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

A STUDY ON DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH IN ENGLISHA CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS TO VIETNAMESE HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEEC

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

Date of birth: 19/05/1992 Class: K 18- BPD 1.2 Supervisor: M.A Nguyễn Th

Ha Noi – 2015

A STUDY ON DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH IN ENGLISH

(A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS TO VIETNAMESE)

ương Giang Date of birth: 19/05/1992

ễn Thị Hồng Minh

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

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

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

- 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

- What are some similarities and differences between English and

Vietnamese direct and indirect speech structures?

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- 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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- 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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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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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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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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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:

Present perfect simple

They said, “we have gone to this

cinema for several times.”

Past perfect simple

They said that they had gone to that cinema for several times

Present perfect continuous

David said,” I have been living in Los

Angeles for ten years.”

Past perfect continuous

David said that he had been living in Los Angeles for ten years

They said that they had gone camping

the day before

Past continuous

Lan said, “My family was driving to

Vung Tau last weekend.”

Past perfect continuous

Lan said that her family had been driving to Vung Tau the previous

weekend

Past perfect

Helen explained, “the tickets had been

sold before.”

Past perfect (no change)

Helen explained that the tickets had

been sold before

Past perfect continuous

The professor said to Jim, “The lesson

had been starting for half an hour.”

Past perfect continuous

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

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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“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

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→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 Indirect speech

this (evening) 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 there

next (week) 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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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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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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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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(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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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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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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- 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

- 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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question, quotation marks and question marks are not used, as well as we put the

auxiliary verb before the subject That is be, have and modal auxiliaries in the direct question change back to statement word order (subject + verb); do, does and did disappear in reported questions If there is no auxiliary verb, we put do

before the subject

Ex: I wonder why you don’t listen to me He wanted to know why the French ate frogs

There are two main types of questions Therefore, reported structures for

questions are two main types

- Reported Yes – No questions

When we report a “Yes – No questions” we use an “If” – clause beginning with the conjunction “If” or a “Whether” – clause beginning with the conjunction

“Whether” The examples in the following table will show you a more concrete form of indirect Yes – No questions

Indirect question

He asked me if/whether I was ready

He asked me if/whether I had finished

He asked me if/whether I played chess

He asked me if/whether he could have it

Note: Normally we can use either if or whether in indirect Yes – No questions

but if is more usual

Ex: He asked me if/whether I would come to the party

We use “if” when the speaker has suggested one possibility that may be true

Ex: He asked if he should open the window

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We use “whether” to emphasize that choice has to be made and to convey

slightly greater doubt

Ex: She asked me whether I wanted tea or coffee

He asked whether or not I she was satisfied

Additionally, whether + infinitive is possible after wonder, want to know

Ex: He wondered whether to wait for them or go on

Or: He wondered whether he should wait for them or go on.

Lastly, “whether” is neater if the question contains a conditional clause as

otherwise there would be two ifs

Ex: Bill asked whether, if I got the job, I’ve move to New York

- Question beginning Shall I / We? In indirect speech

Question beginning Shall I / We? Can be of four kinds:

- Speculations or requests for information about a future event

Ex: He wondered if he would ever forget her

- Request for instruction or advice

Ex: “Tell me what to do with it”

These are expressed in indirect speech by ask, inquire etc with should or the be + infinitive construction Requests for advice are normally reported by should

Ex: Mary asked Bill if he should help her with her homework.

When a choice is required we normally use whether in indirect speech, whether + infinitive is sometimes possible

Ex: He asked whether he should / was to lock the car or leave it unlocked

Or: He asked whether to lock the car or leave it unlocked

- Questions beginning will you/could you?

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These may be ordinary questions, but many also be requests, invitations, or, very occasionally commands

Ex: - He said “Will you be there tomorrow?”(Ordinary question)

→ He asked if she would be there the next day

“Would you mind closing the window please?” or “Could you close the

Ex: → She asked me where I came from

→ I was wondering why don’t take the train; it'll be

quicker

→ He wanted to know what I thought of it

→ She asked me when she must be/ had to be there

Questions also includes reported subject – questions in which tense changes and

changes in modals occur in the usual way, but the word order of the direct

question is retained

Ex: An old mouse asked who would bell the cat

Especially, reporting verbs other than ask can be used to introduce indirect

subject – question: Please tell me who delivered this package I want to know

which piece fits in this puzzle.

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1.4.4 Commands, requests, advice and suggestion in indirect speech

- Reported commands, requests and advice

If someone orders, requests or advises someone else to do something, this can be

reported by using a “to” infinitive clause

Indirect commands, requests, advice are usually expressed by a verb of command

/ request / advice + object + infinitive (= the object + infinitive construction)

The following verbs can be used: advice, ask, beg, command, encourage,

entreat, forbid, implore, invite, order, recommend, remind, request, tell, urge, warn, etc They must be followed directly by the person addresses without

preposition Therefore, we must add a noun or pronoun when reporting such commands/requests

Ex: “Call the first witness”, said the Judge

→ The Judge commanded them to call the first witness

He told me/him/her/us/them/the children to go away

In case of negative commands, requests, etc.They are often reported by not +

infinitive

Ex: The man with the gun said to us, “Don't move!” → The man with the gun warned us not to move.

- Other ways of expressing indirect commands

- Say / tell + subject + be + infinitive

Ex: He said I was to wait for him

This is a possible alternative to the tell + infinitive construction, so that: He said,

“Don’t open the door” could be reported by He told me not to open the door

Or: He said that I wasn’t to open the door

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Particularly, the be + infinitive construction is useful in the following cases: (1)

When the command is introduced by a verb in the present tense:

Ex: He says that he has passed the examination

When the command is preceded by a clause (usually of time or condition)

Ex: He said that if he were/had been in New York, he would visit/would have

visited the current exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum

This indirect command would be equally possible here but note that if we use the

tell + infinitive construction we must change the order of the sentence so as to put the command first Sometimes this would result in rather confusing sentence

For example, the request If you see Ann, tell her to ring me would become He

told me to tell Ann to ring him if I saw her Such requests can only be reported

by the be + infinitive construction The example above could become He said

that if I saw Ann I was to tell her to ring him

- Say/tell (+that) + subject + should

This structure can be used to express indirect commands in the following cases:

(1) Say or tell with should construction normally indicate advice rather than

command

Ex: He said, “If your brakes are bad don’t drive so fast”

→ He said/told me that if my brakes were bad I shouldn’t drive so fast

Or → He advised me not to drive so fast if my brakes were bad

Notes: Change of order here, as with tell + infinitive above

Advice can also be expressed by advice, recommend and urge + that + should

This is particularly useful in passive

Ex: He advised that her car should be repaired

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(3) Command and order can also be used with should or a passive infinitive

Ex: The teacher ordered that every student should do it again

Or the teacher ordered that it should be done again

Or the teacher ordered it to be done again

- Reporting suggestions

When someone makes a suggestion about what their hearer should do, we report

it by using a “that” – clause This clause often contains a modal, usually

“should”

Ex: He proposed that the government should hold an inquiry

Furthermore, we can use let’s to express a suggestion and it is reported by the

structures: S + Suggest + V - ing Or S + Suggest + that + S + Should + V

Ex: Carol suggested that I should have another apple Similarly in the negative Ex: He suggested not saying anything about it till they heard the facts Or He suggested that they shouldn’t say about it till they heard the facts.

But let’s not used alone in answer to an affirmative suggestion is often reported

by some phrase such as opposed the idea / was against it / objected so that we

could report

Ex: John suggested going to cinema but Carol was against it

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CHAPTER 2: DIRECT AND INDIRECT IN ENGLISH AND

VIETNAMESE

2.1.Reported speech in Vietnamese structure

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:- Hoa than thở với mẹ, “hôm qua con làm rơi mất tiền ăn sáng.”

→Hoa than thở với mẹ rằng cô ấy (đã) làm rơi mất tiền ăn sáng vào ngày hôm trước

For this section we will not mention statements because our examples have so

far been of indirect statements

2.1.1 Suggestions, requests and commands

In Vietnamese and English when you make indirect speech from direct speech for suggestions, requests and commands, it seems to have some similar changes

in the sentences Common reporting verbs for this case are ask, order, advise, tell, order, warn, suggest,… the verb “say” is not much preferred or maybe inappropriate when people give suggestions or requests

Ex: - Nam hét to: “đừng chạm vào đó.”

→Nam yêu cầu đừng chạm vào đó

However, in English you need to use an infinitive verb with “to” after these

reporting verbs

Ex: He shouted, “Don’t drink that water.”

→ He advised me not to drink that water

Usually in indirect speech for suggestions and requests we express the same meaning as direct speech but in a different way

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Ex: - Mai rủ: “Hay là tụi mình đi công viên chơi đi.”

→ Mai rủ đi công viên chơi

- “Could you,” said Sheila to a passing driver, “give me a lift into town? My car has broken down.”

→ Sheila asked a passing driver to give her a lift into town, as her car had

indirect command with tell and an appropriate adverbial:

Ex: “Go back to the nursery,” he sneered

→ He told them sneeringly (or with a sneer) to go back to the nursery

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→ Hoa hỏi tôi ăn cơm chưa

However, in English you have to add whether or if and reverse word order in addition to tense, pronoun, time and place changes

Ex:

“Are you ready yet?” asked Joan

→ Joan asked me whether/ if I was ready yet

- Wh-Questions:

Ex: - Dung hỏi mẹ: “bao giờ thì con được nghỉ học ạ?”

→Dung hỏi mẹ rằng bao giờ thì cô ấy được nghỉ học

- “How long have you both been living here?” they said

→They inquired how long we had both been living there

From these examples, the biggest differences between English and Vietnamese

in indirect speech for Wh-Questions are word order and tense changes

Specifically, in English when people make an indirect speech for questions, they have to put the verb after subject Meanwhile in Vietnamese the word order remains the same

- Exclamation:

Some common reporting verbs in English are exclaimed, say, remark,

complain, wish…

Some common reporting verbs in Vietnamese are khen, ca ngợi, chúc,…

Ex: Mai nói: “Nhà mới của Lan thật tuyệt vời!”

→ Mai khen nhà mới của Lan thật tuyệt vời