English, we use direct and indirect speeches quite often. If a sentence is expressed exactly as it came out of the mouth of the person who said it, it becomes a direct speech. However Indirect Speech (also called reported speech) refers to transmitting a sentence that someone has said. It is often used in daily language.
For example,
Susan said, “I ate pizza yesterday.”. (Direct Speech)
Mathilda said: “I have to go out.”. (Direct Speech)
Julie asked: “Did the train leave?” (Direct Speech)
1 | It is too late. | |
I said it was too late. | ||
2 | I had taken Spanish lessons before. | |
He said he had taken Spanish lessons before. | ||
3 | Did you do your homework? | |
He asked me if I did (had done) my homework. | ||
4 | Please help me carry this! | |
My mother asked me to help her carry that. | ||
5 | I like ice cream. | |
He said that he liked ice cream. | ||
6 | I’II see you later. | |
He said he would see me later. | ||
7 | I could swim when I was four. | |
He said he could swim when he was four. | ||
8 | I should call my mother. | |
He said he should call her mother. | ||
9 | I might be late. | |
He said he might be late. | ||
10 | He said, “I was teaching earlier.” | |
He said he had been teaching earlier. | ||
11 | Mary said, “I have been writing this essay.” | |
Mary said that he had been writing that essay. | ||
12 | Michael said, “I may go there.’ | |
Michael says that she may go there. | ||
13 | We can´t go the zoo next week. | |
They said they couldn’t go to the zoo next week. | ||
14 | George is said, “I write a letter”. | |
George is said that she wrote a letter. | ||
15 | I said, “He is driving a car” | |
I said that he was driving a car. | ||
16 | I am reading a book, he explained. | |
He explained that he was reading a book. | ||
17 | My father said, “I am cooking dinner.” | |
My father said he was cooking dinner. | ||
18 | My sister said, “I had already eaten.” | |
My sister said she had already eaten. | ||
19 | My boyfriend asked, “Do you like horror films?” | |
Do you like horror films? my boyfriend asked. | ||
20 | I never get up late, my mother said. | |
My mother said that she never got up late. |
21 | She said, “I might come early.” | |
She said she might come early. | ||
22 | I am leaving home now.” | |
He said that he left home then. | ||
23 | Are you living here? | |
He asked me if I was living here. | ||
24 | I’m going to come. | |
She said that she was going to come. | ||
25 | We can communicate smoothly. | |
They said that they could communicate smothly. | ||
26 | I often enjoy myself. | |
Mary will say that that she often enjoys herself. | ||
27 | Everything is going fine. | |
The news says that everything is going fine. | ||
28 | My father was born in 1962. | |
My father told us that he was born in 1962. | ||
29 | She said, “I’ve missed my train.” | |
She said that she’d missed her train. | ||
30 | I’m sorry for the accident. | |
Georger told Samuel (that) he was sorry for the accident. | ||
31 | He said, “I am a football player.” | |
He said that he was a football player. | ||
32 | Michael said, “I will buy a new car.” | |
Michael said that she will buy a new car. | ||
33 | Mark said, “Bill needs a pencil.” | |
Mark said that Bill needed a pencil. | ||
34 | She said, “I went to the shopping center.” | |
She said that she had gone to the shopping center. | ||
35 | I write poems. | |
He says that he writes poems. | ||
36 | She said: “I would buy new house if I were rich”. | |
She said that she would buy new house if she had been rich”. | ||
37 | May I go out? | |
She wanted to know if she might go out. | ||
38 | She is American, she said. | |
She said she was American. | ||
39 | My son, do the exercise.“ | |
Sh told her son to do the exercise. | ||
40 | I don’t know what to do. | |
Samuel added that he didn’t know what to do. |
About the author.
English Basics
In English grammar, sentences are the key part that helps us convey our thoughts and ideas. Without sentences, it would be impossible for us to interact, state, or speak out our thoughts. But sentences can be of different types. Different sentences convey different information in their own unique ways.
Today, we will learn about one such unique sentence structure that works on its own functionality, the direct speech . In general, direct speech can be defined as a sentence where the exact words used by some speaker or writer are used to convey the message. Here, we make a sentence that uses the same words from the original speech that some person, at some point, spoke.
However, there are certain rules that we need to follow while using a direct speech sentence. If you are not aware of them, refer to the explanations below and enlighten yourself with every rule to avoid confusion.
By definition, direct speech is a sentence in which the exact words used or spoken by a speaker is presented. This is a sentence structure in which the words of a person are reproduced in speech marks. This is especially used to make the readers feel engaged or quote something very important.
In simple words, direct speech is the sentence where we see quotation marks or inverted commas containing a certain set of words in the grammatical tense of when it was originally spoken. That means the message that someone at some point has written or spoken is conveyed exactly in the same manner in the present.
This form of sentence structure is used for various different purposes. However, the most common use of direct speech is storytelling or quoting a thought. It makes dialogue presentation easy and helps understand characters more interestingly and engagingly.
If you are still confused, look at the examples below to understand easily:
In the above examples, we can notice that different sets of words are stated inside quotation marks. And those words are evidently not being spoken in a current state. So, direct speech is a sentence where the exact words spoken at some point are written in a new sentence. This is to convey the exact message that the original speaker had conveyed.
Now that we know what direct speech is, it is important to learn how to form and use one correctly. Direct speech is the presentation of the exact words of some person. It may seem easy in that sense. But there are some rules, especially punctuating rules, that we need to be aware of.
Some of the main rules regarding direct speech are;
• In a direct speech sentence, the speech of a particular person should always be between speech marks. That means the speech is opened and closed by speech marks, quotation marks, or inverted commas. For example: “I hate math classes,” said Vicky.
• The next important rule is that each character’s new speech will start on a new line. Also, each line of speech will begin with a capital letter.
• A line of speech usually ends with a comma, question mark, or exclamation mark. Further, if a sentence needs to be broken up for added information, we can use commas or question marks to finish the first part of the speech.
• A reporting clause mostly comes at the end of the sentence. Reporting clause means the phrase that indicates we are referring to the words that someone said or thought. They are the part that goes like: He said, Sarah asked, they screamed , etc. It is usually placed at the end of a sentence. But in some cases, it can also come in the beginning.
• Each reporting clause is ended with a full stop. But that is the case usually when it is mentioned at the end of a sentence. If a reporting clause is used at the beginning of a sentence, we will generally end it with a comma.
These are the general rules that we need to learn in order to form direct speech sentences. Missing any of these points can cause grammatical errors.
There is another form of speech in grammar, the indirect speech. Indirect speech and direct speech are both different types of sentences that convey a message in different ways.
As we learned, direct speech is a sentence where the exact same words spoken by someone are presented. On the other hand, indirect speech is where we rephrase the words of the speaker in a sentence. In indirect speech, only the necessary or important points of someone’s message or speech are reported.
Here, unlike direct speech, we do not write the full speech of the speaker. Instead, we report the necessary content by rephrasing them in our own words.
For example;
Direct speech: “I am bored of school activities,” John screamed. Here, the exact words used by John are conveyed. There is no change or replacement of words.
Indirect speech: Sam said that he wanted to go to the movies.
Here, the words used might not match exactly with the words used by Sam in the original context. However, the main objective is to convey the same message. And in indirect speech, we do that without quoting the person’s speech.
So, this is the basic difference between direct speech and indirect speech. Both the speech types work equally well in different situations. However, when it concerns characters and dialogues, one cannot avoid direct speech to make the sentences more interactive and engaging.
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In this tutorial learners are going to learn English writing lesson about direct speech.
So, if we want to write what is happening here, then this is how we write.
Direct speech is when we report the exact words that somebody says.
The correct punctuation.
Vocabulary to report direct speech.
And finally, at the end of the lesson there are some exercises for practice.
Reporting clause before the direct speech
We write a comma (,) before the direct speech.
We write a full stop (.) before the closing inverted commas .
We write a question mark ( ? ) before the closing inverted commas .
If the reporting clause is after the direct speech:
We write a comma (,) before the closing inverted commas .
If the reporting clause is after the question or exclamation .
We write a question mark ( ? ) before the closing inverted commas .
Advanced rule
The second part of the direct speech starts with a capital letter if it is a new sentence.
Quotation marks
Here are some other useful reporting verbs.
reply (replied) ask (asked) comment (commented)
So, that’s the end of the lesson, I hope you enjoyed it. Don’t forget to subscribe, share, like and let me know your thoughts and questions, love to hear from you.
If you have any questions or suggestions about DIRECT SPEECH and English writing lesson and exercises, please feel free to leave a comment below or send us a message using our contact page.
Direct and Indirect speech are ways of narrating the speech of someone to some other person following certain rules. This article covers its types, rules, examples and some exercises on the same.
Table of Contents
Direct and Indirect Speech: In English Grammar, direct and Indirect speech are used in instances when we wish to repeat or convey a speech or statement of some other person. Both direct and indirect speech describes what a third person said or conveyed in the past. Indirect speech is more commonly employed unless it’s a direct quotation, which is consistently enclosed in double quotation marks. Whereas indirect speech is used when you want to convey someone’s statement using your own precise words. It’s worth highlighting that indirect speech is consistently expressed using verbs like “said,” “told,” or “asked.”
There are two types of reported speech in English grammar, they are Direct and Indirect speech. Both speech conveys the speech or statement which was told by some other person. To explain any event, action or scenario we generally convey the sentences quoted by someone in the form of direct and indirect speech. In order to clearly differentiate and make people understand easily, we have detailed the two types of reported speech with examples and exercises below.
Direct speech is the mode of expression that directly presents the words spoken or quoted by a third person. Generally, direct speech is written inside quotation marks (“”). The quotation is used to differentiate the speech of the third person that has happened in the past. Thus direct speech conveys statements or conversations of someone in the past tense but quoted inside the quotation marks in the present or future tense.
Indirect Speech is used when we convey what someone said in our own words without repeating the actual text of that person. Instead of using quotation marks, the conjunction word, ‘that’ is used. Thus speaker’s words and sentences are reframed into our own words in Indirect speech. Some examples of indirect speech are:
There are certain rules and regulations followed while converting a simple direct speech into indirect speech. Certain factors such as Verbs, Tenses, Modals, time, place, and pronouns are also considered while changing. The following are the rules applied when you convert direct speech to indirect speech in English grammar.
Rule-1 : Direct To Indirect Speech Conversion – Reporting Verb
The reporting verb is an important factor to note when changing a direct to an indirect sentence. When the reporting verb is past tense, then the verb inside the quotation is also changed to past when changing a sentence from direct to indirect speech. Examples:
An exception is for cases like a universal truth, the tenses remain the same.
If the reporting verb is in present/future tense, then the tense remains the same as in direct speech.
Rule 2: Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Tenses
If the sentences inside quotes in direct speech are present tense, it is changed to past tense when changed to indirect speech. The rule in the following table is applied while changing tenses from direct speech to reported speech.
Present Simple Tense do /does V1 | Past Simple Tense did + V1 V2 |
Present Progressive Tense is/am/are + V4 | Past Progressive Tense was /were + V4 |
Present Perfect Tense has /have + V3 | Past Perfect Tense had + V3 |
Present Perfect Progressive has been /have been + V4 | Past Perfect Progressive had been + V4 |
Past Simple Tense did + V1 V2 | Past Perfect Tense had + V3 |
Past Perfect Tense had/have + V3 | Past Perfect Tense had + V3 |
Past Perfect Progressive had been/have been + V4 | Past Perfect Progressive had been + V4 |
Future Simple Tense will + V1 | would + V1 |
Future Progressive Tense will be + V4 | would be + V4 |
Future Perfect Tense will have + V3 | would have + V3 |
Future Perfect Progressive will have been + V4 | would have been + V4 |
Examples of change in Tenses
Ram said, “I do my work.” | Ram said that he did his work. |
They said, “We are going now.” | They said that they were going then. |
Sara said, ” I have done my work.” | Sara said that she had done her work. |
Rohit said, “I have been doing my work.” | Rohit said that he had been doing his work. |
Ram said, “I did my work” | Ram said that he had done his work. |
They said,”We have done our work” | They said that they had done their work. |
They said, “We have been doing our work.” | They said that they had been doing their work. |
Ram Said, ” I had been doing my work.” | Ram said that he had been doing his work. |
Sara said, “I will do my work.” | Sara said that she would do her work. |
They said, “We will be going out.” | They said that they would be going out. |
They said, “We will have done this work.” | They said that they would have done that work. |
Ram said, “I will have been doing this work” | Ram said that he would have been doing that work. |
Rule 4: Direct to Indirect speech Conversion Interrogative sentences
If a sentence starts with a question word like what, when, and why in direct speech, the question word itself acts as the joining class.
Rule 5: Direct to Indirect Speech Conversion Change in Modals
Modal verbs are those verbs that are preceded by another verb, which is the main verb. Can, May, and Must are some examples of Modals. Modals that won’t change are Could, would, should, ought to, might. While changing direct to indirect speech, the Modals change as below:
Rule 6: Direct to Indirect speech conversion – pronoun
The first person in Direct speech changes as per the subject of the speech
The second person of Direct speech changes as per the object of the indirect speech.
If the third person is mentioned in the Direct speech, it does not change in reported speech.
Rule 7: Direct to indirect speech conversion – Request, Command, Wish and Exclamation.
The imperative words in direct speech change into Infinitives in indirect speech.
Exclamation
Rule 8: Direct to indirect speech conversion – punctuations
In Direct speech, the words spoken must start with(“) and ends with(.) inside the double inverted commas. All symbols such as question marks, full stops or exclamatory marks should be placed inside the quotes.
Rule 9: Direct to indirect speech conversion – Change of time
While converting direct speech to Indirect speech, there are certain words to be noted that cannot be used as such in indirect speech. These words get modified into new words which are enlisted below:
The following rules should be followed while converting an indirect speech to direct speech:
The following are some exercises that students can practice while preparing for their revision tests or board exams.
Q.1. Find out the correct indirect speech for the given sentence.
She said,’ I have cooked this meal.’
Answer (2) She said that she had cooked that meal.
Q.2. Choose the correct sentence.
Sanjay said, ‘What a beautiful painting it is’.
Answer (4) Sanjay exclaimed with wonder that the painting was very beautiful.
Q.3. The correct indirect speech for She asked, “What is the cost of these books?”
Answer (1) She enquired what was the cost of those books.
Q.4. The man said, ‘Oh God! I missed the train today.’
Answer (4) The man exclaimed with sorrow that he missed the train that day.
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Q1. what are direct and indirect speech in english.
Ans. Direct speech is a speech that describes what a third person has conveyed or quoted in a direct manner. Generally, direct speech is written inside quotation marks ("").Indirect Speech is used when we convey what someone said in our own words without repeating the actual text of that person.
Ans. The conjunctions are used in Indirect speech. The speaker's words and sentences are reframed into our own words in Indirect speech using conjuctions as connecting words.
Ans. Modal verbs are those verbs that are preceded by another verb, which is the main verb. Can, May, and Must are some examples of Modals. While converting direct to indirect speech Can becomes could, May becomes Might, Will becomes Would. Modals that won’t change are Could, would, should, ought to, might.
Ans: Some examples of direct speech have been discussed here: 1. John said, "I will go to the store." 2. Mary asked, "Are you coming to the party?" 3. "It's a beautiful day," remarked Sarah. 4. He shouted, "Watch out for the car!"
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Important exams.
100 examples of direct and indirect speech.
100 Examples of Direct and Indirect Speech in English, 100 Examples of reported speech in english;
She says, “I am ill.” | ||
She says that she is ill. | ||
I will study”, Mary said. | ||
I will study”, said Mary. | ||
She said; “The exam is difficult. | ||
She said the test was difficult. | ||
I bought a car. | ||
He said he bought a car. | ||
My parents are very well. | ||
Alex said that his parents were very well. | ||
Please don’t be late. | ||
He asked their not to be late. | ||
I’m living in Texas now. | ||
Her father said that he was living in London now. | ||
I am living in Paris. | ||
He said that he was living in Paris. | ||
My mother isn’t very well. | ||
She said that her mother wasn’t very well. | ||
I need help with my work. | ||
George said “I need help with my homework.” | ||
I was walking along the Street. | ||
He said he had been walking along the Street. | ||
I haven’t seen George recently. | ||
She said that she hadn’t seen George recently. | ||
I would help, but… | ||
He said he would help but… | ||
I’m waiting for Michael, she said. | ||
She said (that) she was waiting for Michael”. | ||
They said, “They have taken exercise.” | ||
They said that they had taken exercise. |
I can speak perfect Spanish. | ||
He said he could speak perfect Spanish. | ||
I haven’t seen Mary. | ||
He said he hadn’t seen Mary. | ||
What is your name? she asked me. | ||
She asked me what my name was. | ||
I was sleeping when Mary called. | ||
He said that he had been sleeping when Mary called. | ||
Please help me! | ||
He asked me to help his. | ||
It is too late. | ||
I said it was too late. | ||
I had taken Spanish lessons before. | ||
He said he had taken Spanish lessons before. | ||
Did you do your homework? | ||
He asked me if I did (had done) my homework. | ||
Please help me carry this! | ||
My mother asked me to help her carry that. | ||
I like ice cream. | ||
He said that he liked ice cream. | ||
I’II see you later. | ||
He said he would see me later. | ||
I could swim when I was four. | ||
He said he could swim when he was four. | ||
I should call my mother. | ||
He said he should call her mother. | ||
I might be late. | ||
He said he might be late. | ||
He said, “I was teaching earlier.” | ||
He said he had been teaching earlier. |
Mary said, “I have been writing this essay.” | ||
Mary said that he had been writing that essay. | ||
Michael said, “I may go there.’ | ||
Michael says that she may go there. | ||
We can´t go the zoo next week. | ||
They said they couldn’t go to the zoo next week. | ||
George is said, “I write a letter”. | ||
George is said that she wrote a letter. | ||
I said, “He is driving a car” | ||
I said that he was driving a car. | ||
I am reading a book, he explained. | ||
He explained that he was reading a book. | ||
My father said, “I am cooking dinner.” | ||
My father said he was cooking dinner. | ||
My sister said, “I had already eaten.” | ||
My sister said she had already eaten. | ||
My boyfriend asked, “Do you like horror films?” | ||
Do you like horror films? my boyfriend asked. | ||
I never get up late, my mother said. | ||
My mother said that she never got up late. | ||
She said, “I might come early.” | ||
She said she might come early. | ||
I am leaving home now.” | ||
He said that he left home then. | ||
Are you living here? | ||
He asked me if I was living here. | ||
I’m going to come. | ||
She said that she was going to come. | ||
We can communicate smoothly. | ||
They said that they could communicate smothly. |
I often enjoy myself. | ||
Mary will say that that she often enjoys herself. | ||
Everything is going fine. | ||
The news says that everything is going fine. | ||
My father was born in 1962. | ||
My father told us that he was born in 1962. | ||
She said, “I’ve missed my train.” | ||
She said that she’d missed her train. | ||
I’m sorry for the accident. | ||
Georger told Samuel (that) he was sorry for the accident. | ||
He said, “I am a football player.” | ||
He said that he was a football player. | ||
Michael said, “I will buy a new car.” | ||
Michael said that she will buy a new car. | ||
Mark said, “Bill needs a pencil.” | ||
Mark said that Bill needed a pencil. | ||
She said, “I went to the shopping center.” | ||
She said that she had gone to the shopping center. | ||
I write poems. | ||
He says that he writes poems. | ||
She said: “I would buy new house if I were rich”. | ||
She said that she would buy new house if she had been rich”. | ||
May I go out? | ||
She wanted to know if she might go out. | ||
She is American, she said. | ||
She said she was American. | ||
My son, do the exercise.“ | ||
Sh told her son to do the exercise. | ||
I don’t know what to do. | ||
Samuel added that he didn’t know what to do. |
The Minister said, “There will be no growth this year.” | ||
The Minister said that there will be no growth this year. | ||
I’m sitting on the chair. | ||
Arya said that she was sitting on the chair. | ||
“I’ve found a new job,” my mother said. | ||
My mother said that she had found a new job. | ||
Go to bed! mother said to the children. | ||
Mother told the children to go to bed. | ||
Mark arrived on Sunday, he said. | ||
He said that Mark had arrived on Sunday. | ||
I have been to France, she told me. | ||
She told me that she had been to France. | ||
Michael said, “I have finished my lunch.” | ||
She said that she had finished his lunch. | ||
My brother said, “I met Alex yesterday.’ | ||
My brother said that he had met Alex yesterday. | ||
The dentist said, “Your father doesn’t need an operation.” | ||
Dentist said that my father doesn’t need an operation. | ||
He said, “Man is mortal.” | ||
He said that man is mortal. | ||
Sansa said “I am very busy now”. | ||
Sansa said that she was very busy then. | ||
He said, “I like coffee.” | ||
He said (that) he likes coffee. | ||
Come at 11! | ||
Alex told me to come at 11. | ||
He said, “he is listening to the music” | ||
He said that he was listening to the music. | ||
Mercedes is a good car. | ||
Tom said Mercedes was a good car. |
I am a doctor he said. | ||
He said he was a doctor. | ||
Michael was ill. | ||
Michael’s father said (that) Michael had been ill. | ||
I could swim when I was five. | ||
My girl friend said (that) she could swim when she was five. | ||
What are you doing? | ||
He asked me what I was doing. | ||
Don’t smoke! | ||
The teacher told us not to smoke. | ||
The butcher told us, “We are closing at 7 o’clock.” | ||
The butcher told us that we were closing at 7 o’clock. | ||
Today is nice, said George. | ||
George said that day was nice. | ||
He asked her, “How often do you work?” | ||
He asked her how often she worked. | ||
He works in a bank. | ||
She said that he worked in a bank. | ||
I’m angry with you. | ||
My mother said she was angry with me. | ||
I can help you tomorrow. | ||
She said that she could help me tomorrow. | ||
I often have a big meat. | ||
My son says that he often has a big hamburger. | ||
Dance with me! | ||
Maria told me to dance with her. | ||
Must I do the city? | ||
My sister asked if she had to do the city. | ||
Please wash your hands! | ||
My father told me to wash my hands. |
Michael asked Tom, “Are you married?” | ||
Michael asked Tom whether she was married. | ||
I didn’t go to the party. | ||
Alex said that he hadn’t gone to the party. | ||
He said, “I live in the city center.” | ||
He said he lived in the city center. | ||
My father is helping me study. | ||
He said his father was helping his study. | ||
He said, “I can swim.” | ||
He said he could swim. | ||
He said “I had lived in Paris.” | ||
He said that she had lived in Paris. | ||
I don’t understand you. | ||
Teacher said that he didn’t understand me. | ||
He said, “I will wash my teeth”. | ||
He said he would wash his teeth. | ||
Why are you going to school? | ||
Mary asked Alex why he was going to school. | ||
Listen to me! | ||
Mother told me to listen to him. |
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Direct and Indirect Speech are the two ways of reporting what someone said. The use of both direct and indirect speech is crucial in effective communication and writing. Understanding the basics of direct and indirect speech is important, but mastering the advanced techniques of these two forms of speech can take your writing to the next level. In this article, we will explore direct and indirect speech in detail and provide you with a comprehensive guide that covers everything you need to know.
Table of Contents
Direct speech is a way of reporting what someone said using their exact words. Direct speech is typically enclosed in quotation marks to distinguish it from the writer’s own words. Here are some examples of direct speech:
In direct speech, the exact words spoken by the speaker are used, and the tense and pronouns used in the quote are maintained. Punctuation is also important in direct speech. Commas are used to separate the quote from the reporting verb, and full stops, question marks, or exclamation marks are used at the end of the quote, depending on the tone of the statement.
Indirect speech is a way of reporting what someone said using a paraphrased version of their words. In indirect speech, the writer rephrases the speaker’s words and incorporates them into the sentence. Here are some examples of indirect speech:
In indirect speech, the tense and pronouns may change, depending on the context of the sentence. Indirect speech is not enclosed in quotation marks, and the use of reporting verbs is important.
The structure of direct and indirect speech is different. Direct speech is presented in quotation marks, whereas indirect speech is incorporated into the sentence without quotation marks. The tenses and pronouns used in direct and indirect speech also differ. In direct speech, the tense and pronouns used in the quote are maintained, whereas, in indirect speech, they may change depending on the context of the sentence. Reporting verbs are also used differently in direct and indirect speech. In direct speech, they are used to introduce the quote, while in indirect speech, they are used to report what was said.
Converting direct speech to indirect speech involves changing the tense, pronouns, and reporting verb. Here are the steps involved in converting direct speech to indirect speech:
Here is an example of converting direct speech to indirect speech:
Direct speech: “I am going to the store,” said John. Indirect speech: John said that he was going to the store.
Converting indirect speech to direct speech involves using the same tense, pronouns, and reporting verb as the original quote. Here are the steps involved in converting indirect speech to direct speech:
Here is an example of converting indirect speech to direct speech:
Indirect speech: John said that he was going to the store. Direct speech: “I am going to the store,” said John.
Using direct and indirect speech effectively can add depth and complexity to your writing. Here are some advanced techniques for using direct and indirect speech:
Blending direct and indirect speech involves using both forms of speech in a single sentence or paragraph. This technique can create a more engaging and realistic narrative. Here is an example:
“Sarah said, ‘I can’t believe it’s already winter.’ Her friend replied that she loved the cold weather and was excited about the snowboarding season.”
In this example, direct speech is used to convey Sarah’s words, and indirect speech is used to convey her friend’s response.
Reported questions are a form of indirect speech that convey a question someone asked without using quotation marks. Reported questions often use reporting verbs like “asked” or “wondered.” Here is an example:
“John asked if I had seen the movie last night.”
In this example, the question “Have you seen the movie last night?” is reported indirectly without using quotation marks.
Direct speech can be used to convey emotion more effectively than indirect speech. When using direct speech to convey emotion, it’s important to choose the right tone and emphasis. Here is an example:
“She screamed, ‘I hate you!’ as she slammed the door.”
In this example, the use of direct speech and the exclamation mark convey the intense emotion of the moment.
Direct and indirect speech are important tools for effective communication and writing. Understanding the differences between these two forms of speech and knowing how to use them effectively can take your writing to the next level. By using advanced techniques like blending direct and indirect speech and using direct speech to convey emotion, you can create engaging and realistic narratives that resonate with your readers.
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Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is a way of communicating what someone else has said without quoting their exact words. For example, if your friend said, “ I am going to the store ,” in reported speech, you might convey this as, “ My friend said he was going to the store. ” Reported speech is common in both spoken and written language, especially in storytelling, news reporting, and everyday conversations.
Reported speech can be quite challenging for English language learners because in order to change direct speech into reported speech, one must change the perspective and tense of what was said by the original speaker or writer. In this guide, we will explain in detail how to change direct speech into indirect speech and provide lots of examples of reported speech to help you understand. Here are the key aspects of converting direct speech into reported speech.
Reported speech: reporting verbs.
In reported speech, various reporting verbs are used depending on the nature of the statement or the intention behind the communication. These verbs are essential for conveying the original tone, intent, or action of the speaker. Here are some examples demonstrating the use of different reporting verbs in reported speech:
Reported speech: changing time and place references, reported speech: question format.
When converting questions from direct speech into reported speech, the format changes significantly. Unlike statements, questions require rephrasing into a statement format and often involve the use of introductory verbs like ‘asked’ or ‘inquired’. Here are some examples to demonstrate how questions in direct speech are converted into statements in reported speech:
Reported speech quiz.
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The distinction between Direct and Indirect Speech may be confusing for some students. Often when we need to explain an incident or action, it involves quoting what someone said. A social situation, as well as a work email or presentation, are examples of such instances. There are two forms of Speech used to explain what other people say: direct Speech and indirect Speech (or reported Speech).
The same words spoken are quoted indirect Speech. If we use Direct Speech in writing, we bring the words spoken between quotation marks (" ") and leave them alone. We may be reporting something that is being said (for example, a phone conversation) or asking someone about a previous conversation later.
Nirmal said, "There's a dog outside the window."
Mahima says, "What time will you be home?"
Supriya said, "I don't know!"
When we use reported or Indirect Speech to speak about the past, we generally change the tense of the words we say. We use reporting verbs like 'say,' 'tell,' and 'ask,' and we can introduce the reported words with the word 'that.' There are no inverted commas in this sentence.
For Example,
Mahima said that she had seen him.
Nirmal said he was looking forward to playing in the match on Saturday.
Children often mix up Direct and Indirect Speech. We need a way to say the difference between what someone is claimed to have said and what they said when we're writing. What did she say if you asked her? You may respond in one of two ways:
“I don’t like pizza,” Siddi said. (Direct Speech)
Siddi says she doesn’t like pizza. (Indirect Speech)
Note how Speech marks (“...”) are used in Direct Speech to indicate precisely what was said. Speech labels are located at the beginning and end of the actual words spoken. The words 'Siddi said' are not in Speech marks because they were not spoken aloud; rather, they are a way for the writer to express who was speaking to the reader.
The past tense is often used in reported Speech. This is because the words have already been spoken, and the writer is simply reporting on what has already been saying. It's critical to think about what was said and convert it to the past tense.
Following are the steps to convert the Direct/Indirect Speech and also let’s discuss Direct and Indirect Speech tenses rules in detail.
Step 1: Write down the reporting verb that is used to determine the Indirect Speech's tense.
Step 2: Change the position and time to reflect the speaker's actual location and time.
Step 3: For both the object and the subject, use the correct pronoun.
Step 4: Make sure the sentence has the correct structure and word order.
Now we'll go through each of these measures in greater depth.
Case 1: Nirmal said, ‘I go to the gym every day.
Case 2: Nirmal says, ‘I go to the gym every day.’
The verb ‘say' is used in both of the instances above to express the action of speaking. In addition, the reporting verb say is used in the past tense in the first case – said. In case 2, however, the reporting verb is in the present tense.
As a consequence, all verbs must be in the relevant past tense here. If the reporting verb is in the past tense, this is often followed. Thus, Nirmal said, ‘I go to the class every day will change to Nirmal said that he went to the gym every day.
The second rule is that the tense is not changed whether the reporting verb is in the future or present tense. So, Nirmal says, ‘I go to the class every day will be changed to Nirmal says that he goes to the class every day.
The time or place specified in the sentence should be changed to match the current time or position.
On 21st, May 2015: ‘I will come tomorrow,’ Sriram said.
On 21st, May 2015, Sriram said that he would come the next day.
Case 1: Saurav will say to his friends, “I have started learning psychology” will change to Saurav will tell his friends that he has started learning psychology.
In this case, the speaker and the reporter are the same people. As a consequence, the pronoun should be the first person pronoun.
Case 2: Ma’am said to me, “I hope you will bring the geometry to my next class” will changed to Ma’am hoped that I would bring the geometry to her next class.
The speaker is ma'am, and the reporter is the student. As a consequence, the ma'am pronoun should be in the third person. The reporter's pronoun should also be in the first person.
Remember that we do not change the tense of the reporting verb within the quotation marks when it is in the present or future tense.
When using English, you'll want to use both direct and indirect Speech regularly, so make sure you're familiar with both and can use them correctly. Direct Speech isn't always an accurate representation of what someone has said. Using inverted commas before and after the quotation, you may quote from other texts similarly. Instead of using the verb "to tell," consider using a verb like "to compose," "to state," or "to define." You may convey what is being reported using a variety of verbs; for example, while "to say" is widely used, you may also want to use "to tell" to explain something that has been told to you. Keeping a small diary of what has been said around you is an important way to practise – explain what people have said and try to write a few examples of each form.
1. What is Direct and Indirect Speech with Examples?
The same words spoken are quoted in the direct speech. If we use direct speech in writing, we bring the words spoken between quotation marks (" ") and leave them alone. We are talking about the present moment and we are talking about the original content. Direct Speech: “I'm seeing my brother tomorrow.” or “I’ll call them tomorrow”
While reporting if we are changing the words without changing the meaning of the sentence then it is called indirect speech. Here the present tense is converted into past tense. Here the sentence of the speaker is summarized without changing the meaning and reported.
Indirect Speech: She said she was seeing her brother the following day. Or She said that it was hot.
2. What are Simple Rules for Conversion of Indirect Speech to Direct Speech?
Both inverted commas and quotation marks should be eliminated. Put a full stop at the end of the sentence. Shift the present tense of the verb within the inverted commas/quotation marks to the corresponding past tense. Shift it to the past perfect tense if it's in the simple past tense.
Step 1: change the tenses from present to past
Present Tense: I like chocolates
Past Tense: she said that she liked chocolates
Step 2: Change the sentences from simple past to past perfect
Present: He arrived on Tuesday
Past: He said that he had arrived on Tuesday
Step 3: while converting future tense, ‘will’ changes to would
Present: I will be attending the wedding.
Past: She said that she would be attending the wedding.
Step 4: change the present continuous tense to the past continuous tense.
Present: We are eating dinner
Past: They said that they were eating dinner.
Step 5: Change the Present Perfect Tense into Past Perfect Tense
Present: She has finished her task.
Past: She said that she had finished her task.
Step 6: Change the Past Progressive Tense into the Perfect Continuous Tense
Present: My husband was cooking
Past: She said that her husband had been cooking.
Step 7: And also remember past perfect and past perfect progressive doesn't change.
Step 8: And also the future Progressive Tense changes into “would be”. The Future Perfect Tense changes into “would have”.The Future Perfect Progressive Tense changes into “would have been”.
And also follow these simple rules.
The conjunction ‘that’ is used in indirect speech.
The pronoun ‘I’ has to be changed according to the person.
The verb “am" is changed to “was".
For converting to Indirect speech, the words representing nearness will be changed to the words representing distance like the adverb “now” will be converted to the word “Then”, here now represent the nearness in time while ‘then’ represent distance.
3. What are the Examples of Direct Speech?
Few examples of Direct speech are:
Nirmal said, "There's a dog outside the window."
Mahima says, "What time will you be home?"
Supriya said, "I don't know!"
I like chocolates.
Where do you live in?
Where are you?
I play basketball
I do yoga every morning
Can you pass me the bottle, please?
I brought a new pen
I will shift to Mumbai
She had worked hard.
My mom is preparing sweets
Don’t talk to me
I play chess every day
Ananth is dancing on the floor
I like Sachin Tendulkar
She plays the guitar very well
4. Differentiate between Direct and Indirect Speech.
|
|
While reporting if we use the exact words of the user, then it is called direct speech. | While reporting, if we gave the same meaning without using exact words then it is called indirect speech. |
While writing we use inverted commas | We don’t use inverted commas |
Here the words are repeated originally | Here speaker words are summarized, modified |
Here it is happening at the present moment | It is in past tense |
Any form of verbs can be used | Most commonly said and told is used |
I'll come to the party by 8 PM | he said that he would come to the party by 8 PM |
5. Give some examples for indirect speech.
She said that she liked chocolates
He said that he played basketball
She asked me to be on time
Neha said that her parents were very well.
He said that he played chess every day
She told me that she liked Sachin Tendulkar
She told me that she had been to the USA.
She said that she had finished her task.
he said that he would come to the party by 8 PM
She said that she hadn’t seen Nupur recently.
She asked me to bring her dress the next day
He asked us not to be late.
They told that they were ready for competition
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One day after he was found guilty on all 34 counts in his New York criminal hush money trial , former President Donald Trump is expected to give a press conference Friday morning.
USA TODAY is providing live coverage of Trump's press conference, which is scheduled to begin Friday at 11 a.m. ET in Trump Tower. You can watch live at the embedded video live at the top of the page or on USA TODAY's YouTube channel .
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was found guilty by a jury Thursday of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He is the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.
Donald Trump's guilty verdict: How will it hit his reelection bid? Is his political fallout here?
“This is just a disgrace,” Trump told reporters in the hallway outside the courtroom after he was convicted. “We didn’t do anything wrong. I’m an innocent man.”
It was the closure to a more-than six weeks-long trial, the first criminal trial in U.S. history against a former president.
Find the best free text-to-speech software for free text to voice conversion
The best free text-to-speech software makes it simple and easy to improve accessibility and productivity in your workflows.
1. Best overall 2. Best custom voice 3. Best for beginners 4. Best Microsoft extension 5. Best website reader 6. FAQs 7. How we test
In the digital era, the need for effective communication tools has led to a surge in the popularity of text-to-speech (TTS) software, and finding the best free text-to-speech software is essential for a variety of users, regardless of budget constraints.
Text-to-speech software skillfully converts written text into spoken words using advanced technology, though often without grasping the context of the content. The best text-to-speech software not only accomplishes this task but also offers a selection of natural-sounding voices, catering to different preferences and project needs.
This technology is invaluable for creating accessible content, enhancing workplace productivity, adding voice-overs to videos, or simply assisting in proofreading by vocalizing written work. While many of today’s best free word processors , such as Google Docs, include basic TTS features that are accurate and continually improving, they may not meet all needs.
Stand-alone, app-based TTS tools, which should not be confused with the best speech-to-text apps , often have limitations compared to more comprehensive, free text-to-speech software. For instance, some might not allow the downloading of audio files, a feature crucial for creating content for platforms like YouTube and social media.
In our quest to identify the best free text-to-speech software, we have meticulously tested various options, assessing them based on user experience, performance, and output quality. Our guide aims to help you find the right text-to-speech tool, whatever your specific needs might be.
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Our expert review:
Reasons to avoid.
Natural Reader offers one of the best free text-to-speech software experiences, thanks to an easy-going interface and stellar results. It even features online and desktop versions.
You'll find plenty of user options and customizations. The first is to load documents into its library and have them read aloud from there. This is a neat way to manage multiple files, and the number of supported file types is impressive, including eBook formats. There's also OCR, which enables you to load up a photo or scan of text, and have it spoken to you.
The second option takes the form of a floating toolbar. In this mode, you can highlight text in any application and use the toolbar controls to start and customize text-to-speech. This means you can very easily use the feature in your web browser, word processor and a range of other programs. There's also a browser extension to convert web content to speech more easily.
The TTS tool is available free, with three additional upgrades with more advanced features for power-users and professionals.
Read our full Natural Reader review .
There are a couple of ways to use Balabolka's top free text-to-speech software. You can either copy and paste text into the program, or you can open a number of supported file formats (including DOC, PDF, and HTML) in the program directly.
In terms of output, you can use SAPI 4 complete with eight different voices to choose from, SAPI 5 with two, or the Microsoft Speech Platform. Whichever route you choose, you can adjust the speech, pitch and volume of playback to create a custom voice.
In addition to reading words aloud, this free text-to-speech software can also save narrations as audio files in a range of formats including MP3 and WAV. For lengthy documents, you can create bookmarks to make it easy to jump back to a specific location and there are excellent tools on hand to help you to customize the pronunciation of words to your liking.
With all these features to make life easier when reading text on a screen isn't an option, Balabolka is the best free text-to-speech software around.
For more help using Balabolka, see out guide on how to convert text to speech using this free software.
Panopreter Basic is the best free text-to-speech software if you’re looking for something simple, streamlined, no-frills, and hassle-free.
It accepts plain and rich text files, web pages and Microsoft Word documents as input, and exports the resulting sound in both WAV and MP3 format (the two files are saved in the same location, with the same name).
The default settings work well for quick tasks, but spend a little time exploring Panopreter Basic's Settings menu and you'll find options to change the language, destination of saved audio files, and set custom interface colors. The software can even play a piece of music once it's finished reading – a nice touch you won't find in other free text-to-speech software.
If you need something more advanced, a premium version of Panopreter is available. This edition offers several additional features including toolbars for Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer , the ability to highlight the section of text currently being read, and extra voices.
Developed by the University of Edinburgh, WordTalk is a toolbar add-on for Word that brings customizable text-to-speech to Microsoft Word. It works with all editions of Word and is accessible via the toolbar or ribbon, depending on which version you're using.
The toolbar itself is certainly not the most attractive you'll ever see, appearing to have been designed by a child. Nor are all of the buttons' functions very clear, but thankfully there's a help file on hand to help.
There's no getting away from the fact that WordTalk is fairly basic, but it does support SAPI 4 and SAPI 5 voices, and these can be tweaked to your liking. The ability to just read aloud individual words, sentences or paragraphs is a particularly nice touch. You also have the option of saving narrations, and there are a number of keyboard shortcuts that allow for quick and easy access to frequently used options.
Despite its basic looks, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader has more to offer than you might first think. You can open numerous file formats directly in the program, or just copy and paste text.
Alternatively, as long as you have the program running and the relevant option enables, Zabaware Text-to-Speech Reader can read aloud any text you copy to the clipboard – great if you want to convert words from websites to speech – as well as dialog boxes that pop up. One of the best free text-to-speech software right now, this can also convert text files to WAV format.
Unfortunately the selection of voices is limited, and the only settings you can customize are volume and speed unless you burrow deep into settings to fiddle with pronunciations. Additional voices are available for an additional fee which seems rather steep, holding it back from a higher place in our list.
What are the limitations of free tts software.
As you might expect, some free versions of TTS software do come with certain limitations. These include the amount of choices you get for the different amount of voices in some case. For instance, Zabaware gives you two for free, but you have to pay if you want more.
However, the best free software on this list come with all the bells and whistles that will be more than enough for the average user.
SAPI stands for Speech Application Programming Interface. It was developed by Microsoft to generate synthetic speech to allow computer programs to read aloud text. First used in its own applications such as Office, it is also employed by third party TTS software such as those featured in this list.
In the context of TTS software, there are more SAPI 4 voices to choose from, whereas SAPI 5 voices are generally of a higher quality.
Many free TTS programs give you the option to download an audio file of the speech to save and transfer to different devices.
MP3 is the most common audio format, and compatible with pretty much any modern device capable of playing back audio. The WAV format is also highly compatible too.
The main difference between the two is quality. WAV files are uncompressed, meaning fidelity is preserved as best as possible, at the cost of being considerably larger in size than MP3 files, which do compress.
Ultimately, however, MP3 files with a bit rate of 256 kbps and above should more than suffice, and you'll struggle to tell the difference when it comes to speech audio between them and WAV files.
When selecting the best free text-to-speech software is best for you depends on a range of factors (not to mention personal preference).
Despite how simple the concept of text-to-speech is, there are many different features and aspects to such apps to take into consideration. These include how many voice options and customizations are present, how and where they operate in your setup, what formats they are able to read aloud from and what formats the audio can be saved as.
With free versions, naturally you'll want to take into account how many advanced features you get without paying, and whether any sacrifices are made to performance or usability.
Always try to keep in mind what is fair and reasonable for free services - and as we've shown with our number one choice, you can get plenty of features for free, so if other options seem bare in comparison, then you'll know you can do better.
Our testing process for the best free text-to-speech software is thorough, examining all of their respective features and trying to throw every conceivable syllable at them to see how they perform.
We also want to test the accessibility features of these tools to see how they work for every kind of user out there. We have highlighted, for instance, whether certain software offer dyslexic-friendly fonts, such as the number two on our list, Natural Reader.
We also bear in mind that these are free versions, so where possible we compare and contrast their feature sets with paid-for rivals.
Finally, we look at how well TTS tools meet the needs of their intended users - whether it's designed for personal use or professional deployment.
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Daryl had been freelancing for 3 years before joining TechRadar, now reporting on everything software-related. In his spare time, he's written a book, ' The Making of Tomb Raider '. His second book, ' 50 Years of Boss Fights ', came out in June 2024, and has a newsletter, ' Springboard '. He's usually found playing games old and new on his Steam Deck and MacBook Pro. If you have a story about an updated app, one that's about to launch, or just anything Software-related, drop him a line.
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On April 9, Twitter/X began automatically modifying links that mention “twitter.com” to read “x.com” instead. But over the past 48 hours, dozens of new domain names have been registered that demonstrate how this change could be used to craft convincing phishing links — such as fedetwitter[.]com , which until very recently rendered as fedex.com in tweets.
The message displayed when one visits goodrtwitter.com, which Twitter/X displayed as goodrx.com in tweets and messages.
A search at DomainTools.com shows at least 60 domain names have been registered over the past two days for domains ending in “twitter.com,” although research so far shows the majority of these domains have been registered “defensively” by private individuals to prevent the domains from being purchased by scammers.
Those include carfatwitter.com , which Twitter/X truncated to carfax.com when the domain appeared in user messages or tweets. Visiting this domain currently displays a message that begins, “Are you serious, X Corp?”
Update: It appears Twitter/X has corrected its mistake, and no longer truncates any domain ending in “twitter.com” to “x.com.”
Original story:
The same message is on other newly registered domains, including goodrtwitter.com (goodrx.com), neobutwitter.com (neobux.com), roblotwitter.com (roblox.com), square-enitwitter.com (square-enix.com) and yandetwitter.com (yandex.com). The message left on these domains indicates they were defensively registered by a user on Mastodon whose bio says they are a systems admin/engineer. That profile has not responded to requests for comment.
A number of these new domains including “twitter.com” appear to be registered defensively by Twitter/X users in Japan. The domain netflitwitter.com (netflix.com, to Twitter/X users) now displays a message saying it was “acquired to prevent its use for malicious purposes,” along with a Twitter/X username.
The domain mentioned at the beginning of this story — fedetwitter.com — redirects users to the blog of a Japanese technology enthusiast. A user with the handle “amplest0e” appears to have registered space-twitter.com , which Twitter/X users would see as the CEO’s “space-x.com.” The domain “ametwitter.com” already redirects to the real americanexpress.com.
Some of the domains registered recently and ending in “twitter.com” currently do not resolve and contain no useful contact information in their registration records. Those include firefotwitter[.]com (firefox.com), ngintwitter[.]com (nginx.com), and webetwitter[.]com (webex.com).
The domain setwitter.com, which Twitter/X until very recently rendered as “sex.com,” redirects to this blog post warning about the recent changes and their potential use for phishing.
Sean McNee , vice president of research and data at DomainTools, told KrebsOnSecurity it appears Twitter/X did not properly limit its redirection efforts.
“Bad actors could register domains as a way to divert traffic from legitimate sites or brands given the opportunity — many such brands in the top million domains end in x, such as webex, hbomax, xerox, xbox, and more,” McNee said. “It is also notable that several other globally popular brands, such as Rolex and Linux, were also on the list of registered domains.”
The apparent oversight by Twitter/X was cause for amusement and amazement from many former users who have migrated to other social media platforms since the new CEO took over. Matthew Garrett , a lecturer at U.C. Berkeley’s School of Information, summed up the Schadenfreude thusly:
“Twitter just doing a ‘redirect links in tweets that go to x.com to twitter.com instead but accidentally do so for all domains that end x.com like eg spacex.com going to spacetwitter.com’ is not absolutely the funniest thing I could imagine but it’s high up there.”
It’s been patched already, before anyone could abuse, click-bait article.
Came to say the same Krebs must no like X.
I started reporting this last night, when it was still very much a thing. The story has been updated to note that Twitter/X apparently has fixed its mistake.
Hopefully the coders behind this innovative case, and those who tested the work, do not go anywhere near the alleged blue-sky-one-day-promise self-driving vehicle elon keeps hyping to pump his stock. It is known Elon uses his companies interchangeably and brought Tesla people to X, so no doubt the reverse can happen. Or, perhaps, he lost the password to his fiverr account 🙂
Even if it was patched, this was a monumental blunder. Lessons learned in outsourcing your regex to high schoolers.
Yes, and unlikely to help the CEO with his efforts to win back advertisers and major brands, many of whom are probably hopping mad about this.
I’m sorry, did you mean regetwitter?
Ha! Ha! Nice, Gene
But the fact is that Twitter systems admins and operators made a newbie mistake, and didn’t test their changes. And we surely will take your word that the problem has been resolved…
Even if it has been patched, it shows a lack of quality control on the part of Twitter/X. This is an elementary mistake that should have easily been caught through proper testing. Also sounds like it took them at least 2 days to fix it given the increase in domain registrations ending in twitter.
Seriously? KOS doesn’t need to do click bait.
Everything Musk Touches Gets FU In Time.
Don’t cry you bitch
And on cue, the bot/troll accounts arrive to do their thing. Someone is submitting a lot of these comments. Typical.
You hit a lot of nerve with the russian trolls for sure. My guess is that “your love” for mother ruzzia is egging them on.
This is what happens when a manchild fires all the good developers.
Although, Brian, I’m not sure I understand how fedex.com turned into fedetwitter.com when they were replacing twitter.com with x.com?
You can call him a manchild if you like, but that manchild has more money than you…and was smart enough to purge Twitter/X of the indoctrinated horde…
And replaces them with sycophants too frightened to challenge him? Yep, that’s progress…
“was smart enough to purge Twitter/X of the indoctrinated horde…”
… and replaced them with a vile pit of indoctrinated Andrew Tate wannabees, costing said manchild billions in advertising revenue. LOL
Your comment is not the flex you think it is.
fedetwitter.com -> (replace all instances of ‘twitter.com’ with ‘x.com’) -> fede(twitter.com) -> fede(x.com) -> fedex.com
You don’t work for Twitter?
I think it goes like this (Brian will correct me):
A bad actor registers a Domain called completwitter.com, and creates a tweet with the text and underlying URL completwitter.com.
Along comes X’s silly bot and changes the text in the tweet to complex.com, but leaves the underlying URL as-is, namely completwitter.com.
An unsuspecting user sees the tweet with text complex.com and clicks on it, and is taken to the site built by the bad actor for completwitter.com.
Does that help?
–PeterinFtL
It’s interesting to go to the setwitter.com website.
I think we can just say, “Elon Musk” to explain this debacle! Glad it’s been found, being dealt with, and reported. Thank you, Kerbs on Security! You saved me from some major issues this morning, or yesterday with reports on Microsofts major security issues and required updates. I took care of that, immediately!
You are the top notifier of web security awareness!
This is an epic but ‘clbuttic’ text substitution mistake!
Needed a good chuckle this a.m. Thx, Brian.
krebs still big mad with TDS and his hate for elon and free speech.
Do they teach rudimentary English where you live? Or if this is your fifth language? I suppose we should be grateful that you’ve tried. Mostly when writing English, we use a capital letter (that is a B for big letter) at the start of a sentence.
Krebs IS still mad… (if so, I guess you have the evidence). As in use “is” – not the big letters that I used for emphasis.
Elon is a person’s name, so it also has a capital letter.
My daughter could understand this by, oh maybe the seventh grade, and English is her third language.
Even I can manage better and I have a visual handicap (so severe, for example, that I cannot drive a motor vehicle).
If you are going to insult somebody, try doing it properly.
You might not be American, neither am I, but even I have a rudimentary understanding of the concept of free speech and Constitutional protections in that country. Much of the same provisions are broadly applicable in most civilised countries anyway. Just because you might open your mouth and shout fire in a crowded theatre, when there is no fire, does not mean your free speech is emasculated when you appear in front of a judicial body.
Your hatred of the English language is evident.
Krebs is the Jon Stewart of security reporting.
-> back to Breitbart, human fleas.
Comments are closed.
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Indirect: He inquired how I was. 9. Direct: "I will help you," she promised. Indirect: She promised that she would help me. 10. Direct: "I didn't see him yesterday," Tom confessed. Indirect: Tom confessed that he hadn't seen him the day before. 11. Direct: "I am going to the market," Alex said.
Direct Speech Imperative sentence Examples: We use imperative sentence to give order, advice, to instruct or to request something. Mother told me, "Do your homework.". Father said, "Study more for your exam.". Ranju said, "Please, come with me.". The dwarf said to snow white, "Do not eat the apple.". The commander said to the ...
Direct speech is a way of reporting a spoken text that quotes the exact words of the speaker. It is also called a quoted speech as it literally contains quotation marks that enclose the actual words said. It is typically accompanied by a reporting clause or signal phrase. This type of speech is commonly observed in novels and scripts that ...
Grammar rules - If the reporting clause is before the direct speech: We write a comma (,) before the direct speech. We write the exact words inside the inverted commas. The first letter is a capital letter. We write a full stop (.) before the closing inverted commas.
Direct Speech as Drama . When a speaking event is reported via direct speech forms, it is possible to include many features that dramatize the way in which an utterance was produced. The quotative frame can also include verbs that indicate the speaker's manner of expression (e.g. cry, exclaim, gasp), voice quality (e.g. mutter, scream, whisper), and type of emotion (e.g. giggle, laugh, sob).
Direct speech refers to the exact wording of someone's comments or speech as it was spoken. In written text, direct speech usually appears in quotation marks or inverted commas to denote that the words were spoken or written by another person. The actual text of direct speech punctuated with a speech tag, which identifies the speaker and might ...
How do you write direct speech in English? - Easy Learning Grammar. Direct speech gives the actual words that the speaker used. It is common in novels and other writing where the actual words of a speaker are quoted. The reporting verb may come before the words that were actually spoken, or after them, or at a natural pause inside the reported ...
Avoid verbs that aren't speech verbs in your speech declarations. Add actions or thoughts into direct speech, using the 'before' or 'after' approach. 1. New speaker = new paragraph. This is the first rule, and it's a very straightforward one. When a new person speaks, you should start a new paragraph.
Differences between Direct and Indirect Speech. Change of Pronouns. Change of Tenses. Change of Time and Place References. Converting Direct Speech Into Indirect Speech. Step 1: Remove the Quotation Marks. Step 2: Use a Reporting Verb and a Linker. Step 3: Change the Tense of the Verb. Step 4: Change the Pronouns.
Reported speech: direct speech - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary
Definition of Direct Speech. Speech is direct when it is written as it was said and punctuated correctly with inverted commas around the exact original words and is usually accompanied by a reporting clause ('he said', 'they said', 'said Julie'). In fictional narratives, direct speech is used to show dialogue between characters as ...
Direct speech is the ones that the person establishes himself / herself.Usually used in writing language such as novels, stories etc. Transferring the sentence that someone else says is called indirect speech.It is also called reported speech.Usually, it is used in spoken language.If the transmitted action is done in the past, the sentence becomes the past tense.
Direct speech is a word-to-word repetition of what the speaker or writer has conveyed. In other words, it is the way in which you report the exact words of the speaker. Direct speech can be used to convey something that is being said in the present or to tell someone at a later point of time. Q2.
Direct And Indirect Speech Examples. While using English, we use direct and indirect speeches quite often. ... 5: Direct: I like ice cream. Indirect: He said that he liked ice cream. 6: Direct: I'II see you later. ... Direct: I write poems. Indirect: He says that he writes poems. 36: Direct: She said: "I would buy new house if I were rich".
Here, unlike direct speech, we do not write the full speech of the speaker. Instead, we report the necessary content by rephrasing them in our own words. For example; Direct speech: "I am bored of school activities," John screamed. Here, the exact words used by John are conveyed. There is no change or replacement of words.
Direct speech is when we report the exact words that somebody says. In this lesson you will learn: The rules for writing direct speech. The correct punctuation. Vocabulary to report direct speech. And finally, at the end of the lesson there are some exercises for practice. Reporting clause before the direct speech.
If you've put the reporting clause in the middle of a sentence of speech then this should be a comma. If it's between two sentences of speech then it should be a full stop. You can see both ...
Rule 8: Direct to indirect speech conversion - punctuations. In Direct speech, the words spoken must start with (") and ends with (.) inside the double inverted commas. All symbols such as question marks, full stops or exclamatory marks should be placed inside the quotes. Examples:
Direct: I will study", Mary said. Indirect: I will study", said Mary. 3: Direct: She said; "The exam is difficult. Indirect: She said the test was difficult. 4: Direct: I bought a car. Indirect: He said he bought a car. 5: Direct: My parents are very well. Indirect: Alex said that his parents were very well. 6: Direct: Please don't be ...
Direct and Indirect Speech are the two ways of reporting what someone said. The use of both direct and indirect speech is crucial in effective communication and writing. Understanding the basics of direct and indirect speech is important, but mastering the advanced techniques of these two forms of speech can take your writing to the next level. In this article, we will explore direct and ...
Direct Speech Direct speech shows a person's exact words. Quotation marks ("....") are a sign that the words are the exact words that a person used. Reported Speech Reported speech puts the speaker's words or ideas into a sentence without quotation marks. Noun clauses are usually used. In reported speech, the reader does not assume that the words are the speaker's exact words; often, they are ...
Direct: "I will help you," she promised. Reported: She promised that she would help me. Direct: "You should study harder," he advised. Reported: He advised that I should study harder. Direct: "I didn't take your book," he denied. Reported: He denied taking my book. Direct: "Let's go to the cinema," she suggested.
Step 1: Write down the reporting verb that is used to determine the Indirect Speech's tense. Step 2: Change the position and time to reflect the speaker's actual location and time. Step 3: For both the object and the subject, use the correct pronoun. Step 4: Make sure the sentence has the correct structure and word order.
FAC Number Effective Date HTML DITA PDF Word EPub Apple Books Kindle; 2024-05: 05/22/2024
The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out ...
0:57. One day after he was found guilty on all 34 counts in his New York criminal hush money trial, former President Donald Trump is expected to give a press conference Friday morning. USA TODAY ...
In observance of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, President Biden delivered an address from near the shores of Normandy. It was on that region's beaches, along its cliffs and in its fields, tha…
The best free text-to-speech software makes it simple and easy to improve accessibility and productivity in your workflows. Best free text-to-speech software of 2024: Quick Menu. (Image credit: 3M ...
A number of these new domains including "twitter.com" appear to be registered defensively by Twitter/X users in Japan. The domain netflitwitter.com (netflix.com, to Twitter/X users) now ...