Reported Speech
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:
1. We can use the person's exact words - in quotation marks "..." if we are
writing (direct speech).
2. We can change the person's words into our own words (reported
speech).
direct speech reported speech
(exact words) (my words)
He said: "I love He said that he loved
you." me.
Reported speech is not really difficult. It is more a matter of logic and
common sense. You probably have the same concept in your own language,
where you use your own words to say what somebody has said or written.
In this lesson we learn about reported speech, the structure that we use
when we report what another person has said.
Now we will look at:
Reported Statements
Backshift
Time and Place
Reported Questions
Reported Requests
1
Reported Orders
And then you can check your understanding of reported speech with...
Reported Speech Quiz
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:
questions-within-questions: Can you tell me if they are expensive?
mental processes: He believes that politics is a dirty game.
Reported statements
Reported Statements
Reported statements are one form of reported speech.
direct
reported statement
statement
He said, "I am He said that he was
sick." sick.
We usually introduce reported statements with "reporting verbs" such as
"say" or "tell":
He said (that)...
He told me (that)...
When we report a statement, we can say "He said that..." or simply "He
said...". Both are possible. "He said that..." is more formal.
When we use our own words to report speech, there are one or two things
that we sometimes change:
pronouns may need to change to reflect a different perspective
tense sometimes has to go back one tense (eg, present becomes
past) - this is called backshift
pronoun tense
change change
direct He said, "I am sick.
2
pronoun tense
change change
statement "
reported He said
he was sick.
statement (that)
There are sometimes other things too that we may need to change, such as
time or place. Look at these examples:
pronoun tense time
change change change
direct sic
Jane said, "I was yesterday."
statement k
reported Jane said sic the day
she had been
statement (that) k before.
tense
place change
change
direct
She said, "It is hot in here."
statement
reported She said
it was hot in there.
statement (that)
We also sometimes need to think about the third person singular "s":
pronou person
n change
direct in
Mary said, "I work
statement London."
reported Mary said
she works in London.
statement (that)
Notice that in the above example, we do not change the tense. Usually, with
the present simple, if something is still true now - she still works in London -
we don't need to change it.
Typical reporting verbs for statements: say, tell, mention, inform
He said that...
He said...
He told me that...
He told me...
He mentioned that...
He informed me that...
3
Backshift
Backshift
direct speech reported speech
He said: "I feel He said that he felt
sad." sad.
In simple terms, the structure of reported speech is:
reporting clause [+ conjuntion] + reported clause
reporting conjuncti reported
clause on clause
he was
John said (that)
hungry.
John's original words: "I am hungry."
We sometimes change the tense of the reported clause by moving it back
one tense. For example, present simple goes back one tense to past
simple. We call this change "backshift".
When do we use backshift?
We use backshift when it is logical to use backshift. So, for example, if two
minutes ago John said "I am hungry" and I am now telling his sister, I might
NOT use backshift (because John is still hungry):
John just said that he is hungry.
But if yesterday John said "I am hungry" and I am now telling his sister, I
would likely use backshift:
Yesterday, John said that he was hungry.
[We hope that John has eaten since yesterday ;-) ]
So we use backshift SOMETIMES but not always. And WHEN we use backshift,
here's how it works with these common tenses and modals:
backshift
this goes back to this
present simple → past simple
4
backshift
this goes back to this
present
→ past continuous
continuous
past simple
→ past perfect
present perfect
past perfect
past continuous →
continuous
can could
may might
→
will would
shall should
We NEVER use backshift when the original words are:
past perfect
could
might
would
should
Remember:
If a situation is still true, backshift is optional.
For a general truth there is no need for backshift.
Look at the following examples. See if you can understand when and why
they use backshift:
tenses and
direct speech reported speech
modals
present He said (that) he likes coffee.
He said, "I like coffee."
simple* He said (that) he liked coffee.
She said Moo is living there
present She said, "Moo is living here with them.
continuous* with us." She said Moo was living there
with them.
John said, "We bought a house John said they had bought a
past simple
last week." house the week before.
present Ram said, "I haven't seen Ram said he hadn't seen
perfect Avatar." Avatar.
past Wayne said, "Were you Wayne asked if I had been
continuous watching TV when I called." watching TV when he called.
past perfect** Ati said, "I had never lived in Ati told us that he had never
5
tenses and
direct speech reported speech
modals
Thailand before." lived in Thailand before.
She said Tara couldn't swim.
can She said, "Tara can't swim."
She said Tara can't swim.
He said, "Could you swim when He asked me if I could swim
could**
you were three?" when I was three.
She said she might be late.
(and she was late)
may She said: "I may be late." She said she may be late. (the
time to be late has not yet
arrived)
might** She said, "I might come early." She said she might come early.
She said she would call me the
next day.
She said, "I'll call you
will She said she will call me
tomorrow."
tomorrow. (tomorrow has not
come)
She said she would not like to
would** She said, "I wouldn't like to go."
go.
He said: "Shall I open the He asked if he should open the
shall
door?" door.
John said, "You should come
should** John said I should go there.
here."
The kidnapper phoned me and
The kidnapper phoned me and
said: "You must come here
said I had to go there then.
now."
must
Ati said he must find a job next
Ati said, "I must find a job next
year. (next year hasn't come
year."
yet)
Tara said she had to do her
Tara said: "I have to do my homework.
have to
homework." Tara says she has to do her
homework.
* if still true, change is optional (sometimes a matter of emphasis)
** never changes
Time/place
Time and Place
When we report something, we may need to make changes to:
6
time (now, tomorrow)
place (here, this room)
direct speech reported speech
She said, "I saw Mary She said she had seen Mary the day
yesterday." before.
He said: "My mother is here." He said that his mother was there.
Don't confuse time with tense. "Tense" is the grammatical form of the verb
that in the reported clause we sometimes shift back (backshift). "Time"
refers to the actual time that something happens, such as "today" or "now"
or "5 weeks ago".
Time words
If we report something around the same time, then we probably do not need
to make any changes to time words. But if we report something at a
different time, we need to change time words. Look at these example
sentences:
He said: "It was hot yesterday." → He said that it had been hot the
day before.
He said: "We are going to swim tomorrow." → He said they were going
to swim the next day.
Here is a list of common time words, showing how you change them for
reported speech:
direct
reported speech
speech
now then, at that time
today that day, on Sunday, yesterday
tonight that night, last night, on Sunday night
the next day/ the following day, on Sunday,
tomorrow
today
yesterday the day before/ the previous day, on Sunday
the night before/ the previous night, on Sunday
last night
night
this week that week, last week
last month the month before/ the previous month, in May
next year the following year, in 2014
two minutes
two minutes before
ago
in one hour one hour later
7
Place words
If we are in the same place when we report something, then we do not need
to make any changes to place words. But if we are in a different place when
we report something, then we need to change the place words. Look at these
example sentences:
He said: "It is cold in here." → He said that it was cold in there.
He said: "How much is this book?" → He asked how much the book
was.
Here are some common place words, showing how you change them for
reported speech:
direct
indirect speech
speech
here there, in Starbucks
this That
the book, that book, War and
this book
Peace
in the room, in that room, in the
in this room
kitchen
Reported questions
Reported Questions
Reported questions are one form of reported speech.
direct question reported question
She said: "Are you She asked me if I was
cold?" cold.
He said: "Where's my He asked where his pen
pen?" was.
We usually introduce reported questions with the verb "ask":
He asked (me) if/whether... (YES/NO questions)
He asked (me) why/when/where/what/how... (question-word
questions)
As with reported statements, we may need to change pronouns and tense
(backshift) as well as time and place in reported questions.
8
But we also need to change the word order. After we report a question, it is
no longer a question (and in writing there is no question mark). The word
order is like that of a normal statement (subject-verb-object).
Reported YES/NO questions
We introduce reported YES/NO questions with ask + if:
direct She "Do you like
question said, coffee?"
reported She
if I liked coffee.
question asked
Note that in the above example the reported question has no auxiliary "do".
But there is pronoun change and backshift.
Note that we sometimes use "whether" instead of "if". The meaning is the
same. "Whether" is a little more formal and more usual in writing:
They asked us if we wanted lunch.
They asked us whether we wanted lunch.
Reported question-word questions
We introduce reported question-word questions with ask + question word:
direct "Wher do you
He said,
question e live?"
reported He asked
where I lived.
question me
Note that in the above example the reported question has no auxiliary "do".
But there is pronoun change and backshift.
Remember that there are basically three types of question:
1. YES/NO questions: Do you want tea?
2. Question Word questions: Where did you drink tea?
3. Choice questions: Do you prefer tea or coffee?
Reported choice questions have the same structure as Reported YES/NO
questions. Questions with the verb BE always have a different structure: Was
the tea cold? Where is my tea? You can see all these differences in the
examples below.
9
Look at these example sentences:
direct question reported question
YES/NO I said: "Can I help you?" I asked if I could help her.
questions She said to us: "Did you
She asked if we had felt cold.
feel cold?"
He said: "Are your hands He asked whether my hands
cold?" were cold.
question-word He said: "Where are you He asked me where I was
questions going?" going.
He said: "Why didn't you He asked me why I hadn't said
say something?" anything.
He said: "When will they He asked when they would
come?" come.
He said: "Who has seen He asked me who had seen
Avatar?" Avatar.
He said: "How much might He asked me how much it
it cost?" might cost.
She said to me: "Where is She asked me where the
the station?" station was.
choice He asked, "Do you want He asked whether I wanted tea
questions tea or coffee?" or coffee.
He said, "Is the car new or He asked whether the car was
second-hand?" new or second-hand.
Reported requests
Reported Requests
A request is when somebody asks you to do something – usually politely.
Reported requests are one form of reported speech.
direct request reported request
She said: "Could you open the window, She asked me to open the
please?" window.
He asked them not to
He said: "Please don't smoke."
smoke.
We usually introduce reported requests with the verb "ask". The structure is
very simple:
as +noun +to
10
pronou
k infinitive
n
We asked the man to help us.
They asked us to wait.
Because we use the infinitive there is no need to worry about tense. But as
with reported statements and reported questions, we may need to change
pronouns as well as time and place in reported requests.
Here are some examples:
direct request reported request
I asked them politely to make less
I said politely, "Please make less noise."
noise.
She has often said to me, "Could you stay She has often asked me to stay
the night?" the night.
They said to the architect: "We'd like you They asked the architect to meet
to meet us here tomorrow." them there the next day.
She will certainly say to John, "Please stay She will certainly ask John to stay
for lunch." for lunch.
She always asks me not to forget
She always says, "Please don't forget me."
her.
Notice above that we report a negative request by using not.
Reported orders
Reported Orders
An order is when somebody tells you to do something and you have no
choice. It is not usually polite. It is a "command". Reported orders are one
form of reported speech.
11
direct order reported order
She said: She told him to
"Stop!" stop.
We usually introduce reported orders with the verb "tell". The structure is
very simple:
noun
to
tell +pronou +
infinitive
n
We told the man not to smoke.
The policeman told us to follow him.
Because we use the infinitive there is no need to worry about tense. But as
with reported statements and reported requests, we may need to change
pronouns as well as time and place in reported orders.
Here are some examples:
direct order reported order
She told the boy to eat his food right
She said, "Eat your food now!"
then.
The policeman said: "Get out of your The policeman instructed us to get out
car!" of our car.
She said, "You must make the bed She told her husband to make the bed
before you go to work!" before he went to work.
The doctor said: "Don't smoke in The doctor told them not to smoke in
12
direct order reported order
here!" there.
Notice above that we report a negative order by using not.
The most common verb for reporting an order is "tell", but we can also use
other verbs such as: order, command, instruct. For example:
The sergeant commanded his men to stand straight.
Reported speech quiz
13
