Reported Speech

We use reported speech when we want to tell someone what another person said.

We use verbs like tell, say and ask to report what someone said.

Here is how it works:

 

Tense	Direct Speech	Tense	Reported Speech
present simple	I like ice cream	past simple	She said (that) she liked ice cream.
present continuous	I am living in London	past continuous	She said (that) she was living in London.
past simple	I bought a car	past perfect or past simple	She said (that) she had bought a car OR She said (that) she bought a car.
past continuous	I was walking along the street	past perfect continuous	She said (that) she had been walking along the street.
present perfect	I haven’t seen Julie	past perfect	She said (that) she hadn’t seen Julie.
past perfect*	I had taken English lessons before	past perfect	She said (that) she had taken English lessons before.
will	I’ll see you later	would	She said (that) she would see me later.
would*	I would help, but..”	would	She said (that) she would help but…
can	I can speak perfect English	could	She said (that) she could speak perfect English.
could*	I could swim when I was four	could	She said (that) she could swim when she was four.
shall	I shall come later	would	She said (that) she would come later.
should*	I should call my mother	should	She said (that) she should call her mother
might*	I might be late	might	She said (that) she might be late
must	I must study at the weekend	must or had to	She said (that) she must study at the weekend OR She said she had to study at the weekend

* doesn’t change.

We often change other words apart from the verb form:

 

Pronouns

* I – he/she

* You – I/me/they/them

* We – they

* Us – them

* My – his/her

* Your – my/their

 

Time and Place

 

* Here – there

* Now – then/at the moment

* Tomorrow – the next day

* Tonight – that night

* Next week – the following week

* Yesterday – the day before

* Last week – the week before

* Ago – before

 

If you would like to practice reported speech, click here.