Reported Speech: What Did They Say?
B2⏱ 5 min
Reported Speech: What Did They Say?
Living between French and English every day, Sourov and his wife Vanessa have built their own private language of misunderstandings and laughter. One evening, something genuinely funny happened at the dinner table. Sourov burst out laughing. Vanessa stared at him, puzzled. “She said she didn’t understand why I was laughing,” he recalls — then adds, with a grin, “which made me laugh even more.” Reported speech captures exactly that kind of moment: what someone said, a moment later, in someone else’s words.
🎯 Aim: Transform direct speech into reported speech, applying the correct tense backshift and pronoun changes.
The Tense Backshift
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| present simple → “I love this wine.“ | past simple → She said she loved that wine. |
| present continuous → “I am laughing.“ | past continuous → He said he was laughing. |
| past simple → “I moved to Sydney.“ | past perfect → He said he had moved to Sydney. |
| will → “I will explain.“ | would → She said she would explain. |
| can → “I can help.“ | could → He said he could help. |
Say vs Tell
- say — no indirect object needed: She said (that) she was tired.
- tell — needs an indirect object (a person): She told me (that) she was tired.
❌ She said me… | ✅ She told me…
Examples
- Direct: “I don’t understand why you’re laughing.” → Reported: Vanessa said she didn’t understand why Sourov was laughing.
- Direct: “We live in La Réunion.” → Reported: They said they lived in La Réunion.
- Direct: “I will call you tomorrow.” → Reported: He told me he would call me the next day.
- Direct: “Can you pass the salt?” → Reported: She asked if I could pass the salt.
- Direct: “I moved to France in 2012.” → Reported: He said he had moved to France in 2012.
Practice Task — Report these sentences
Change each sentence into reported speech. Remember to backshift the tense and change pronouns where needed.
- “I am learning English every day.” (she / say)
- “We will meet at the restaurant.” (they / tell / us)
- “I can’t find my keys.” (he / say)
- “I visited Bangladesh last year.” (she / say)
- “Are you enjoying the lesson?” (he / ask / me)
Show answers
- She said (that) she was learning English every day.
- They told us (that) they would meet at the restaurant.
- He said (that) he couldn’t find his keys.
- She said (that) she had visited Bangladesh the previous year.
- He asked me if I was enjoying the lesson.
💡 Time expressions change too: tomorrow → the next day / the following day; yesterday → the day before / the previous day; now → then; here → there.
Takeaway
Reported speech = tense backshift + pronoun change + time/place word changes. Use say without a person, tell always with a person.
Cambridge CELTA course completed — 120 supervised teaching hours and four written assignments validated to the required standard.
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