indirect speech

British  

noun

1. Also called: reported speech.  the reporting of something said or written by conveying what was meant rather than repeating the exact words, as in the sentence He asked me whether I would go as opposed to He asked me, "Will you go?"

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Example Sentences

Instead of omniscient narrators, they deployed free indirect speech to reveal characters’ innermost thoughts.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

Over time, MacFarquhar developed a style that relied heavily on free indirect speech, a device common to novels but rare in non-fiction, where a character’s voice momentarily creeps into the narration unannounced.

From The Guardian • Oct. 17, 2015

But in indirect speech "shall" is used for all three persons, as, "He says he shall come."

From The International Auxiliary Language Esperanto Grammar and Commentary by Cox, George

This idea, that there is some law which makes an indirect speech more easy than a direct one, is greatly borne out by the cross-correspondences, where circumlocution continually takes the place of assertion.

From The New Revelation by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir

His own translation however overlooks the important fact that at the critical point in question Irenæus passes from the direct to the indirect speech.

From Essays on the work entitled "Supernatural Religion" by Lightfoot, Joseph Barber