In the following, you’ll learn how reported speech is formed, which changes are needed, and how to use it correctly in different situations. Get ready to report what others have said with confidence!
Summary
Reported speech is used when we want to tell someone what another person has said without repeating the exact words. It is often used in conversations, news reports, and stories to summarize or report information…
When you use reported speech, you can express another person’s opinion or statement more neutrally. It doesn’t give the impression that you fully share this opinion.
Indirect speech is an important skill to master, since you’ll not only need it in everyday-talking but also in many different test-situations: In material-based writing, for citing in general and in speaking tasks like mediations.
To change direct speech into reported speech, a few basic things usually need to be adjusted. The verb tense often moves one step back (for example, from present to past). Pronouns are changed to match the new speaker, and time and place expressions may also change. Quotation marks are removed, and the sentence is introduced with a reporting verb like said or told.
Let’s have a closer look!
How to form reported speech
Reporting verbs
Usually, indirect speech is introduced by clauses containing a reporting verb such as “say”, “ask” or “explain”. The form of the introduction-clause depends on the type of direct speech: statement, question or request (see point "Questions and Requests" below).
- Statements & declarations: say, tell, state, declare, announce, claim etc.
- Suggestions & advice: advise, recommend, suggest, propose, encourage etc.
- Questions & doubts: ask, inquire, wonder, question etc.
- Requests & commands: ask, demand, order, command, request, urge etc.
- Promises & offers: promise, swear, guarantee, offer etc.
- Warnings & threats: warn, threaten etc.
- Agreement & disagreement: agree, admit, deny, insist, argue etc.
Backshift in tenses
The next important step in forming indirect speech is the so-called “backshift of tenses”: This means that whenever the reporting verb is in the past, the tense of the verb in direct speech is shifted back.
| Simple Present | ⟹ | Simple Past |
| is/are | ⟹ | was/were |
| | | |
| Present Progressive | ⟹ | Past Progressive |
| Simple Past | ⟹ | Past Perfect |
| Past Progressive | ⟹ | Past Perfect Progressive |
| Present Perfect | ⟹ | Past Perfect |
| Present Perfect Progressive | ⟹ | Past Perfect Progressive |
| | | |
| will | ⟹ | would |
| can | ⟹ | could |
Personal and possessive pronouns
You also need to adjust personal and possessive pronouns to indirect speech according to the person you are talking about. As in German, in reported speech the pronouns are chosen from the perspective of the person reporting. They depend on the situation in which something is being reported.
| My friend says directly to me: | ⟹ | Reported Speech: |
| “I lost my phone!“ | ⟹ | My friend said he lost his phone. |
Adverbs of time and place
Adverbs of time sometimes have to be adjusted in reported speech. These changes are made from the perspective of the person reporting. Changes to adverbs of place also depend on the situation in which something is being reported.
Adverbs of time
| now | then, at that time |
| today | (on) that day, yesterday, on/last Monday, ... |
| this week | that week |
| yesterday | the day before, on/last Monday, ... |
| three days ago | three days before/the previous week |
| last week | the week before/the previous wek |
| tomorrow | the next/following day, on Monday, today, ... |
| next month | the following month, a month later, in June, ... |
Adverbs of place
| here | there, in Sydney, ... |
- Max (at the airport in Sydney): I’ve just arrived.
- Carla (in Sydney): Max said, he had just arrived here.
- Benjamin (in London): Max said he had just arrived in Sydney.
Questions and requests
A question in direct speech becomes a statement in indirect speech. That means the word order is subject-verb and you don’t need a question mark. Plus, you need to do the backshift of tenses. For requests you use the word “to“ to express the request.
| Question in direct speech | Statement in indirect speech | |
| “How long are you staying in Sydney?“ | ⟹ | The guide asked me how long I was staying in Sydney. |
| Request in direct speech | Request in indirect speech | |
| “Can you guess how many ceramic tiles line the outside of the Opera House roof?“ or “Please guess how many ceramic tiles line the outside of the Opera House roof.“ | ⟹ | The guide asked me to guess how many ceramic tiles lined the outside of the Opera House roof. |
Lets recap
Example
| Direct speech | Reported Speech: | |
| “The Syndey Opera House was opened in 1973“, the guide told me. | ⟹ | The guide said that the Opera House had been opened last century by Queen Elisabeth II. |