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:
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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.
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Direct speech, changing the tense (backshift), no change of tenses, question sentences, demands/requests, expressions with who/what/how + infinitive, typical changes of time and place, introduction.
In English grammar, we use reported speech to say what another person has said. We can use their exact words with quotation marks , this is known as direct speech , or we can use indirect speech . In indirect speech , we change the tense and pronouns to show that some time has passed. Indirect speech is often introduced by a reporting verb or phrase such as ones below.
Learn the rules for writing indirect speech in English with Lingolia’s simple explanation. In the exercises, you can test your grammar skills.
Mandy is sitting in the café where James works. He tells her, “I work in this café almost every day. But yesterday I saw a famous TV presenter here for the first time. She was eating an ice-cream at the table where you are sitting now.” |
A week later, Mandy is speaking to a friend on the phone, “I saw James at the café last week. He said that .” |
When turning direct speech into indirect speech, we need to pay attention to the following points:
If the introductory clause is in the simple past (e.g. He said ), the tense has to be set back by one degree (see the table). The term for this in English is backshift .
direct speech | indirect 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 (going to) | was / were going to |
future (will) | conditional (would) |
conditional (would) |
The verbs could, should, would, might, must, needn’t, ought to, used to normally do not change.
If the introductory clause is in the simple present , however (e.g. He says ), then the tense remains unchanged, because the introductory clause already indicates that the statement is being immediately repeated (and not at a later point in time).
In some cases, however, we have to change the verb form.
When turning questions into indirect speech, we have to pay attention to the following points:
We don’t just use indirect questions to report what another person has asked. We also use them to ask questions in a very polite manner.
When turning demands and requests into indirect speech, we only need to change the pronouns and the time and place information. We don’t have to pay attention to the tenses – we simply use an infinitive .
If it is a negative demand, then in indirect speech 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. say = say something tell = say something to someone
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They say gossip is a natural part of human life. That’s why language has evolved to develop grammatical rules about the “he said” and “she said” statements. We call them reported speech.
Every time we use reported speech in English, we are talking about something said by someone else in the past. Thinking about it brings me back to high school, when reported speech was the main form of language!
Learn all about the definition, rules, and examples of reported speech as I go over everything. I also included a worksheet at the end of the article so you can test your knowledge of the topic.
Reported speech is a term we use when telling someone what another person said. You can do this while speaking or writing.
There are two kinds of reported speech you can use: direct speech and indirect speech. I’ll break each down for you.
A direct speech sentence mentions the exact words the other person said. For example:
Indirect speech changes the original speaker’s words. For example:
When we tell someone what another individual said, we use reporting verbs like told, asked, convinced, persuaded, and said. We also change the first-person figure in the quotation into the third-person speaker.
We usually talk about the past every time we use reported speech. That’s because the time of speaking is already done. For example:
Indirect speech: The employer asked me if I had experience with people in the corporate setting.
Indirect speech: I told James that I was working on my thesis.
A speech report has two parts: the reporting clause and the reported clause. Read the example below:
The reporting clause here is William said. Meanwhile, the reported clause is the 2nd clause, which is I need your help.
Aside from direct and indirect, reported speech can also be divided into four. The four types of reported speech are similar to the kinds of sentences: imperative, interrogative, exclamatory, and declarative.
The rules for reported speech can be complex. But with enough practice, you’ll be able to master them all.
The most common conjunction in reported speech is that. You can say, “My aunt says she’s outside,” or “My aunt says that she’s outside.”
Use if when you’re reporting a yes-no question. For example:
Indirect speech: She asked if she was coming with them.
Change the reporting verb into its past form if the statement is irrelevant now. Remember that some of these words are irregular verbs, meaning they don’t follow the typical -d or -ed pattern. For example:
Reported speech: She said she disliked fried chicken.
Note how the main verb in the reported statement is also in the past tense verb form.
Use the simple present tense in your indirect speech if the initial words remain relevant at the time of reporting. This verb tense also works if the report is something someone would repeat. For example:
This rule proves that the choice of verb tense is not a black-and-white question. The reporter needs to analyze the context of the action.
Move the tense backward when the reporting verb is in the past tense. That means:
Here are some examples:
He said that the singers had left the building. (past perfect)
If the original speaker is discussing the future, change the tense of the reporting verb into the past form. There’ll also be a change in the auxiliary verbs.
For example:
Indirect speech: She said that she would be there in a moment.
Do not change the verb tenses in indirect speech when the sentence has a time clause. This rule applies when the introductory verb is in the future, present, and present perfect. Here are other conditions where you must not change the tense:
Changing the place and time adverb when using indirect speech is essential. For example, now becomes then and today becomes that day. Here are more transformations in adverbs of time and places.
Here are some examples.
Indirect speech: He said he was baking cookies then.
Indirect speech: She said Myra went there the day before.
Indirect speech: She said she would go to the market the next day.
If the direct speech contains a modal verb, make sure to change them accordingly.
Indirect speech: He asked if he would come to the ball with me.
Indirect speech: He said Gina could inspect the room the next day because she’s free.
However, sometimes, the modal verb should does not change grammatically. For example:
Indirect speech: She said that he should go to the park.
To change an imperative sentence into a reported indirect sentence, use to for imperative and not to for negative sentences. Never use the word that in your indirect speech. Another rule is to remove the word please . Instead, say request or say. For example:
The host requested them not to interrupt the event.
When reporting a direct question, I would use verbs like inquire, wonder, ask, etc. Remember that we don’t use a question mark or exclamation mark for reports of questions. Below is an example I made of how to change question forms.
Correct: He asked me where I live.
Here’s another example. The first sentence uses direct speech in a present simple question form, while the second is the reported speech.
She asked me where I live.
My guide has shown you an explanation of reported statements in English. Do you have a better grasp on how to use it now?
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.
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How to use reported speech.
If you have a sentence in Direct Speech, try to follow our 5 steps to put the sentence into Reported Speech..
Mind the type of sentences when you use Reported Speech. There is more detailed information on the following pages.
If you use Reported Speech there are mostly two main differences.
The introductory sentence in Reported Speech can be in the Present or in the Past .
If the introductory sentences is in the Simple Present, there is no backshift of tenses.
If there is a pronoun in Direct Speech, it has possibly to be changed in Reported Speech, depending on the siutation.
Here I is changed to she .
If there is backshift of tenses in Reported Speech, the tenses are shifted the following way.
Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
---|---|
Simple forms | |
Simple Present | Simple Past |
Simple Past | Past Perfect |
Present Perfect | |
Past Perfect | |
will | would |
Progressive forms | |
am/are/is | was/were |
was/were | had been |
has been | |
had been |
If there is an expression of time/place in the sentence, it may be changed, depending on the situation.
Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
---|---|
this evening | that evening |
today/this day | that day |
these days | those days |
now | then |
a week ago | a week before |
last weekend | the weekend before / the previous weekend |
next week | the following week |
tomorrow | the next/following day |
here | there |
In some cases backshift of tenses is not necessary, e.g. when statements are still true. Backshift of tenses is never wrong.
when you use general statements.
* The word that is optional, that is the reason why we put it in brackets.
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COMMENTS
Learn English Grammar with BBC Learning English! Have you ever wanted to tell someone about what someone else has said to you? Learn about how you can do thi...
This lesson is about reported speech in English - it will help you to tell, explain and say what someone else said & help you speak clearly and accurately in...
Improve your grammar with 6 Minute Grammar - medium, our grammar series for medium level learners. ... the past perfect, zero conditionals, reported speech, relative clauses, passive voice ...
6 Minute Grammar. bbclearningenglish.com. British Broadcasting Corporation 2015 Page 1 of 5. Neil. Let's look at that more closely. We need to make some grammatical changes when we report what someone else says. First, when the speaker or listener changes, we need to change the pronouns. Catherine. That's right.
Watch my reported speech video: 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.
Reported speech: She says she likes dogs. When the reporting verb is in the past tense, you need to change the tense of both the reporting verb and the main verb. Example: Direct speech: I like dogs. Reported speech: She said she liked dogs. The tenses generally move backward as follows: Direct Speech. Reported Speech.
When we use reported speech, we often change the verb tense backwards in time. This can be called "backshift.". Here are some examples in different verb tenses: "I want to go home.". She said she wanted to go home. "I 'm reading a good book.". She said she was reading a good book. "I ate pasta for dinner last night.".
Exercises: 1 2 3. Indirect speech - reported speech. Exercise 1. Choose the correct form to complete the sentences below. 1 'I work in a bank.' ⇒ He said that he in a bank. 2 'I am working today.' ⇒ She told us she that day. 3 'I've been ill for a couple of weeks.' ⇒ He told me he for a couple of weeks.
What to do with pronouns, tenses and word order when you report what someone else says. - Listen to Reported speech by 6 Minute Grammar instantly on your tablet, phone or browser - no downloads needed.
Introduction. In English grammar, we use reported speech to say what another person has said. We can use their exact words with quotation marks, this is known as direct speech, or we can use indirect speech. In indirect speech, we change the tense and pronouns to show that some time has passed. Indirect speech is often introduced by a reporting ...
For example: Direct speech: I dislike fried chicken. Reported speech: She said she disliked fried chicken. Note how the main verb in the reported statement is also in the past tense verb form. Use the simple present tense in your indirect speech if the initial words remain relevant at the time of reporting.
5. Conversion of expressions of time and place. If there is an expression of time/place in the sentence, it may be changed, depending on the situation. Direct Speech → Peter, "I worked in the garden yesterday .". Reported Speech → Peter said (that) he had worked in the garden the day before. Direct Speech.
'Could you tell me how we ask indirect questions in English?'Yes, of course we can! This video explores ways to use English indirect questions to ask for inf...
Have you ever wanted to say what someone else said to you? Learn about how you can do this with reported speech. Watch and listen!
You need reported speech grammar - but it's tricky! Fortunately, Neil and Catherine explain it all in this 6 Minute Grammar! #bbclearningenglish #grammar #learnenglish #elt #6minutes #reportedspeech
Listen to this episode from 6 Minute Grammar on Spotify. What to do with pronouns, tenses and word order when you report what someone else says.
Welcome to the Grammar Gameshow! Test your knowledge in this crazy quiz! The presenter is a bit strange, the scoring doesn't make sense and the prizes could ...