Free indirect speech — le discours indirect libre (recognition)

Free indirect speech — le discours indirect libre (recognition) means “Literary blend of narration and a character's thoughts, with no reporting verb or que (recognition)”. Free indirect speech (discours indirect libre) reports a character's thoughts or words inside the narration itself, without a reporting verb (il pensait que…) and without que. Formation: Narration + pensée du personnage, sans verbe introducteur ni que

Literary blend of narration and a character's thoughts, with no reporting verb or que (recognition)

C2

Formation

Narration + pensée du personnage, sans verbe introducteur ni que

Explanation

Free indirect speech (discours indirect libre) reports a character's thoughts or words inside the narration itself, without a reporting verb (il pensait que…) and without que. It keeps the tenses of indirect speech (imparfait, conditionnel) but the lively tone of direct speech — often with questions or exclamations. You mainly need to recognize it in novels: Il regarda la mer. Que ferait-il maintenant ?

Examples

Elle ferma la porte. Pourquoi était-il parti sans un mot ?
She closed the door. Why had he left without a word?
Il regarda le ciel. Demain, tout serait différent.
He looked at the sky. Tomorrow, everything would be different.

FAQ

Free indirect speech — le discours indirect libre (recognition) — what does it mean and how is it used?

Literary blend of narration and a character's thoughts, with no reporting verb or que (recognition). Free indirect speech (discours indirect libre) reports a character's thoughts or words inside the narration itself, without a reporting verb (il pensait que…) and without que. It keeps the tenses of indirect speech (imparfait, conditionnel) but the lively tone of direct speech — often with questions or exclamations. You mainly need to recognize it in novels: Il regarda la mer. Que ferait-il maintenant ?

Free indirect speech — le discours indirect libre (recognition) — how do you form it?

Narration + pensée du personnage, sans verbe introducteur ni que

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