French Direct and indirect speech
Discours direct et indirect
In French, there are two different ways to express the words of another person: direct speech (or direct style) and indirect speech (indirect style).
Direct speech is very simple: the exact words of the original speaker are reported in quotes.
| Paul dit : « J'aime les fraises ». | Paul says, "I like strawberries." |
| Lise répond : « Jean les déteste ». | Lisa replies, "Jean hates them." |
| « Jean est stupide » déclare Paul.* | "Jean is stupid" Paul declares. |
| *Inversion with direct speech | |
In indirect speech, the original speaker's words are reported without quotes in a subordinate clause (introduced by que).
| Paul dit qu'il aime les fraises. | Paul says that he loves strawberries. |
| Lise répond que Jean les déteste. | Lisa replies that Jean hates them. |
| Paul déclare que Jean est stupide. | Paul declares that Jean is stupid. |
There are many verbs (called reporting verbs) that can be used to introduce indirect speech:
| affirmer | to assert |
| ajouter | to add |
| annoncer | to announce |
| crier | to shout |
| déclarer | to declare |
| dire | to say |
| expliquer | to explain |
| insister | to insist |
| prétendre | to claim |
| proclamer | to proclaim |
| répondre | to answer |
| soutenir | to maintain |
Indirect speech tends to be more complicated than direct speech, because it requires certain changes (in both English and French). Go on to Part II.
| Part II: Indirect Speech Changes
Test on Direct and Indirect Speech |
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