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Tense Changes in Reported Speech: Rules, Examples, and Usage

Understanding Tense Changes in Reported Speech

Introduction: mastering tense changes in reported speech.

When we need to convey what someone else has said without quoting them directly, we use reported speech (also known as indirect speech). This often involves altering the original tense of the verbs used in the sentence. Understanding how to change tenses in reported speech correctly is crucial for effective communication, particularly when recounting past conversations or narrating events.

In reported speech, tense changes occur to reflect the shift in time from when the statement was made to when it is being reported. For instance, statements made in the present tense are usually reported in the past tense. This transformation helps to align the time frame of the original statement with the context in which it is being reported.

By the end of this lesson, you will understand the rules for changing tenses in reported speech, learn the various shifts from direct to reported speech, and gain practical examples that demonstrate these changes. This knowledge will enhance your English grammar skills, improve your written and spoken communication, and boost your confidence when relaying information accurately.

Useful Vocabulary for Tense Changes in Reported Speech

Here is a comprehensive guide to how different tenses change from direct to reported speech. Each section includes definitions, explanations, and examples to help you master the nuances of tense changes in reported speech.

Tense Changes in Reported Speech: Detailed Examples

• Direct : She said, "I like coffee." Reported : She said (that) she liked coffee.
• Direct : Tom said, "I play football every Saturday." Reported : Tom said (that) he played football every Saturday.
• Direct : They said, "We live in London." Reported : They said (that) they lived in London.
• Direct : He said, "She works hard." Reported : He said (that) she worked hard.
• Direct : Mary said, "I study English every day." Reported : Mary said (that) she studied English every day.
• Direct : She said, "I am reading a book." Reported : She said (that) she was reading a book.
• Direct : John said, "They are watching TV." Reported : John said (that) they were watching TV.
• Direct : He said, "We are going to the cinema." Reported : He said (that) they were going to the cinema.
• Direct : They said, "The children are playing in the garden." Reported : They said (that) the children were playing in the garden.
• Direct : The teacher said, "I am marking your tests now." Reported : The teacher said (that) she was marking our tests.
• Direct : He said, "I have finished my work." Reported : He said (that) he had finished his work.
• Direct : They said, "We have seen that movie." Reported : They said (that) they had seen that movie.
• Direct : She said, "I have never been to Paris." Reported : She said (that) she had never been to Paris.
• Direct : He said, "I have lost my keys." Reported : He said (that) he had lost his keys.
• Direct : Alice said, "I have already eaten breakfast." Reported : Alice said (that) she had already eaten breakfast.
• Direct : She said, "I met him yesterday." Reported : She said (that) she had met him the day before.
• Direct : They said, "We visited the museum last week." Reported : They said (that) they had visited the museum the previous week.
• Direct : He said, "I saw the movie last night." Reported : He said (that) he had seen the movie the previous night.
• Direct : John said, "I broke the vase." Reported : John said (that) he had broken the vase.
• Direct : The manager said, "I called you on Monday." Reported : The manager said (that) he had called me on Monday.
• Direct : He said, "I will call you tomorrow." Reported : He said (that) he would call me the next day.
• Direct : They said, "We will travel to Spain next year." Reported : They said (that) they would travel to Spain the following year.
• Direct : She said, "I will help you." Reported : She said (that) she would help me.
• Direct : Tom said, "I will fix the car." Reported : Tom said (that) he would fix the car.
• Direct : The doctor said, "I will see you next week." Reported : The doctor said (that) he would see me the next week.
• Direct : She said, "I can speak three languages." Reported : She said (that) she could speak three languages.
• Direct : They said, "We can finish the project by Monday." Reported : They said (that) they could finish the project by Monday.
• Direct : He said, "I can swim across the river." Reported : He said (that) he could swim across the river.
• Direct : John said, "I can solve this problem." Reported : John said (that) he could solve the problem.
• Direct : She said, "I can bake a cake." Reported : She said (that) she could bake a cake.
• Direct : She said, "I may go to the party." Reported : She said (that) she might go to the party.
• Direct : He said, "We may be late." Reported : He said (that) they might be late.
• Direct : They said, "It may snow tomorrow." Reported : They said (that) it might snow the next day.
• Direct : She said, "I may visit my grandmother." Reported : She said (that) she might visit her grandmother.
• Direct : The coach said, "The match may be cancelled." Reported : The coach said (that) the match might be cancelled.
• Direct : She said, "I must leave early." Reported : She said (that) she had to leave early.
• Direct : They said, "We must finish this today." Reported : They said (that) they had to finish it that day.
• Direct : He said, "You must listen carefully." Reported : He said (that) I had to listen carefully.
• Direct : She said, "I must complete the report." Reported : She said (that) she had to complete the report.
• Direct : The manager said, "You must follow the instructions." Reported : The manager said (that) we had to follow the instructions.
• Direct : He said, "I have to work late tonight." Reported : He said (that) he had to work late that night.
• Direct : They said, "We have to clean the house." Reported : They said (that) they had to clean the house.
• Direct : She said, "I have to attend the meeting." Reported : She said (that) she had to attend the meeting.
• Direct : John said, "I have to finish this by Friday." Reported : John said (that) he had to finish it by Friday.
• Direct : The supervisor said, "We have to improve our performance." Reported : The supervisor said (that) we had to improve our performance.

Lesson Summary: Tense Changes in Reported Speech

In this comprehensive lesson, we have explored how to convert various tenses from direct to reported speech. By mastering these tense changes, learners will be able to accurately report conversations, narratives, and past events.

Key Phrases Learnt:

Learners have encountered key tense changes such as moving from "present simple" to "past simple," "will" to "would," and "must" to "had to." These changes are essential for ensuring that reported speech is accurate and grammatically correct.

Practice Exercises:

Encourage learners to practise converting direct speech to reported speech by using daily conversations, creating dialogues, and writing journal entries. Recording your sentences and reviewing the tense shifts can also help reinforce learning.

Tips for Remembering:

Break down tense changes into smaller steps, use flashcards with examples of tense shifts, and practice regularly. Associating tense changes with real-life scenarios can make it easier to recall the rules.

Further Lessons:

Explore more grammar lessons and resources on learningenglishfree.co.uk to deepen your understanding of English grammar, including tense usage, reported speech, and more.

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Reported Speech: Rules, Examples, Exceptions

👉 Quiz 1 / Quiz 2

Advanced Grammar Course

What is reported speech?

“Reported speech” is when we talk about what somebody else said – for example:

• Direct Speech: “I’ve been to London three times.”
• Reported Speech: She said she’d been to London three times.

There are a lot of tricky little details to remember, but don’t worry, I’ll explain them and we’ll see lots of examples. The lesson will have three parts – we’ll start by looking at statements in reported speech, and then we’ll learn about some exceptions to the rules, and finally we’ll cover reported questions, requests, and commands.

So much of English grammar – like this topic, reported speech – can be confusing, hard to understand, and even harder to use correctly. I can help you learn grammar easily and use it confidently inside my Advanced English Grammar Course.

In this course, I will make even the most difficult parts of English grammar clear to you – and there are lots of opportunities for you to practice!

Backshift of Verb Tenses in Reported Speech

When we use reported speech, we often change the verb tense backwards in time. This can be called “backshift.”

Here are some examples in different verb tenses:

Reported Speech (Part 1) Quiz

Exceptions to backshift in reported speech.

Now that you know some of the reported speech rules about backshift, let’s learn some exceptions.

There are two situations in which we do NOT need to change the verb tense.

No backshift needed when the situation is still true

For example, if someone says “I have three children” (direct speech) then we would say “He said he has three children” because the situation continues to be true.

If I tell you “I live in the United States” (direct speech) then you could tell someone else “She said she lives in the United States” (that’s reported speech) because it is still true.

When the situation is still true, then we don’t need to backshift the verb.

But when the situation is NOT still true, then we DO need to backshift the verb.

Imagine your friend says, “I have a headache.”

• If you immediately go and talk to another friend, you could say, “She said she has a headache,” because the situation is still true
• If you’re talking about that conversation a month after it happened, then you would say, “She said she had a headache,” because it’s no longer true.

No backshift needed when the situation is still in the future

We also don’t need to backshift to the verb when somebody said something about the future, and the event is still in the future.

Here’s an example:

• On Monday, my friend said, “I ‘ll call you on Friday .”
• “She said she ‘ll call me on Friday”, because Friday is still in the future from now.
• It is also possible to say, “She said she ‘d (she would) call me on Friday.”
• Both of them are correct, so the backshift in this case is optional.

Let’s look at a different situation:

• On Monday, my friend said, “I ‘ll call you on Tuesday .”
• “She said she ‘d  call me on Tuesday.” I must backshift because the event is NOT still in the future.

Review: Reported Speech, Backshift, & Exceptions

Quick review:

• Normally in reported speech we backshift the verb, we put it in a verb tense that’s a little bit further in the past.
• when the situation is still true
• when the situation is still in the future

Reported Requests, Orders, and Questions

Those were the rules for reported statements, just regular sentences.

What about reported speech for questions, requests, and orders?

For reported requests, we use “asked (someone) to do something”:

• “Please make a copy of this report.” (direct speech)
• She asked me to make a copy of the report. (reported speech)

For reported orders, we use “told (someone) to do something:”

• “Go to the bank.” (direct speech)
• “He told me to go to the bank.” (reported speech)

The main verb stays in the infinitive with “to”:

• She asked me to make a copy of the report. She asked me  make  a copy of the report.
• He told me to go to the bank. He told me  go  to the bank.

For yes/no questions, we use “asked if” and “wanted to know if” in reported speech.

• “Are you coming to the party?” (direct)
• He asked if I was coming to the party. (reported)
• “Did you turn off the TV?” (direct)
• She wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.” (reported)

The main verb changes and back shifts according to the rules and exceptions we learned earlier.

Notice that we don’t use do/does/did in the reported question:

• She wanted to know did I turn off the TV.
• She wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.

For other questions that are not yes/no questions, we use asked/wanted to know (without “if”):

• “When was the company founded?” (direct)
• She asked when the company was founded.” (reported)
• “What kind of car do you drive?” (direct)
• He wanted to know what kind of car I drive. (reported)

Again, notice that we don’t use do/does/did in reported questions:

• “Where does he work?”
• She wanted to know  where does he work.
• She wanted to know where he works.

Also, in questions with the verb “to be,” the word order changes in the reported question:

• “Where were you born?” ([to be] + subject)
• He asked where I was born. (subject + [to be])
• He asked where was I born.

Reported Speech (Part 2) Quiz

Learn more about reported speech:

• Reported speech: Perfect English Grammar
• Reported speech: BJYU’s

If you want to take your English grammar to the next level, then my Advanced English Grammar Course is for you! It will help you master the details of the English language, with clear explanations of essential grammar topics, and lots of practice. I hope to see you inside!

I’ve got one last little exercise for you, and that is to write sentences using reported speech. Think about a conversation you’ve had in the past, and write about it – let’s see you put this into practice right away.

Master the details of English grammar:

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Reported Speech: Important Grammar Rules and Examples

Reported speech is a very common aspect of the English language. You use it nearly every day, both in conversations and in writing. This reference covers key sections about reported speech, including what it is, examples, rules, and verb tense changes. You’ll also learn about modal verbs, changes in time and place, and different reporting verbs.

Reported Speech

What Is Reported Speech?

Reported speech is simply when you tell somebody what someone else said. You can do this in your writing, or in speech. Reported speech is very different from  direct speech , which is when you show what somebody said  in the exact way that they said it . In reported speech though, you do not need to quote somebody directly.

Instead, you use a reporting verb, such as ‘say’ or ‘ask’. These reporting verbs are used to report the speech to someone else. There are many different reporting verbs that can be used.

In short, reported speech is the linguistic technique that you use to tell somebody what someone else’s  direct speech  was. In reported speech though, you may need to make certain changes to the grammar to make the sentence make sense. Some examples below highlight what needs to be changed.

Reported Speech Examples

When using reported speech, you are usually talking about the past. The verbs, therefore, usually have to be in the past too.

For example :

• Direct speech:  I’ve lost my umbrella .
• Reported speech:  He said (that) he had lost his umbrella.

Another example :

• Direct speech:  She is doing her homework .
• Reported speech:  He said (that) she was doing her homework.

Table of Changes :

Reported Speech Rules

Verb tense changes in reported speech.

When the reporting verb is in the present tense, only small changes are needed.

• Direct speech:  I like dogs.
• Reported speech:  She  says  she likes dogs.

When the reporting verb is in the past tense, you need to change the tense of both the reporting verb and the main verb.

• Reported speech:  She  said  she  liked  dogs.

The tenses generally move backward as follows:

For sentences about the future, you also need to change the future verbs.

• Direct speech:  I shall leave in a moment.
• Reported speech:  She said that she would leave in a moment.

Here are the changes for future tenses:

Modal Verbs and Reported Speech

Modal verbs also change when used in reported speech.

• Direct speech:  Will I see you later?
• Reported speech:  He asked if he  would  see me later.

Some modal verbs do not need to change tense because they fit naturally.

• Direct speech:  I should go to the park.
• Reported speech:  He told me he  should  go to the park.

Here are both correct and incorrect examples of reported speech for clarity:

• Reported speech:  He told  me  he should go to the park.
• Reported speech:  He said he should go to the park.
• Incorrect reported speech:  He told he should go to the park.
• Incorrect reported speech:  He said me he should go to the park.

To correct these:

• Add ‘me’: He told  me  he should go to the park.
• Remove ‘me’ or add ‘to’: He said he should go to the park or He said  to  me he should go to the park.

Direct and Indirect Speech

Changes in time and place in reported speech.

References to  time  and  place often need to change when you use indirect speech. Here is a useful guide to these changes:

No Change in Verb Tenses in Reported Speech

In some cases,  verb tenses  do not change when you report speech indirectly. Here are the key instances:

• When the introductory verb is in the present , present perfect , or future .
• When the reported sentence deals with a  fact  or  general truth .
• When the reported sentence contains a  time clause .
• If the verb of the sentence is in the  unreal past  (the  second  or the  third conditional ).
• The  subjunctive  stays unchanged in the  subordinate clause .
• Had better ,  could ,  would ,  used to ,  should ,  might ,  ought to , and  mustn’t  remain unchanged.
• If the speaker reports  something immediately  or  soon after it was said .

Reporting Verbs in Indirect Speech

Reporting verbs are crucial in indirect speech. Here is a list categorized by their usage:

• Basic Verbs : Tell, say, ask
• Verb + that + clause : Complain, deny, explain, exclaim, remark, promise, boast, inform somebody, claim, agree, suggest
• Verb + to + infinitive : Agree, offer, refuse, demand, threaten, promise, claim
• Verb + indirect object + to + infinitive : Advise, allow, beg, command, encourage, forbid, invite, want, instruct, permit, urge, order, remind, warn
• Verb + “ing” form : Admit (to), accuse somebody of, apologize for, boast about/of, complain to somebody of, deny, insist on, suggest
• Verb + how : Explain to somebody

Reported Questions

When converting questions from direct to indirect speech, you follow rules similar to those for statements.  Verbs  used include inquire, wonder, want to know, ask.

Reported Commands and Requests

Commands and requests  in Indirect Speech are formed using the  to-infinitive  and  not to-infinitive . Common reporting verbs include order, shout, demand, warn, beg, command, tell, insist, beseech , threaten, implore, ask, propose, forbid.

Pronoun and tense changes  are needed when shifting from direct to indirect speech.

Reported Speech Video

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