First steps on Reported Speech

1. REPORTED SPEECH
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez López

2. DEFINITION
Reported speech (also known as indirect
speech) refers to a sentence reporting what
someone has said. When we use reported
speech, we are usually talking about the past
(because obviously the person who spoke
originally spoke in the past). The verbs
therefore usually have to be in the past too.
"I'm going to the cinema".
He said he was going to the cinema.

3. RULES
In all sentences, the quotation marks
and the comma immediately before the
first quotation mark are removed. Next,
the word "that" is usually inserted after
the reporting verb. Then, there are
certain changes to be considered.
She said, “I work very hard."
She said she worked very hard.

4. 1. Tense changes
Direct speech Indirect speech
Present simple Past simple
›
She said, "It's cold." She said it was cold.
Present continuous Past continuous
She said, "I'm teaching › She said she was teaching
English online." English online.

5. Other tense changes
Modal verb forms also change:
Direct speech Indirect speech
will would
She said, "I'll teach English › She said she would teach English
online tomorrow." online tomorrow.
can could
She said, "I can teach English › She said she could teach English
online." online.
must
had to
She said, "I must have a
› She said she had to have a
computer to teach English
computer to teach English online.
online."

6. 2. Time and place changes
Time and place references change:
now › then
today › that day
here › there
this › that
this week › that week
the following day
tomorrow › the next day
the day after

7. the following week
next week › the next week
the week after
the previous day
Yesterday › the day before
the previous week
last week › the week before
previously
Ago › before
2 weeks previously
2 weeks ago › 2 weeks before
Tonight › that night
the previous Saturday
last Saturday › the Saturday before
the following Saturday
the next Saturday
next Saturday › the Saturday after
that Saturday

8. Examples:
I went to the theatre last
night.
He said he had gone to the
theatre the night before.
I'm staying here until next
week.
He said he was staying there
until the following week.

9. 3. Pronouns
Personal pronouns need to be changed according
to the situation.
“I run 5 km every day”, said she.
She said she ran 5 km every day.

10. 4. Reporting Verbs
Said, told and asked are the most common verbs used in
indirect speech.
We use “asked” to report questions:
I asked Lynne what time the lesson started.
We use “told” with an object.
Lynne told me she felt tired.
We usually use “said” without an object.
Lynne said she was going to teach online.
If “said” is used with an object we must include “to”
Lynne said to me that she'd never been to China.

11. There are many other verbs we can use apart from said,
told and asked. These include:
accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed, apologised,
begged, boasted, complained, denied, explained, implied,
invited, offered, ordered, promised, replied, suggested and
thought.

12. 5. Indirect Questions
We normally use asked.
YES/NO Questions:
“Can you pass me the salt?” she asked.
1- We write the subject + asked if: She asked if...
2- We invert the subject order of the question and change pronouns, time and
place expressions and tenses:
She asked if I could pass her the salt.
WH- Questions:
They asked “Where does your brother live?
1- We write the subject + asked: They asked
2- We write the WH- word, and we invert the subject order of the question and
change pronouns, time and place expressions and tenses:
They asked where my brother lived.