Reported Speech: What Did They Say? (B2)
August 3, 2026 · Sourov · 4 min read
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B2 ⏱ 5 minutes
Reported Speech: What Did They Say?
Living between two languages — English and French — with my wife Vanessa meant that conversations were sometimes a delightful puzzle. One evening I burst out laughing at something I had read online. Vanessa looked up from her book and said, “Je ne comprends pas pourquoi tu ris.” Later, telling a friend about it in English, I had to convert: “She said she didn’t understand why I was laughing.” That shift — from direct to reported speech — is something bilinguals navigate every day.
🎯 Aim: By the end of this lesson you will be able to convert direct speech into reported speech, applying the correct tense backshift and pronoun changes.
🔑 Tense Backshift Table
| Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|
| present simple: “I work here.” | past simple: She said she worked there. |
| present continuous: “I am waiting.” | past continuous: He said he was waiting. |
| past simple: “I visited Paris.” | past perfect: She said she had visited Paris. |
| will: “I will call you.” | would: He said he would call me. |
| can: “I can help.” | could: She said she could help. |
📖 Examples
- Direct: “I don’t understand why you’re laughing.”
Reported: She said she didn’t understand why I was laughing. - Direct: “We are moving to La Réunion next year.”
Reported: They told us they were moving to La Réunion the following year. - Direct: “Can you recommend a wine?”
Reported: The guest asked if I could recommend a wine. - Direct: “I will be late for the briefing.”
Reported: She said she would be late for the briefing. - Direct: “Don’t open the kitchen door.”
Reported: He told us not to open the kitchen door.
💡 Key Rules
- Say vs tell: say needs no object (She said she was tired); tell needs an object (She told me she was tired).
- Time and place expressions change: today → that day, here → there, yesterday → the day before.
- If the reporting verb is present tense (He says…), no backshift is needed.
- For reported questions, use statement word order: She asked where I was from. (not …where was I from)
✏️ Practice Task
Convert these direct speech sentences into reported speech.
- “I live in La Réunion.” — He said…
- “We are learning English.” — They told me…
- “I visited Sydney last year.” — She said…
- “Can you help me with this?” — He asked if…
- “Don’t be late tomorrow.” — The manager told us…
Show Answers
- He said he lived in La Réunion.
- They told me they were learning English.
- She said she had visited Sydney the year before.
- He asked if I could help him with that.
- The manager told us not to be late the next day.
🚀 Takeaway
Reported speech is essential for recounting conversations, writing emails, and relaying information professionally. The key is the tense backshift — step back one tense in time and you will rarely go wrong.
Independent project. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification. Cambridge CELTA course completed — 120 supervised teaching hours and four written assignments validated to the required standard.
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