Reported Speech: What She Actually Said
July 24, 2026 · Sourov · 1 min read
⏱ 5 Minutes · B1/B2
📖 From Experience
At CDG airport, it was snowing. Vanessa had been waiting for four hours. She said: “I knew you would make it.” Years later I still replay that sentence. In English, to tell someone else what she said, I have to shift the tense back: she said she knew I would make it.
📚 Tense Backshift
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| am/is/are | was/were |
| do/does | did |
| will | would |
| can | could |
| have done | had done |
| did | had done |
✅ Examples
- “I live in France.” → She said she lived in France.
- “I will call you.” → He said he would call me.
- “We have finished.” → They said they had finished.
✏️ Your Turn
Report these sentences:
- “I am tired,” she said.
- “We can help you,” they told me.
- “I have never been to Asia,” he said.
- “It will snow tomorrow,” the forecast said.
💡 Check Answers
- She said she was tired.
- They told me they could help me.
- He said he had never been to Asia.
- The forecast said it would snow the next day.
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