Direct Speech vs. Reported Speech | Improve Your English Storytelling

- How do we change this boring conversation?

He said, "Your dress is ugly."

Wow. I said, "Your face is ugly."

Ah.

He said, "This is why you have no friends."

Wow that's crazy.

Then he had a very stupid look on his face and walked away.

Hmm Hmm.

And make it more interesting, more engaging, more exciting.

So he goes, "Tour dress is ugly."

Whoa, whoa.

So I'm all like, "Yeah well your face is ugly."

Wow.

So he's all like, "Well this is why you don't have friends."

And then what happened?

And then he just went all like, "Eugh."

What, what?

These two birds.

Did you know that this and this mean the same thing?

Whoa, whoa.

Okay, not in every situation.

Go can mean leave, and like can mean,

mm, this makes me happy, I like this.

But, when we tell one person

what another person said, they can mean the same thing.

For example.

He wants to tell his friend exactly what he said.

But more importantly, he wants to say how he said that.

Yeah, he could say, "Oh, he told me

"that my hair looked bad."

Grammatically, that's fine.

But to explain exactly how someone said something,

you probably copy their hand gestures,

their face movements and exactly how they said it, right?

To achieve this in English, we do this.

Oh my God, we were talking, and he was like,

"Your hair looks bad." (whimpers)

And then,

so I went, "Well, your face looks bad."

So in this case, in this context, both mean said.

They're both direct speech and they both copy

not just the exact words, but you are copying

how they said this and how you said this,

and grammar stuff, notice with like,

you need a version of be.

He was like, was because he, she, it, and it's past.

This happened in the past.

Same with the verb go, I went.

Again, they both just mean said.

So if the verb say is perfectly fine,

why do we use be like and go?

Well, it sounds more emphatic, more dramatic.

You are making the listener experience

what you experienced in that conversation.

You are making that conversation seem alive.

It just makes it more relatable.

Okay, is this formal, no.

Is it rude, also no.

It just sounds very casual, so be careful using it

in business work situations because yeah,

it doesn't sound very professional,

but with friends this is how we really speak.

We also use go and be like to copy the mannerisms,

the behavior, everything the face is doing,

everything the body is doing,

again because it makes it more engaging

and interesting for the listener.

So I was talking to Maria and you know how she gets,

you know, well, I was just like,

and she just went, like I understood, very weird.

Look at this conversation.

Yesterday, right, my parents are like, "Go to your room."

So I go, "Make me."

Yeah, I can't play PlayStation anymore.

So because this isn't very formal grammar,

we can be more relaxed with the rules.

Yes, this conversation happened in the past,

but did you notice, present verbs.

You can totally do that, because English is stupid

and nothing makes sense.

So while we are learning,

I want you to think about

your last conversation that you had.

Make a mental note of it.

You'll need that at the end of this video.

To add some extra, mwah, flavor,

you can include the word all after the verb be,

or after the verb go, like this.

Again, this adds emphasis to the way you are acting,

the way you are behaving.

So you don't really even need a word after this.

You could just say, every time she looks at me,

I'm all like. (sighs) (bells chiming)

Or, you could use a word, like,

"Every time she looks at me,

"I'm all like heart eye emoji."

You know, if you're texting or emailing that

to someone, you could, and yet,

of course you could say,

"Every time she looks at me I go all stupid."

So romantic.

You could, to avoid repetition, use both of them

in the same sentence, like this.

When I watch Allie's videos, I'm like, "Yay."

But when I'm in class, I go all sleepy.

Also also, the verb go in this context

works like the verb get,

meaning become, I become all sleepy.

Let's practice this in the comments right now.

When you see a certain person,

think about a special person,

how do you behave, how do you act?

Try to use this in your answer.

Also, think of that last person

that you had a conversation, an argument with.

What happened, what did they say?

What did you say, what were your facial expressions like?

Use emojis in your answer, that's fine too.

Practice all those ways that we use

be like and go in your answers.

And today, start using this new English structure

in your writing and speaking.

I'll see you in the next class, bye.

(gentle music)