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French Indirect Speech (Le discours indirect)

Indirect speech allows us to report what someone else said without using their exact words or quotation marks. We paraphrase or give the gist of what was said using reporting verbs.

Common reporting verbs:

Il dit... (He says)Elle annonce... (She announces)Il demande... (He asks)Elle explique... (She explains)Il répond... (He replies)

How to turn direct speech into indirect speech

When transforming direct speech to indirect speech, you must adjust three main things:

01

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.transform_step1

Direct: Il a déclaré : "Je suis enthousiaste de travailler avec vous."
Indirect: Il a déclaré qu'il était enthousiaste de travailler avec moi.
02

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.transform_step2

Detailed table below

03

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.transform_step3

Direct: "J'ai préparé une présentation hier."
Indirect: Il a annoncé qu'il avait préparé une présentation la veille.

Changing the Tense (La concordance des temps)

If the reporting verb is in the PRESENT (e.g., il dit):

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.tense_present_desc

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.tense_present_ex

If the reporting verb is in the PAST (e.g., il a dit, il disait):

The tense of the reported speech must be shifted "back" in time.

Direct Speech TenseIndirect Speech Tense
PrésentImparfait
Passé composé / Passé simplePlus-que-parfait
ImparfaitImparfait / Plus-que-parfait
Futur simpleConditionnel présent
Futur antérieurConditionnel passé
Impératif (Commands)Subjonctif (or de + inf)
ConditionnelConditionnel (Unchanged)

Connecting the clauses

Declarative Sentences

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.connect_decl_desc

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.connect_decl_ex

Questions

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.connect_ques_desc

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.connect_ques_ex1

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.connect_ques_ex2

Demands / Requests (Imperative)

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.connect_imp_desc

Grammar_SentenceStructure_IndirectSpeech.connect_imp_ex

Practice Indirect Speech

Master the rules of tense concordance and structural transformation in French reported speech.

1
Pronoun Change Drills
2
Tense Shift (Present Reporting)
3
Tense Shift (Past Reporting)
4
Question Conversion (si/où)