Reported Speech (Indirect Speech)

Change of the tenses

If the reporting verb is in the past form (said, told,...), you have to change the tense.

 

Direct speech Present simple Present progressive Past simple Past progressive Present perfect simple Present perfect progr. Future

Indirect speech Past simple Past progressive Past perfect Past perfect progressive Past perfect simple Past perfect progressive Conditional I

Direct Speech go am/is/are going went was/were going has/have gone has/have been going will go

Indirect speech went was/were going had gone had been going had gone had been going would go

 

Example: Peter said, "Carol is a nice girl." Peter said (that) Carol was a nice girl.

 

Don't change these verbs: might, could, would, should

Example:

He said, "I might arrive late." He said (that) he might arrive late.

It isn't necessary to change the present tense into the past tense if the information in the direct speech is still true or a general statement.

Examples:

Frank said, "My sister is a secretary." Frank said (that) his sister is (was) a secretary.

He told us, "The sun rises in the east." He told us that the sun rises (rose) in the east.

 

 

Change of the pronouns

When you form the reported speech, you have to pay attention that the pronouns refer to the correct persons.

Examples:

Susan said, "My parents are clever scientists." Susan said (that) her parents were clever scientists.

Tom said, "I like PE best." Tom said (that) he liked PE best.

They said, "We went swimming with our friends." They said (that) they had gone swimming with their friend.

Betty said, "Sam told me the truth." Betty said (that) Sam had told her the truth.

 

	Direct speech	Indirect speech
She said	I - my - me	she - her - her
He said	I - my - me	he - his - him
They said	we - our - us	they - their - them

 

You and your:

They told her / him / me / them / us, "George likes you."

They told her / him / me / them / us (that) George liked her / him / me / them / us.

They told her / him / me / them / us,"George likes your sister."

They told her / him / me / them / us (that) George likes her / his / my / their / our sister.

They told her / him / me / them / us,"You are clever."

They told her / him / me / them / us (that) she / he / I / they / we was / were clever.

 

Change of expressions of time and place

Direct speech	Indirect speech
Time
now	then
today	that day
yesterday	the day before
tomorrow	the next / following day
last week, month,...	the previous week / the week before
next week, month,...	the following week, month,...
a (week,...) ago	a (week,...) before
Place
here	there
this	that
these	those

 

Example: She said, "I have already seen Carol today." She said (that) she had already seen Carol that day.

 

Reported Questions

If there is a question word, we keep it.

Examples:

They asked me, "Where is the next supermarket?" They asked me where the next supermarket was.

She asked them, "How often do you play golf?" She asked them how often they played golf.

 

If there is no question word, we start the reported speech with if or whether.

Examples:

She asked me, "Do you like some tea?" She asked me if/whether I liked some tea.

We asked them, "Did she arrive in time?" We asked them if/whether she had arrived in time.

 

Reported Requests

If someone asks you in a polite way, use (not) to + infinitive

Examples:

He asked her, "Could you close the door, please?" He asked her to close the door.

She asked them, "Help me, please." She asked them to help her.

 

Reported Commands

If someone doesn't ask you politely or gives you an order, use (not) to + infinitive.

Examples:

He told me, "Be quiet!" He told me to be quiet.

She told us, "Don't stay up too late!" She told us not to stay up too late.

 

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EXERCISES

Reported Speech Exercise 1 - statements - mixed tenses

Reported Speech Exercise 2 - statements - present tense

Reported Speech Exercise 3 - statements - present tense

Reported Speech Exercise 4 - statements - mixed tenses

Reported Speech Exercise 5 - statements - mixed tenses

Reported Speech Exercise 6 - statements, questions, commands

Reported Speech Exercise 7 - statements, questions, commands

Reported Speech Exercise 8 - questions, commands

Reported Speech Exercise 9 - questions, commands

Reported Speech Exercise 10 - statements, questions, commands