DIFFERENTIATION, LEARNING OBJECTIVES, SEASONALITY, & AGE RANGE FAQs

DIFFERENTIATION

What is a Differentiated Resource?

A differentiated resource is one that provides the same exercise in two distinct versions. Each version has its own format and separate instructions.

Why Differentiate?

The material is differentiated to accommodate children and students with a range of abilities and strengths. The differentiation also means that the exercise can be used more than once - with Version 2 providing an extra (or subsequent) challenge.

How is this Resource Differentiated?

Version 1 provides children and students with guided practice. The verb that needs to be changed is underlined, and children and students are reminded to remove all direct speech punctuation.

Version 2 gives children and students the opportunity to practise independently. They are not given any help beyond the exercise's core instructions.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES & OUTCOMES

These exercises help children and students focus on the verb that needs to be shifted one tense back—a key element in transforming sentences from direct speech to indirect speech.

By developing this skill, children and students are better equipped to convert sentences using direct speech to sentences using indirect speech (a common Year 6 SATs task) and to make their own writing clearer and more precise.

SEASONALITY

You can use this resource at any point during the year. It may be particularly useful to children and students when they are first learning about direct and indirect speech, or as a targeted revision tool before mock tests or exams.

AGE RANGE & SUITABILITY

Kindly note that the years and ages listed above are intended as recommendations only. Feel free to use this resource in any educational context that is appropriate to your needs.

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH - FAQs

WHAT ARE DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH?

In a nutshell, we use the terms ‘direct speech’ and ‘indirect speech’ to describe the two ways we have to share what people say.

When we describe speech as direct, this means that we are repeating the exact words that a person said.

And, when we write a person’s exact words down, we use quotation marks (also called speech marks or inverted commas) to show these exact words.

• Sarah said, "I love ice cream!"
• “My brother is eating jam,” declared Leah.
• Rob noted, "I ate breakfast."
• “We were visiting Manchester,” announced the twins.
• Gina asked, “What time is the match?”
• “Has Julia arrived?” inquired Rita.
• Hal wondered, “Where are my keys?”
• “Are there any cucumbers left?” Zane asked.

On the other hand, when we describe speech as indirect, this means that we are conveying the meaning of what another person said, but we are NOT using their EXACT words.

In this case, we

• Do not use quotation marks
• Often need to change
• pronouns (words like “I”, “we”, “you”)
• verb tenses
• the order of the words (with questions)
• Also often need to add words like “that”, “if” or “whether”

So, if we change the previous examples of direct speech to indirect speech, we find the following:

• Sarah said that she loved ice cream.
• Leah declared that her brother was eating jam.
• Rob noted that he had eaten breakfast.
• The twins announced that they had been visiting Manchester.
• Gina asked what time the match was.
• Rita inquired if Julia had arrived.
• Hal wondered where his keys were.
• Zane asked whether there were any cucumbers left.

Note: As you have probably already noticed, converting questions from direct speech to indirect speech is not the same as converting statements. To keep this guide clear and concise, it focuses chiefly on statements.

ARE THERE QUICK WAYS TO TELL DIRECT SPEECH AND INDIRECT SPEECH APART?

Once you know what their chief characteristics are, direct speech and indirect speech are quite distinctive:

• Direct Speech:
• Uses the speaker's exact words
• Always uses quotation marks ("...")
• Often includes a "reporting clause" like "he said" or "she asked" that introduces the speech
• Punctuation rules: Commas or other punctuation usually separate the reporting clause from the quoted speech (e.g. He said, "Hello.").

• Indirect Speech:
• Reports the meaning of what was said, not the exact words.
• Does NOT use quotation marks.
• Often uses the conjunction 'that' (or ' 'if' or 'whether' with questions)
• Often requires changes to pronouns (e.g. 'I' becomes 'he' or 'she')
• Often requires changes in verb tenses to reflect the shift in time or speaker

WHY DO WE NEED DIRECT SPEECH AS WELL AS INDIRECT SPEECH?

Both direct and indirect speech are useful for different reasons:

Direct speech makes writing livelier and more immediate. It lets the reader “hear” a person’s (or character’s) voice and feelings. It’s great for dialogue in stories.

Indirect speech is useful when you want to summarise what someone said, or when the exact words aren't as important as the message. It's often used in news reports, essays, or when retelling a long conversation.

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CHANGING DIRECT STATEMENTS TO INDIRECT STATEMENTS: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR PARENTS (KS2 & KS3)

Now that we’ve talked about what direct and indirect speech are, let's look at how we change someone's exact words (direct speech) into a report of what they said (indirect speech).

As noted above, this process involves some adjustments, mainly with pronouns (words like 'I,' 'you,' 'he'), verb tenses, and words related to time and place.

The goal is to make the reported speech fit naturally into a grammatically correct sentence without using quotation marks.

THE CORE CHANGES IN BRIEF:

Before looking at how each of the main tenses changes, it will be useful for you to remember these general steps:

1. Remove quotation marks: This is the most obvious change.
2. Add a reporting verb/phrase: Introduce the reported speech with something like "He said that...", "She asked if...", "They told me to...". (The word 'that' is often optional but can be helpful).
3. Change pronouns: Adjust words like 'I' to 'he/she,' 'my' to 'his/her,' 'we' to 'they,' etc., to match the new speaker.
4. Shift verb tenses: This is the main grammatical change. Generally, the verb tense moves "back" one step in time.
5. Change time/place words: Words like 'now,' 'here,' 'today,' 'tomorrow' often need to change to fit the new context. For a useful list of these, see the table below.

Note:

Click here for a list of time words that need to be changed when converting direct speech to indirect speech.

Click here for a list of place words that need to be changed when converting direct speech to indirect speech.

A DETAILED LOOK AT CHANGING DIRECT STATEMENTS TO INDIRECT STATEMENTS WITH EXAMPLES

(a) Present Simple

• Direct Speech: Emily said, "I love reading books."

• Step 1: Remove the quotation marks.
• Step 2: Start with a reporting phrase: Emily said that...
• Step 3: Change the pronouns: "I" (Emily) becomes "she".
• Step 4: Shift the verb tense: "love" (present simple) changes to "loved" (past simple).
• Step 5: Change time/place words: there are none to be changed here.

• Indirect Speech: Emily said that she loved reading books.

(b) Present Continuous

• Direct Speech: Tom explained, "I am playing football now."

• Step 1: Remove the quotation marks.
• Step 2: Start with a reporting phrase: Tom explained that...
• Step 3: Change the pronouns: "I" (Tom) becomes "he".
• Step 4: Shift the verb tense: "am playing" (present continuous) changes to "was playing" (past continuous).
• Step 5: Change time/place words: "now" changes to "then" or "at that moment" to reflect the time of the original statement.

• Indirect Speech: Tom explained he was playing football then.
• Indirect Speech: Tom explained he was playing football at that moment.

(c) Present Perfect

• Direct Speech: "I have finished my homework," Janet told me.

• Step 1: Remove the quotation marks.
• Step 2: Start with a reporting phrase: Janet told me that...
• Step 3: Change the pronouns: "I" (Janet) becomes "she," and "my" becomes "her".
• Step 4: Shift the verb tense: "have finished" (present perfect) changes to "had finished" (past perfect).
• Step 5: Change time/place words: there are none to be changed here.

• Indirect Speech: Janet told me that she had finished her homework.

(d) Present Perfect Continuous

• Direct Speech: Sarah complained, "I have been studying for hours."

• Step 1: Remove the quotation marks.
• Step 2: Start with a reporting phrase: Sarah complained that...
• Step 3: Change the pronouns: "I" (Sarah) becomes "she."
• Step 4: Shift the verb tense: "have been studying" (present perfect continuous) changes to "had been studying" (past perfect continuous).
• Step 5: Change time/place words: there are none to be changed here.

• Indirect Speech: Sarah complained that she had been studying for hours.

(e) Past Simple

• Direct Speech: Ben said, "I visited my grandparents yesterday."

• Step 1: Remove the quotation marks.
• Step 2: Start with a reporting phrase: Ben said that...
• Step 3: Change the pronouns: "I" (Ben) becomes "he," and "my" becomes "his".
• Step 4: Shift the verb tense: "visited" (past simple) generally changes to "had visited" (past perfect).
• Step 5: Change time/place words: "yesterday" changes to "the day before" or "the previous day".

• Indirect Speech: Ben said that he had visited his grandparents the day before.
• Indirect Speech: Ben said that he had visited his grandparents the previous day.

(f) Past Continuous

• Direct Speech: The children shouted, "We were playing a game!"

• Step 1: Remove the quotation marks.
• Step 2: Start with a reporting phrase: The children shouted that...
• Step 3: Change the pronouns: "We" (the children) becomes "they".
• Step 4: Shift the verb tense: "were playing" (past continuous) generally changes to "had been playing" (past perfect continuous).
• Step 5: Change time/place words: there are none to be changed here.

• Indirect Speech: The children shouted that they had been playing a game.

(g) Past Perfect

• Direct Speech: My teacher stated, "The class had already finished the test."

• Step 1: Remove the quotation marks.
• Step 2: Start with a reporting phrase: My teacher stated that...
• Step 3: Change the pronouns: none needed for 'the class'.
• Step 4: Shift the verb tense: "had already finished" (past perfect) does not change.
• Step 5: Change time/place words: there are none to be changed here.

• Indirect Speech: My teacher stated that the class had already finished the test.

Why doesn’t the tense change? No change is needed because the past perfect already shows an action completed before a specific point in the past. Put simply, the past perfect is already the "furthest back" past tense, so it stays the same in indirect speech.

(h) Past Perfect Continuous

• Direct Speech: He confided, "I had been waiting for ages when she arrived."

• Step 1: Remove the quotation marks.
• Step 2: Start with a reporting phrase: He confided that...
• Step 3: Change the pronouns: "I" (he) becomes "he".
• Step 4: Shift the verb tense: "had been waiting" (past perfect continuous) does not change.
• Step 5: Change time/place words: there are none to be changed here.

• Indirect Speech: He confided that he had been waiting for ages when she arrived.

Why doesn’t the tense change? No change is needed for the verb tense as the past perfect continuous is already the most "shifted back" continuous tense. Like the past perfect, it's already as "far back" as it goes.

(i) Future Tense using Modals (e.g. will, can, must)

• Direct Speech: Mum promised, "I will buy you a new toy tomorrow."

• Step 1: Remove the quotation marks.
• Step 2: Start with a reporting phrase: Mum promised that...
• Step 3: Change the pronouns: "I" (Mum) becomes "she," and "you" (the child) becomes "me/us".
• Step 4: Shift the verb tense/modal: "will buy" changes to "would buy".
• Step 5: Change time/place words: "tomorrow" changes to "the next day."

• Indirect Speech: Mum promised she would buy me a new toy the next day.

Note: some, but not all, of the other modals change too. For more details, click here to see the table below.

(j) Future Tense using the Present Continuous (for scheduled events)

• Direct Speech: Gloria said, "The performers are staging a different play next week."

• Step 1: Remove the quotation marks.
• Step 2: Start with a reporting phrase: Gloria said that...
• Step 3: Change the pronouns: none needed for 'the performers'.
• Step 4: Shift the verb tense: "are staging" (present continuous used for future) changes to "were staging" (past continuous).
• Step 5: Change time/place words: "next week" changes to "the following week."

• Indirect Speech: Gloria said that the performers were staging a different play the following week.

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CHANGING DIRECT SPEECH TO INDIRECT SPEECH: QUICK GUIDES TO TIME WORDS, PLACE WORDS, AND MODAL VERBS

For your convenience, we have put together a few lists of words and modal verbs that are commonly used when converting direct speech to indirect speech.

We have also included a list of modal verbs that DO NOT change.

TIME WORDS

PLACE WORDS

MODAL VERBS

Notes:

*There are specific rules governing when and how the modal verb must is changed when converting direct speech to indirect speech.

The examples given here illustrate the following two rules:

• When reporting the modal verb must, it backshifts to had to if must was used to convey an obligation or a requirement (“I must leave now”).
• If, however, the modal verb must is used to convey an assumption or a logical certainty, it does not change (“You must be tired”).

There are other rules to be taken into consideration; however, your child may not be expected to know them. We recommend consulting with your child’s teacher to find out which rules your child should know for must.

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RELATED WORKSHEETS & QUICK GUIDES