B1–B2 English grammar
Reported Speech: Rules, Tense Changes and Exercises
Reported speech retells a message from a new speaker, place or time. Learn which changes are required, which are optional, and which are wrong: so you can report meaning accurately instead of transforming sentences mechanically.
Understand · You say · Check
A clear route through the lesson
Before changing verb forms, establish who spoke, who is reporting, and when. Backshift is often natural after a past reporting verb, but a backshifted form does not prove that the original information is now false.
Read the explanations, answer aloud at each You say pause, then reveal the model and check one point. A model is one possible answer. Finish with the 12-question understanding check.
Keep the learner’s speaking time. At each You say pause, use the suggested follow-up and one correction focus. Finish with the 12-question understanding check.
Direct speech and reported speech
Direct speech
Repeats the speaker’s exact words, normally inside quotation marks.
Nina said, “I am tired.”Reported speech
Retells the meaning from the reporter’s viewpoint.
Nina said that she was tired.Three viewpoints may change: person (I → she), time (am → was) and place/time reference (here/today → there/that day). The context: not a blind conversion table: decides what is necessary.
A message with a clear reporting time
Monday, 10 a.m., Lea to Omar: “I’m working at home today. I’ll send you the file tomorrow. Can you call me at three?”
Tuesday, Omar to his manager: Lea said she was working at home on Monday. She said she would send me the file on Tuesday. She asked me to call her at three.
If you report a message on the same day, today may still fit. If information remains true, keeping the present tense can also be appropriate.
Reported speech rules for statements
Say
say + (that) + clauseMarta said that she needed help.
Do not put a person directly after said: said me.
Tell
tell + person + (that) + clauseMarta told me that she needed help.
Tell normally needs an object: told that.
| Direct message | Natural report | What changed? |
|---|---|---|
| “I work from home.” | He said (that) he worked from home. | Pronoun and tense |
| “We will call you.” | They told me (that) they would call me. | Pronouns and modal |
| “The door is locked.” | She said the door was locked. | Tense only |
Reported speech tense changes
After a past reporting verb such as said, English often moves the original verb one step back. This is called backshift.
| Direct form | Common reported form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| present simple | past simple | “I need help.” → She said she needed help. |
| present continuous | past continuous | “I am waiting.” → He said he was waiting. |
| past simple | past perfect | “I lost it.” → She said she had lost it. |
| present perfect | past perfect | “We have finished.” → They said they had finished. |
| will | would | “I will return.” → He said he would return. |
| can | could | “I can swim.” → She said she could swim. |
| may | might | “It may rain.” → He said it might rain. |
No backshift: current fact
If the information is still true and the reporter presents it as current, the original tense can remain.
The guide said the museum opens at ten.No further change
Past perfect, would, could, should, might and must often stay unchanged.
“I had left.” → She said she had left.Pronouns and reported speech time expressions
Change a word only when the new speaker, time or place makes the old reference unclear or false.
| Original viewpoint | Possible reported viewpoint | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I / my | he, she / his, her | “I lost my key.” → Jo said she had lost her key. |
| today | that day | “I’m busy today.” → He said he was busy that day. |
| tomorrow | the next/following day | “I’ll call tomorrow.” → She said she would call the next day. |
| yesterday | the day before | “I arrived yesterday.” → He said he had arrived the day before. |
| this / these | that / those | “These shoes hurt.” → She said those shoes hurt. |
| here | there | “Wait here.” → He told us to wait there. |
| now | then / at that moment | “I need it now.” → She said she needed it then. |
Report questions and commands
Yes/no questions
ask + if/whether + statement order“Are you ready?” → She asked if I was ready.
No question inversion and no question mark inside the report.
Wh-questions
ask + wh-word + statement order“Where do you live?” → He asked where I lived.
Remove do/does/did as a question auxiliary.
Commands and requests
tell/ask + person + (not) to + verb“Please sit down.” → She asked us to sit down.
“Don’t touch it.” → He told me not to touch it.
Reporting verbs add meaning
advise, promise, warn, remind, admit, suggest express the speaker’s purpose.
“Be careful.” → She warned me to be careful.Guided reported speech exercises
Retell the meaning, then open the explanation.
1. Ana: “I am preparing the report.”
Ana said (that) she was preparing the report. Change the pronoun and backshift the present continuous.
2. Ben to me: “I will send you the link tomorrow.”
Ben told me (that) he would send me the link the next day. Will → would; pronouns and time viewpoint change.
3. The interviewer: “Why did you leave your last job?”
The interviewer asked why I had left my last job. Keep the wh-word, use statement order, and backshift the past simple.
4. The guard to us: “Do not enter this room.”
The guard told us not to enter that room. A negative command uses told + object + not to.
5. Correct: “She asked me where was the station.”
She asked me where the station was. Reported questions use statement order.
Final check
Check your understanding
Choose one answer for each question. Read the context carefully: a question may ask for a particular form, meaning or register. The explanations show why that answer fits.
0 of 12 questions answered