Now that you know some of the reported speech rules about backshift, let’s learn some exceptions.
There are two situations in which we do NOT need to change the verb tense.
For example, if someone says “I have three children” (direct speech) then we would say “He said he has three children” because the situation continues to be true.
If I tell you “I live in the United States” (direct speech) then you could tell someone else “She said she lives in the United States” (that’s reported speech) because it is still true.
When the situation is still true, then we don’t need to backshift the verb.
But when the situation is NOT still true, then we DO need to backshift the verb.
Imagine your friend says, “I have a headache.”
We also don’t need to backshift to the verb when somebody said something about the future, and the event is still in the future.
Here’s an example:
Let’s look at a different situation:
Quick review:
Those were the rules for reported statements, just regular sentences.
What about reported speech for questions, requests, and orders?
For reported requests, we use “asked (someone) to do something”:
For reported orders, we use “told (someone) to do something:”
The main verb stays in the infinitive with “to”:
For yes/no questions, we use “asked if” and “wanted to know if” in reported speech.
The main verb changes and back shifts according to the rules and exceptions we learned earlier.
Notice that we don’t use do/does/did in the reported question:
For other questions that are not yes/no questions, we use asked/wanted to know (without “if”):
Again, notice that we don’t use do/does/did in reported questions:
Also, in questions with the verb “to be,” the word order changes in the reported question:
Learn more about reported speech:
If you want to take your English grammar to the next level, then my Advanced English Grammar Course is for you! It will help you master the details of the English language, with clear explanations of essential grammar topics, and lots of practice. I hope to see you inside!
I’ve got one last little exercise for you, and that is to write sentences using reported speech. Think about a conversation you’ve had in the past, and write about it – let’s see you put this into practice right away.
Hi, I’m Shayna. I create courses helping English as a Second Language learners become more fluent in just a few minutes a day – so they can speak English naturally and confidently in work and daily life.
Reported speech is how we represent the speech of other people or what we ourselves say. There are two main types of reported speech: direct speech and indirect speech.
Direct speech repeats the exact words the person used, or how we remember their words:
Barbara said, “I didn’t realise it was midnight.”
In indirect speech, the original speaker’s words are changed.
Barbara said she hadn’t realised it was midnight .
In this example, I becomes she and the verb tense reflects the fact that time has passed since the words were spoken: didn’t realise becomes hadn’t realised .
Indirect speech focuses more on the content of what someone said rather than their exact words:
“I’m sorry,” said Mark. (direct)
Mark apologised . (indirect: report of a speech act)
In a similar way, we can report what people wrote or thought:
‘I will love you forever,’ he wrote, and then posted the note through Alice’s door. (direct report of what someone wrote)
He wrote that he would love her forever , and then posted the note through Alice’s door. (indirect report of what someone wrote)
I need a new direction in life , she thought. (direct report of someone’s thoughts)
She thought that she needed a new direction in life . (indirect report of someone’s thoughts)
Reported speech: direct speech
Reported speech: indirect speech
Speech reports consist of two parts: the reporting clause and the reported clause. The reporting clause includes a verb such as say, tell, ask, reply, shout , usually in the past simple, and the reported clause includes what the original speaker said.
reporting clause | reported clause |
, | |
, | |
me |
Direct speech.
In direct speech we usually put a comma between the reporting clause and the reported clause. The words of the original speaker are enclosed in inverted commas, either single (‘…’) or double (“…”). If the reported clause comes first, we put the comma inside the inverted commas:
“ I couldn’t sleep last night, ” he said.
Rita said, ‘ I don’t need you any more. ’
If the direct speech is a question or exclamation, we use a question mark or exclamation mark, not a comma:
‘Is there a reason for this ? ’ she asked.
“I hate you ! ” he shouted.
We sometimes use a colon (:) between the reporting clause and the reported clause when the reporting clause is first:
The officer replied: ‘It is not possible to see the General. He’s busy.’
Punctuation
In indirect speech it is more common for the reporting clause to come first. When the reporting clause is first, we don’t put a comma between the reporting clause and the reported clause. When the reporting clause comes after the reported clause, we use a comma to separate the two parts:
She told me they had left her without any money.
Not: She told me, they had left her without any money .
Nobody had gone in or out during the previous hour, he informed us.
We don’t use question marks or exclamation marks in indirect reports of questions and exclamations:
He asked me why I was so upset.
Not: He asked me why I was so upset?
Say and tell.
We can use say and tell to report statements in direct speech, but say is more common. We don’t always mention the person being spoken to with say , but if we do mention them, we use a prepositional phrase with to ( to me, to Lorna ):
‘I’ll give you a ring tomorrow,’ she said .
‘Try to stay calm,’ she said to us in a low voice.
Not: ‘Try to stay calm,’ she said us in a low voice .
With tell , we always mention the person being spoken to; we use an indirect object (underlined):
‘Enjoy yourselves,’ he told them .
Not: ‘Enjoy yourselves,’ he told .
In indirect speech, say and tell are both common as reporting verbs. We don’t use an indirect object with say , but we always use an indirect object (underlined) with tell :
He said he was moving to New Zealand.
Not: He said me he was moving to New Zealand .
He told me he was moving to New Zealand.
Not: He told he was moving to New Zealand .
We use say , but not tell , to report questions:
‘Are you going now?’ she said .
Not: ‘Are you going now?’ she told me .
We use say , not tell , to report greetings, congratulations and other wishes:
‘Happy birthday!’ she said .
Not: Happy birthday!’ she told me .
Everyone said good luck to me as I went into the interview.
Not: Everyone told me good luck …
Say or tell ?
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The reporting verbs in this list are more common in indirect reports, in both speaking and writing:
Simon admitted that he had forgotten to email Andrea.
Louis always maintains that there is royal blood in his family.
The builder pointed out that the roof was in very poor condition.
Most of the verbs in the list are used in direct speech reports in written texts such as novels and newspaper reports. In ordinary conversation, we don’t use them in direct speech. The reporting clause usually comes second, but can sometimes come first:
‘Who is that person?’ she asked .
‘It was my fault,’ he confessed .
‘There is no cause for alarm,’ the Minister insisted .
Verb patterns: verb + that -clause
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What is reported speech, changing direct speech to reported speech, changing the tense (backshifting), no change of tenses, questions in reported speech, demands/requests, expressions with who/what/how + infinitive, typical changes to time and place markers.
Reported speech is when we repeat what another person has said but instead of using their exact words in quotation marks (direct speech), we use subordinate clause introduced by a reporting verb like the ones below:
Often, we have to change the tense, pronouns and time markers in reported speech.
Learn the rules for writing indirect speech in English with Lingolia’s simple explanation. In the exercises, you can test your grammar skills.
“I’ve prepared a presentation about the product, if you’re interested?” “I would love to see it. … This product is exactly what my company has been looking for! Is there any room to negotiate on price?” “I’m happy to hear that. Unfortunately, pricing is fixed.” “That’s a shame, but I appreciate your transparency. Could you send me a written offer?” “Yes, I will contact you tomorrow to finalise the details.” |
I had an appointment with a new client yesterday. I told him that and he said . |
When turning direct speech into reported speech, we may have to change all or some of the following:
If the reporting verb is in the simple past (e.g. said, told, asked, replied … ), the tense has to be set back by one degree (see the table below). This is known as backshifting .
Direct Speech | Reported Speech | |
---|---|---|
simple present | → | simple past |
present progressive | → | past progressive |
simple past | → | past perfect simple |
present perfect simple | ||
past perfect simple | ||
past progressive | → | past perfect progressive |
present perfect progressive | ||
past perfect progressive | ||
future with going to | → | was / were going to |
future with will | → | conditional (would) |
would |
The verbs could, should, would, might, must, needn’t, ought to, used to normally do not change.
If the reporting verb is in the simple present (e.g. says, tells, asks, replies … ), then the tense remains unchanged.
While the tense remains unchanged, we often still have to change the verb form to match the new pronouns.
We often omit the word that after a reporting verb, especially in spoken language and informal contexts.
When turning questions into reported speech, we follow the same rules as for declarative sentences: we change the pronouns as well as the time and place markers and backshift the tense as needed.
In addition, we also have to bear in mind the following:
Questions in reported speech do not end in a question mark.
When turning orders, demands and requests into reported speech, we only need to change the pronouns and the time and place information.
We don’t have to pay attention to the tense – we simply use an infinitive rather than a conjugated verb.
If the imperative is negated, then we use not + infinitive .
To express what someone should or can do in reported speech, we leave out the subject and the modal verb and instead we use the construction who/what/where/how + infinitive .
Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
---|---|
today | that day |
now | then at that moment/time |
yesterday | the day before |
… days ago | … days before |
last week | the week before |
next year | the following year |
tomorrow | the next day the following day |
here | there |
this | that |
these | those |
The words say and tell are not interchangeable.
Head over to the vocabulary section to learn more about the difference between say and tell .
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If we want to say what somebody has said, we basically have two options:
direct speech (exact words) | reported speech (my words) |
---|---|
He said: "I love you." | He said that he loved me. |
In this lesson we learn about reported speech , the structure that we use when we report what another person has said, and reported speech rules.
Now we will look at:
Reported speech is called "indirect speech" by some people. Other people regard reported speech simply as one form of indirect speech. Other forms are, for example:
What is reported speech.
Reported speech is also referred to as indirect speech or indirect discourse .
Before explaining how to report a discourse, let us first distinguish between direct speech and reported speech .
More examples:
Direct speech | Reported speech |
---|---|
She says: “I like tuna fish.” | She says that she likes tuna fish. |
She said: “I’m visiting Paris next weekend.” | She said that she was visiting Paris the following weekend. |
He asked Betty: “Do you like cheese?” | He wanted to know if Betty liked cheese. |
A. reporting statements, 1- pronouns.
Shifting back tense | Direct speech | Reported speech |
---|---|---|
(no backshift) | “I poems.” | He that he poems. |
(backshift) | “I poems | He that he poems. |
Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
---|---|
He said: “I happy” | He said that he happy |
He said: “I for my keys” | He said that he for his keys |
He said: “I New York last year” | He said that he New York the previous year. |
He said: ” I here for a long time “ | He said that he there for a long time |
He said: “They the work when I “ | He said that they the work when he “ |
He said: “I football when the accident “ | He said that football when the accident |
He said: “I football for two hours.” | He said that football for two hours |
He said: “I a newspaper when the light “ | He said that he a newspaper when the light |
He said: “I the door.” | He said that the door. |
He said: “I a Mercedes if I rich” | He said that he a Mercedes if he rich |
Modal | Direct speech | Reported speech |
---|---|---|
can | “I do it.” | He said that he do it. |
may | “ I go out?” | He wanted to know if he go out. |
must | “She apply for the job.” | He said that she apply for the job. |
will | “They call you.” | He told her that they call her. |
Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
---|---|
Time Expressions | |
today | that day |
now | then |
yesterday | the day before |
… days ago | … days before |
last week | the week before/the previous week |
next year | the following year/the next year/ the year after |
tomorrow | the next day/the following day |
Place | |
here | there |
Demonstratives | |
this | that |
these | those |
Types of questions | Direct speech | Reported speech |
---|---|---|
With question words (what, why, where, how…) | “Why don’t you speak English?” | He asked me why I didn’t speak English. |
Without question words (yes or no questions) | “Do you speak English?” | He asked me whether/if I spoke English. |
Direct speech | Reported speech |
---|---|
“Nancy, do the exercise.” | He told Nancy to do the exercise. |
“Nancy, give me your pen, please.” | He asked Nancy to give him her pen. |
Tenses are not relevant for requests, simply use / + verb (infinitive without “to”) |
For affirmative use + infinitive (without to) For negative requests, use + infinitive (without to). |
Main clauses connected with and/but, punctuation rules of the reported speech, can we omit that in the reported speech, list of reporting verbs.
Direct speech | Reported speech |
---|---|
simple present | simple past |
simple past | past perfect |
present continuous | past continuous |
past continuous | past perfect continuous |
will | would |
shall | should |
may | might |
can | could |
must | had to |
COMMENTS
This reference covers key sections about reported speech, including what it is, examples, rules, and verb tense changes. You’ll also learn about modal verbs, changes in time and place, and different reporting verbs.
Reported speech refers to something that someone else said. It contains a subject, reporting verb, and a reported cause. Don’t forget my rules for using reported speech. Practice the correct verb tense, modal verbs, time expressions, and place references.
Reporting verbs. When we want to report what people say, we use reporting verbs. Different reporting verbs have different patterns, for example: Mary complained (that) she was tired. (verb + that clause) She asked if they could stop for a rest. (verb + if clause) Peter told her not to worry. (verb + to -infinitive)
Here's how it works: We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. (Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell'.) If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the sentence: Direct speech: I like ice cream. Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.
We use "reported speech" to talk about what someone said. Let's learn rules for changing the verb tense, as well as exceptions - plus quizzes!
There are two main types of reported speech: direct speech and indirect speech. Direct speech repeats the exact words the person used, or how we remember their words: Barbara said, “I didn’t realise it was midnight.”. In indirect speech, the original speaker’s words are changed.
The basic verb pattern for using 'say' for reported speech is: say + (that) + clause. She said (that) she had already eaten. (The direct speech for this is "I've already eaten".) 2: TELL. On the other hand, with 'tell' we need to use an object, a person who we tell the information to.
Reported speech is when we repeat what another person has said but instead of using their exact words in quotation marks (direct speech), we use subordinate clause introduced by a reporting verb like the ones below: Examples: He says/said … She explains/explained … She tells/told me … He asks/asked …
to report (verb): to tell somebody what you have heard or seen. If we want to say what somebody has said, we basically have two options: We can use the person's exact words - in quotation marks "..." if we are writing (direct speech). We can change the person's words into our own words (reported speech). Reported speech is not really difficult.
1. We use direct speech to quote a speaker’s exact words. We put their words within quotation marks. We add a reporting verb such as “he said” or “she asked” before or after the quote.