English
What is reported speech, and how do you change direct speech into indirect speech?
Quick answer
Direct speech gives someone's exact words in inverted commas. Reported (indirect) speech retells them without quotes, usually moving the verb one tense back, as in she said she was tired.
In one sentence
Direct speech repeats someone's exact words inside inverted commas; reported speech (also called indirect speech) tells what they said in your own sentence, without quotation marks.
Explained
There are two ways to tell someone what Tom said:
- Direct speech: "I am tired," said Tom. These are Tom's exact words, inside inverted commas (speech marks).
- Reported speech: Tom said (that) he was tired. No speech marks. You report the meaning, from your point of view.
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The sentence starts with a reporting verb: said, told, asked, explained, shouted. The word that after said is optional.
Three things usually change when you report.
1. Pronouns change to fit the new speaker: "I like my bike," said Ana → Ana said she liked her bike.
2. Tenses move one step back (this is called backshift) when the reporting verb is in the past:
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| present: "I am tired." | past: he said he was tired |
| present continuous: "I am leaving." | past continuous: she said she was leaving |
| past: "I lost my keys." | past perfect: she said she had lost her keys |
| present perfect: "I have finished." | past perfect: he said he had finished |
| will: "I will call you." | would: she said she would call me |
| can: "I can swim." | could: he said he could swim |
| must: "We must go." | had to: they said they had to go |
3. Time and place words change, because you are reporting at a different time or place: now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the day before, here → there, this → that.
Questions and commands have their own pattern:
- Yes/no questions use if or whether: "Are you hungry?" → Dad asked if I was hungry.
- Wh- questions keep the question word but use normal statement order, with no do/did and no question mark: "Where do you live?" → He asked me where I lived.
- Commands use told / asked + person + to: "Close the door." → The teacher told Sam to close the door. Negative: told us not to run.
You do not need to backshift when the reporting verb is in the present (Ana says she likes pizza) or when the statement is still true (The teacher said the Earth goes round the Sun). The verb forms themselves are covered in the past tense.
Examples
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| "I'm going to the park," said Mia. | Mia said she was going to the park. |
| "We won the match," they said. | They said they had won the match. |
| "I'll see you tomorrow," Jay told me. | Jay told me he would see me the next day. |
| "Can you help me?" asked Grandpa. | Grandpa asked if I could help him. |
| "What time is it?" she asked. | She asked what time it was. |
| "Don't touch that!" Mum said to us. | Mum told us not to touch that. |
Worked example: "I have lost my phone here," Leo said. Pronouns: I, my → he, his. Tense: present perfect have lost → past perfect had lost. Place: here → there. Result: Leo said he had lost his phone there.
Common mistakes
- Keeping question order. She asked where did I live? Fix: She asked where I lived. No did, no question mark.
- Mixing up say and tell. Tell needs a person: She told me she was busy. Say does not: She said she was busy (or said to me).
- Forgetting to change the pronouns. Tom said I was tired means something different from Tom said he was tired.
- Keeping inverted commas. Reported speech never has speech marks, because it is not the exact words.
Step by step
Step by step
- Choose a reporting verbsaid for statements, asked for questions, told (+ person) for commands and statements to someone.
- Change the pronounsMake I, me, my, we, you fit the person telling the story.
- Move the tense backIf the reporting verb is past: present → past, past → past perfect, will → would, can → could.
- Change time and place wordstoday → that day, tomorrow → the next day, here → there.
- Fix questions and commandsQuestions: if/whether or the question word + statement order. Commands: to + verb.
Practice questions
Change into reported speech
Try each one, then check your answer.
- "I am tired," said Tom.
Show answer
Tom said (that) he was tired. - "I like pizza," says Ana.
Show answer
The reporting verb is present, so no backshift: Ana says she likes pizza. - "We played football," they said.
Show answer
They said they had played football. - "I will call you," Mum said to me.
Show answer
Mum told me she would call me. - "I can swim," said Leo.
Show answer
Leo said he could swim. - "I'm leaving tomorrow," she said.
Show answer
She said she was leaving the next day. - "Where do you live?" he asked me.
Show answer
He asked me where I lived. - "Are you hungry?" Dad asked me.
Show answer
Dad asked me if (whether) I was hungry. - "Close the door," the teacher told Sam.
Show answer
The teacher told Sam to close the door. - "Don't run!" the lifeguard told us.
Show answer
The lifeguard told us not to run. - "We must leave now," he said.
Show answer
He said they had to leave then. - Say or tell? She ___ me she was busy.
Show answer
There is a person (me) after the verb: told - "What are you doing here?" she asked us.
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She asked us what we were doing there. - Change back into direct speech: Priya said she had lost her keys.
Show answer
"I have lost my keys," said Priya. ("I lost my keys" is also fine.) - "The Earth goes round the Sun," the teacher said.
Show answer
It is still true, so you can keep the present: the teacher said the Earth goes round the Sun. - "Let's go to the beach," said Kofi.
Show answer
Use suggested: Kofi suggested going to the beach (or suggested that we go).
Questions people ask
What is the difference between direct and indirect speech?
Direct speech quotes the exact words in inverted commas: "I'm cold," said Sara. Indirect (reported) speech retells them without quotes, usually with tense and pronoun changes: Sara said she was cold.
What are the rules of reported speech?
Change the pronouns, move the tense one step back if the reporting verb is past, change time and place words, use if/whether or a question word for questions, and use to + verb for commands.
Do you always change the tense in reported speech?
No. Keep the tense when the reporting verb is present (She says she's busy) or when the fact is still true (He said he lives in Cardiff, if he still does). Backshifting is still correct, just not required.
How do you report a question?
Use asked. For yes/no questions add if or whether; for wh- questions keep the question word. Then use statement word order and a full stop: She asked what time the film started.
What is a reporting verb?
The verb that introduces the reported words: said, told, asked, explained, replied, warned, suggested, promised. Choosing a precise one (warned, promised) makes writing livelier than repeating said.
Is reported speech the same in Spanish or French?
The idea is the same, and the tenses also move back after a past verb (Spanish dijo que estaba cansado, French il a dit qu'il était fatigué). German usually marks reported speech with a special verb form, the Konjunktiv I: er sagte, er sei müde.
Quick quiz
Reported speech (direct and indirect speech)
Check what you know with 4 quick questions.
Question 1 of 4
Which sentence is reported speech?
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Related topics
Inverted commas
Inverted commas, also called speech marks or quotation marks, go around the exact words someone says, like "Come here," said Mum.
Past tense
The past tense is the verb form we use for things that have already happened, like walked, ate or was playing. Regular verbs add -ed; irregular verbs change in other ways.
Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun so you don't have to repeat it, such as he, she, it, they, we, me, mine or who.
Verbs
A verb is a word for an action (run, eat, write) or a state of being (is, seem, know). Almost every sentence has one, and verbs change to show tense.
Active and passive voice
In the active voice the subject does the action (The dog chased the ball). In the passive voice the subject receives it (The ball was chased by the dog), using be + past participle.
Parallel structure (parallelism)
Parallel structure means putting matching ideas in the same grammatical form, as in I like hiking, swimming and reading, not hiking, swimming and to read.