Reported Speech in English Grammar

Changing direct speech to reported speech

When turning direct speech into reported speech, we may have to change all or some of the following:

• the pronouns

Example:

“I would love to see it.”

→ He said (that) he would love to see it.

1st person singular I → 3rd person singular he

• information about time and place (see the table at the end of this page)

Example:

“I will contact you tomorrow to finalise the details.”

→ I said (that) I would contact him the following day to finalise the details.

tomorrow → the following day

• the tense (backshift)

Example:

“I am happy to hear that.”
→ I said (that) I was happy to hear that.

simple present am → simple past was

Changing the tense (backshifting)

If the reporting verb is in the simple past (e.g. said, told, asked, replied …), the tense has to be set back by one degree (see the table below). This is known as backshifting.

Examples:

“I appreciate your transparency.”
→ He said (that) he appreciated my transparency.

simple present → simple past

“I have prepared a short presentation about the product.”
→ I said (that) I had prepared a short presentation about the product.

present perfect → past perfect

“I will contact you tomorrow.”
→ I said (that) I would contact him the following day.

will → would

The verbs could, should, would, might, must, needn’t, ought to, used to normally do not change.

Example:

“I would love to see it.”

→ He said (that) he would love to see it.

No change of tenses

If the reporting verb is in the simple present (e.g. says, tells, asks, replies …), then the tense remains unchanged.

Example:

“I am pleased to meet you.”

→ I say (that) I am pleased to meet him.

While the tense remains unchanged, we often still have to change the verb form to match the new pronouns.

Example:

“I am very interested in the product.”
→ He says (that) he is very interested in the product.

1st person singular am → 3rd person singular is

Questions in reported speech

When turning questions into reported speech, we follow the same rules as for declarative sentences: we change the pronouns as well as the time and place markers and backshift the tense as needed.

In addition, we also have to bear in mind the following:

• instead of that, we use a question word after the reporting verb; if there is no question word, we use whether/if instead

Examples:

“How are you today?”

→ I asked how he was that day.

“Is there any room to negotiate on price?”

→ He asked me if/whether there was any room to negotiate on price.

• questions in reported speech follow declarative sentence word order (subject + verb)

Example:

“Could you send me a written offer?”

→ He asked me if I could send him a written offer.

in direct questions, the verb comes before the subject; this order is reversed in reported speech

• we don’t use the auxiliary verb do/did for questions in reported speech; instead, the main verb appears in the simple past without an auxiliary verb

Example:

“What do you think of the product?”

→ I asked him what he thought of the product.

not: I asked him what did he think of the product.

• put the verb directly after who or what in subject questions.

Example:

“Who is in charge of sales?”

→ He asked who was in charge of sales.

Demands/Requests

When turning orders, demands and requests into reported speech, we only need to change the pronouns and the time and place information.

We don’t have to pay attention to the tense – we simply use an infinitive rather than a conjugated verb.

Expressions with who/what/how + infinitive

To express what someone should or can do in reported speech, we leave out the subject and the modal verb and instead we use the construction who/what/where/how + infinitive.

Examples:

“I don’t know what I should do.”

→ She doesn’t know what to do.

“How can I get to the post office?”

→ I asked him how to get to the post office.

Typical changes to time and place markers