Direct and indirect speech
Direct and indirect speech can be a source of confusion for English learners, but very important to aviators. On a daily basis, you as a first officer must transmit certain messages to the crew, to the ATC, and sometimes from maintenance to the captain or vice-versa. You need to be very familiar with DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH.
Let's first define the terms, then look at how to talk about what someone said, and how to convert speech from direct to indirect or vice-versa.
You can answer the question What did she/he say? in two ways:
by repeating the words spoken (direct speech)
by reporting the words spoken (indirect or reported speech).
Direct Speech
Direct speech repeats, or quotes, the exact words spoken. When we use direct speech in writing, we place the words spoken between quotation marks (" ") and there is no change in these words. We may be reporting something that's being said NOW (for example a telephone conversation), or telling someone later about a previous conversation.
Example
She says, "What time will be Top of Descend TOD?"
She said, "What time will be Top of Descend?" and I said, "In 25 minutes is TOD! "
"There's a rattling sound in the flap" John reported to the mechanic.
Karl said, "There's a chance we might have to divert to Brussels."
Indirect speech
Reported or indirect speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense of the words spoken. We use reporting verbs like 'say', 'tell', 'ask', and we may use the word 'that' to introduce the reported words. Inverted commas are not used.
She said, "I asked him." (direct speech) = She said that she had asked him. (indirect speech)
"That" may be omitted: She told him that she was going to prepare the cabin for TOD. = She told him she was going to prepare the cabin
Cygnet 55 Alpha is telling or reading back the clearance to continue VOR approach on Runaway Two Zero and that after the low approach/go-around, will follow the standard missed approach procedure.
"Say" and "tell"
Use 'say' when there is no indirect object: He said that he was fatigued after flying a bad roster.
Always use 'tell' when you say who was being spoken to (i.e. with an indirect object): He told me that he was fatigued after flying a bad roster.
"Talk" and "speak"
Use these verbs to describe the action of communicating:
He talked to us about the emergency they had before. She was speaking on the interphone when a loud bang happened.
Use these verbs with 'about' to refer to what was said: He talked (to us) about the emergency situation
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