Le discours indirect

Le discours indirect

On emploie le discours indirect (reported speech) pour dire ce que quelqu'un a dit. Il y a deux façons de faire cela:

Vous pouvez répéter les mots (discours direct): He said: "I'm watching TV" (Il a dit: "Je regarde la télé").
Ou vous pouvez employer le discours indirect: He said (that) he was watching TV (Il a dit qu'il regardait la télé).
Le mot that est entre parenthèses parce qu'il n'est pas obligatoire.

En général, lorsque nous employons le discours indirect, nous parlons du passé. D'ordinaire donc nous mettons le verbe (ou auxiliaire) au prétérit.

Exemples:

Discours direct Discours indirect
"Mary is happy." He said (that) Mary was happy.
"I want to buy a new computer, but I don't know which one to buy." He said (that) he wanted to buy a new computer but didn't know which one to buy.
"I am going to buy a car." He said (that) he was going to buy a car.
"It is cold in here; I will close the window." He said (that) it was cold; he would close the window.
Note: would est le prétérit de will.
"I have lost my watch." He said (that) he had lost his watch.
La plupart des modaux (could, might, must, ought, should, would) restent inchangés dans le discours indirect. En revanche, can devient could et may devient might.

En général, le prétérit simple (I did) reste inchangé dans le discours indirect, mais vous pouvez le changer au past perfect (I had done):

Discours direct Discours indirect
I didn't go to school on Thursday because there was a train strike. He said he hadn't gone (ou didn't go) to school on Thursday because there had been (ou was) a train strike.
Parfois, on ne modifie pas le verbe lorsqu'on emploie le discours indirect. Si ce que vous rapportez est toujours vrai, vous n'êtes pas obligé de changer le temps du verbe:

Discours direct Discours indirect
"Diamonds are more expensive than pearls." He said (that) diamonds are (ou were) more expensive than pearls.
"Computers have gone down in price." He said (that) computers have (ou had) gone down in price.
Dans ces deux exemples on peut mettre le verbe au prétérit (ou past perfect) ou le laisser comme il est.

Mais on est obligé d'employer le prétérit lorsqu'on n'est pas d'accord avec ce que on rapporte (si on estime qu'il est faux).

Discours direct Discours indirect
"France is bigger than Canada." He said (that) France was bigger than Canada.
"Ireland have never beaten England at rugby." He said (that) Ireland had never beaten England at rugby.
Say et tell

Après say on n'est pas obligé d'employer un complément d'object indirect (COI); après tell on est obligé d'en employer un. Donc, si vous mentionnez avec qui vous parlez, employez le verbe tell comme ceci:

Correct: He told me [COI] (that) he didn't know the answer.
Incorrect: *He said me he didn't know the answer.
Sinon, employez say:

Correct: He said (that) he didn't know the answer.
Incorrect: *He told he didn't know the answer.
Si on emploie say avec un COI, on est obligé d'employer la préposition to, mais cela est rare. Voici un exemple:

Correct: He said to me that he didn't know the answer.
A la différence de say (ou said), après tell (ou told) on peut avoir différentes structures:

COI + mot en WH:
what, who, when, where, why, how He told me what he wanted.
COI + infinitif He told me to go home.
COI + mot en WH + infinitif He told me where to go.
COI + groupe nominal He told me the truth.
On emploie l'infinitif dans le discours indirect, surtout avec tell et ask (pour des ordres et des requêtes):

Discours direct Discours indirect
My boss said: "Finish that project by Friday." (ordre) The boss told me to finish the project by Friday.
She said: "Please be quiet while the baby is asleep." (requête) She asked me to be quiet while the baby was asleep.
He said: "Can you pass me the salt?" (requête) He asked me to pass the salt.
On peut aussi employer said avec l'infinitif:

The boss said to finish the work by Friday.

When using indirect or reported speech, the form changes. Usually indirect speech is introduced by the verb said, as in I said, Bill said, or they said. Using the verb say in this tense, indicates that something was said in the past. In these cases, the main verb in the reported sentence is put in the past. If the main verb is already in a past tense, then the tense changes to another past tense; it can almost be seen as moving even further into the past.

Verb tense changes also characterize other situations using indirect speech. Note the changes shown in the chart and see the table below for examples. With indirect speech, the use of that is optional.
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
simple present
He said, “I go to school every day.” simple past
He said (that) he went to school every day.
simple past
He said, “I went to school every day.” past perfect
He said (that) he had gone to school every day.
present perfect
He said, “I have gone to school every day.” past perfect
He said (that) he had gone to school every day.
present progressive
He said, “I am going to school every day.” past progressive
He said (that) he was going to school every day.
past progressive
He said, “I was going to school every day.” perfect progressive
He said (that) he had been going to school every day,
future (will)
He said, “I will go to school every day.” would + verb name
He said (that) he would go to school every day.
future (going to)
He said, “I am going to school every day.” present progressive
He said (that) he is going to school every day.
past progressive
He said (that) he was going to school every day
Direct Speech Indirect Speech
auxiliary + verb name
He said, “Do you go to school every day?”
He said, “Where do you go to school?” simple past
He asked me if I went to school every day.*
He asked me where I went to school.
imperative
He said, “Go to school every day.” infinitive
He said to go to school every day.


*Note than when a Yes/No question is being asked in direct speech, then a construction with if or whether is used. If a WH question is being asked, then use the WH to introduce the clause. Also note that with indirect speech, these are examples of embedded questions.
The situation changes if instead of the common said another part of the very to say is used. In that case the verb tenses usually remain the same. Some examples of this situation are given below.


Direct Speech Indirect Speech
simple present + simple present
He says, “I go to school every day.” simple present + simple present
He says (that) he goes to school every day.
present perfect + simple present
He has said, “I go to school every day.” present perfect + simple present
He has said (that) he goes to school every day.
past progressive + simple past
He was saying, “I went to school every day.” past progressive + simple past
He was saying (that) he went to school every day.
past progressive + past perfect
He was saying (that) he had gone to school every day.
future + simple present
He will say, “I go to school every day.” future + simple present
He will say (that) he goes to school every day.


Another situation is the one in which modal constructions are used. If the verb said is used, then the form of the modal, or another modal that has a past meaning is used.


Direct Speech Indirect Speech
can
He said, “I can go to school every day.” could
He said (that) he could go to school every day.
may
He said, “I may go to school every day.” might
He said (that) he might go to school every day.
might
He said, “I might go to school every day.”
must
He said, “I must go to school every day.” had to
He said (that) he had to go to school every day.
have to
He said, “I have to go to school every day.”
should
He said, “I should go to school every day.” should
He said (that) he should go to school every day.
ought to
He said, “I ought to go to school every day.” ought to
He said (that) he ought to go to school every day.


While not all of the possibilities have been listed here, there are enough to provide examples of the main rules governing the use of indirect or reported speech. For other situations, try to extrapolate from the examples here, or better still, refer to a good grammar text or reference book.
Some other verbs that can be used to introduce direct speech are: ask, report, tell, announce, suggest, and inquire. They are not used interchangeably; check a grammar or usage book for further information