Reported Speech

We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. (Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell'.
) If this verb is
in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the sentence:
 Direct speech: I like ice cream.

 Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.
We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for
example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'.
(As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets
() to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)
But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech:
 Direct speech: I like ice cream.

 Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.
ense Direct Speech Reported Speech

present simple I like ice cream She said (that) she liked ice cream.
present
I am living in London She said (that) she was living in London.
continuous
She said (that) she had bought a car OR She said (that) she
past simple I bought a car
bought a car.
I was walking along the
past continuous She said (that) she had been walking along the street.
street
present perfect I haven't seen Julie She said (that) she hadn't seen Julie.
I had taken English
past perfect* She said (that) she had taken English lessons before.
lessons before
will I'll see you later She said (that) she would see me later.
would* I would help, but..” She said (that) she would help but...
I can speak perfect
can She said (that) she could speak perfect English.
English
I could swim when I was
could* She said (that) she could swim when she was four.
four
shall I shall come later She said (that) she would come later.
should* I should call my mother She said (that) she should call her mother
might* I might be late She said (that) she might be late
I must study at the She said (that) she must study at the weekend OR She said she
must
weekend had to study at the weekend
* doesn't change.
Occasionally, we don't need to change the present tense into the past if the information in direct speech is
still true (but this is only for things which are general facts, and even then usually we like to change the
tense):
 Direct speech: The sky is blue.
 Reported speech: She said (that) the sky is/was blue.
Reported Questions
So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative sentences. But how
about questions?
 Direct speech: Where do you live?
How can we make the reported speech here?
In fact, it's not so different from reported statements. The tense changes are the same, and we keep the
question word. The very important thing though is that, once we tell the question to someone else, it isn't a
question any more. So we need to change the grammar to a normal positive sentence. A bit confusing?
Maybe this example will help:
 Direct speech: Where do you live?

 Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
Do you see how I made it? The direct question is in the present simple tense. We make a present simple
question with 'do' or 'does' so I need to take that away. Then I need to change the verb to the past simple.
Another example:
 Direct speech: Where is Julie?

 Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.
The direct question is the present simple of 'be'. We make the question form of the present simple of be by
inverting (changing the position of)the subject and verb. So, we need to change them back before putting the
verb into the past simple.
Here are some more examples:
Direct Question Reported Question

Where is the Post Office,
She asked me where the Post Office was.
please?
What are you doing? She asked me what I was doing.
Who was that fantastic man? She asked me who that fantastic man had been.
So much for 'wh' questions. But, what if you need to report a 'yes / no' question? We don't have any question
words to help us. Instead, we use 'if':
 Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?

 Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.
No problem? Here are a few more examples:
Direct Question Reported Question

Do you love me? He asked me if I loved him.
Have you ever been to She asked me if I had ever been to Mexico.
Mexico?
Are you living here? She asked me if I was living here.
Reported Requests
There's more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example:
 Direct speech: Close the window, please

 Or: Could you close the window please?
 Or: Would you mind closing the window please?
All of these requests mean the same thing, so we don't need to report every word when we tell another
person about it. We simply use 'ask me + to + infinitive':
 Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.
Here are a few more examples:
Direct Request Reported Request

Please help me. She asked me to help her.
Please don't smoke. She asked me not to smoke.
Could you bring my book tonight? She asked me to bring her book that night.
Could you pass the milk, please? She asked me to pass the milk.
Would you mind coming early
She asked me to come early the next day.
tomorrow?
To report a negative request, use 'not':
 Direct speech: Please don't be late.

 Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.
Reported Orders
In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as a request. We just use 'tell' instead of 'ask':
 Reported speech: She told me to sit down.
Direct Order Reported Order

Go to bed! He told the child to go to bed.
Don't worry! He told her not to worry.
Be on time! He told me to be on time.
Don't smoke! He told us not to smoke.
now then / at that time
today yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27th of June
yesterday the day before yesterday / the day before / Wednesday / the 5th of December
last night the night before, Thursday night
last week the week before / the previous week
tomorrow today / the next day / the following day / Friday

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We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. (Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell'.

 Direct speech: I like ice cream.

 Direct speech: I like ice cream.

ense Direct Speech Reported Speech

 Direct speech: Where do you live?

How can we make the reported speech here?

 Direct speech: Where do you live?

 Direct speech: Where is Julie?

Direct Question Reported Question

 Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?

No problem? Here are a few more examples:

Direct Question Reported Question

 Direct speech: Close the window, please

 Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.

Here are a few more examples:

Direct Request Reported Request

 Direct speech: Please don't be late.

 Reported speech: She told me to sit down.

Direct Order Reported Order

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