Kursus om direkte og indirekte tale på engelsk - TOEIC® Forberedelse
Direkte tale og indirekte tale (på engelsk, reported speech) er to måder at gengive, hvad nogen har sagt.
- Direkte tale består i at gentage ordret, hvad en person har sagt, typisk ved brug af anførselstegn.
- Indirekte tale består i at gengive meningen med det, der blev sagt, uden nødvendigvis at bruge præcis de samme ord.
Dette kursus har til formål at forklare disse to former for gengivelse på engelsk, illustrere forskellene og præsentere de grundlæggende regler for at omdanne direkte tale til indirekte tale.
Direkte tale (Direct Speech)
Direkte tale på engelsk består i at gengive præcist, hvad en person har sagt. Man genkender det typisk på grund af anførselstegnene.
- John said, "I'm going to the store."
- She asked, “Are you coming with me?”
Karakteristika for direkte tale
- Brug af anførselstegn: Direkte tale placeres mellem anførselstegn på engelsk: “...”
- Respekt for tegnsætning: Tegnsætningsmærker (punktum, komma, spørgsmålstegn osv.) placeres normalt inden for anførselstegnene.
- Inversion af subjekt-verbum mulig, hvis det er et spørgsmål: “Are you coming with me?”
- Verbale tider: Verbaltiderne i direkte tale forbliver som oprindeligt sagt af taleren.
Indirekte tale (Indirect Speech eller Reported Speech)
Indirekte tale (eller reported speech) bruges til at videreformidle, hvad nogen har sagt, uden at citere ordret. Denne form kendetegnes ved fraværet af anførselstegn og kræver som regel tilpasning af pronomener, verbale tider samt udtryk for tid og sted.
- Direkte tale: Mary said, “I love reading books.”
- Indirekte tale: Mary said that she loved reading books.
Generelt muliggør indirekte tale:
- At opsummere eller videregive essensen af et budskab.
- At undgå ordret gentagelse af udtalelsen.
- At indflette udtalelser naturligt i en fortælling.
I næste sektion ser vi hvordan man omdanner en sætning fra direkte til indirekte tale.
Fra direkte tale til indirekte tale
For at omdanne direkte tale til indirekte tale på engelsk skal man typisk ændre:
- Introduktionsverbet (f.eks. said, told, asked, osv.).
- Personlige pronomener (I, you, we...) så de passer til den nye synsvinkel.
- Verbaltiden (kaldet backshift, hvilket vil sige et tidsskridt tilbage).
- Udtryk for tid og sted (now, today, tomorrow osv.).
Trin 1: Ændringer af pronomener
De personlige pronomener skal tilpasses den person, der gengiver udtalelsen:
| Direkte tale | Indirekte tale | Eksempel |
|---|---|---|
| "I" | he / she (afhængig af hvem der tales om) | I am hungry. → He said he was hungry. |
| "we" | they | We need more time. → They said they needed more time. |
| "you" | I / we (eller he/she/they, afhængig af kontekst) | You should come with me. → She told me I should come with her. (eller) He told us we should go with him. |
Trin 2: Ændringer af verbale tider
Når man gengiver udsagn fra nutid, omdannes de typisk til datid, især når introduktionsverbet står i datid (said, told osv.). Her er skemaet for tidsskift (også kaldet backshift):
| Direkte tale (tid) | Indirekte tale (tid) | Eksempel |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | Past Simple - præteritum | I play football. → He said he played football. |
| Present Continuous | Past Continuous | I am playing football. → He said he was playing football. |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect | I have played football. → He said he had played football. |
| Past Simple - præteritum | Past Perfect | I played football. → He said he had played football. |
| Past Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | I was playing football. → He said he had been playing football. |
| Future med will | Conditional med would | I will play football tomorrow. → He said he would play football the next day. |
| Modals: can / could | Modals: could | I can play football. → He said he could play football. |
| Modals: may / might | Modals: might | I may play football. → He said he might play football. |
| Modals: must | Modals: had to | I must play football. → He said he must play football. |
Undtagelser og særlige tilfælde
- Hvis den rapporterede situation stadig er aktuel (generel sandhed eller stadig gældende forhold), kan man beholde nutid.
- Direkte: The teacher said, "The earth revolves around the sun."
- Indirekte: The teacher said (that) the earth revolves around the sun.
- Hvis introduktionsverbet står i nutid (she says, he tells us), forbliver verbalformen den samme.
- Direkte: "I have a new car."
- Indirekte: She says she has a new car.
- Modalverberne could, might, should, would og ought to forbliver uændrede i indirekte tale.
- Direkte: "I could play better."
- Indirekte: He said he could play better.
Trin 3: Ændringer af adverbier for tid og sted
Når man går fra direkte til indirekte tale, skal man typisk tilpasse adverbier og udtryk for tid og sted:
| Direkte tale | Indirekte tale | Eksempel |
|---|---|---|
| now | then, at that time | I am studying now. → He said he was studying then. |
| today | that day | I have an exam today. → She said she had an exam that day. |
| yesterday | the day before, the previous day | I saw him yesterday. → He said he had seen him the day before. |
| tomorrow | the next day, the following day | I will call you tomorrow. → She said she would call me the next day. |
| last week/month/year | the previous week/month/year | I went to Paris last year. → He said he had gone to Paris the previous year. |
| next week/month/year | the following week/month/year | We will start the project next week. → They said they would start the project the following week. |
| here | there | I am staying here. → She said she was staying there. |
| this | that | I like this book. → He said he liked that book. |
| these | those | I bought these shoes. → She said she had bought those shoes. |
| ago | before | I met her two years ago. → He said he had met her two years before. |
Introduktionsverber (reporting verbs)
Generelt bruges introduktionsverbet “say” til at danne indirekte eller direkte tale.
Der findes dog også andre verber, som vist i tabellen herunder. Vi har desuden tilføjet, hvordan sætningen dannes, fordi nogle verber efterfølges af infinitiv, andre af gerundium osv.
| Introduktionsverb | Følgestruktur | Eksempel |
|---|---|---|
| to tell | direkte objekt + infinitiv | She told me to finish my homework. |
| to ask | direkte objekt + infinitiv | He asked her to help him. |
| to advise | direkte objekt + infinitiv | The doctor advised me to rest for a few days. |
| to warn | direkte objekt + infinitiv | She warned us not to go into the forest. |
| to suggest | gerundium (-ing form) | He suggested going to the park. |
| to explain | "that" + sætning | She explained that she couldn’t attend the meeting. |
| to say | "that" + sætning | He said that he would arrive late. |
| to recommend | gerundium (-ing form) | They recommended taking the earlier train. |
| to insist | gerundium (-ing form) eller "that" | She insisted on coming with us. She insisted that we leave immediately. |
| to agree | infinitiv | He agreed to help me with my project. |
| to promise | infinitiv | She promised to call me later. |
| to refuse | infinitiv | He refused to apologize for his mistake. |
| to apologize | præposition + gerundium (for + -ing) | He apologized for being late. |
| to admit | gerundium (-ing form) eller "that" | She admitted cheating in the exam. She admitted that she had made a mistake. |
| to deny | gerundium (-ing form) eller "that" | He denied stealing the money. He denied that he had stolen the money. |
| to encourage | direkte objekt + infinitiv | They encouraged me to apply for the position. |
| to forbid | direkte objekt + infinitiv | The teacher forbade us to use our phones during the exam. |
Forskel mellem say og tell
Der er en vigtig nuance at kende mellem disse to introduktionsverber:
- say efterfølges typisk direkte af den rapporterede sætning eller af "that".
- She said (that) she was tired.
- tell efterfølges altid af et direkte objekt (me, you, him, her osv.) før "that".
- She told me (that) she was tired.
Spørgsmål i indirekte tale
Yes/No Questions
For at omdanne et lukket spørgsmål til indirekte tale bruges "if" eller "whether".
- He asked, "Do you like coffee?" → He asked if I liked coffee.
Her forsvinder inversionen af subjekt-verbum (ikke længere Do you).
Wh-Questions
For at gengive et spørgsmål, der starter med who, what, when, where, why, how, osv., bevares spørgeordet, men normal subjekt-verbum rækkefølge genskabes.
- Why was he late? → She asked me why he was late.
(“was” og “he” får igen normal rækkefølge i indirekte form.) - She asked, "Where are you going?" → She asked where I was going.
Imperativer i indirekte tale
For at gengive en ordre, en anmodning eller et råd, bruges typisk to + infinitiv eller udtryk som "told someone to do something" eller "asked someone to do something".
-
Med “told someone to do something”:
- Open the door! → He told me to open the door.
-
Med “asked someone to do something”:
- Please, sit down. → She asked me to sit down.
Konklusion
Direkte tale og indirekte tale er to grundlæggende metoder til at gengive udtalelser på engelsk. Direkte tale er let at genkende via anførselstegnene og gengiver de oprindelige ord nøjagtigt. Indirekte tale kræver derimod tilpasning af pronomener, verbale tider og adverbier for at videreformidle budskabet korrekt.
Disse strukturer og nuancer vurderes ofte i TOEIC®, især i sektionerne om grammatik og læseforståelse.