Reported Speech

Form

Reported speech tells someone what was said, and because the reporting verb is usually in the past, the verb after it usually steps one place back as well.

Present simple becomes past simple, present continuous becomes past continuous, present perfect and past simple both become past perfect, will becomes would, can becomes could, may becomes might, and must usually becomes had to (I work here becomes She said she worked there) — while would, could, might, should and the past perfect are already as far back as they go and do not change. The step back is optional when what was said is still true (She said she works in finance is fine if she still does), and there is none at all after a present-tense reporting verb (She says she is tired). Pronouns always follow the new speaker (I becomes he or she, you becomes me), while words for time and place change only if the report happens somewhere or sometime else (here becomes there, today becomes that day, yesterday becomes the day before, tomorrow becomes the next day). Questions keep statement word order and lose do, does and did, while orders and requests become an object plus a to-infinitive (Close the door becomes She told me to close the door).

When to Use It

1. 1

   Usually step the tense one place back after a past reporting verb, though you can leave it alone when what was said is still true

   He said he worked in finance.

2. 2

   Change the pronouns to fit the new speaker, so that I and you point at the right people

   She said she would call me.

3. 3

   Shift the words for time and place only when the report happens somewhere or sometime else

   He said he would finish it that day.

4. 4

   Report a yes/no question with ask plus if or whether, keeping statement word order

   She asked if I had eaten.

5. 5

   Report a wh-question by keeping the question word and dropping the auxiliary — do, does and did all disappear

   He asked me where I lived.

6. 6

   Report an order or a request with tell or ask plus an object and a to-infinitive

   She told me not to be late.

Common Mistakes

• Said me: write He told me he was tired or He said he was tired, not He said me he was tired — tell takes a person, and say does not.
• A question mark in a reported question: write She asked where I lived., not She asked where I lived? — a reported question is a statement about a question, so it ends with a period.
• Question word order: write He asked me where I lived, not He asked me where did I live — a reported question uses statement order and no did.
• That after ask: write She asked if I was ready, not She asked that I was ready — a reported question takes if or whether, not that.
• Reporting an order as a command: write He told me not to worry, not He told me don't worry — a reported order uses not to plus a base verb, never the imperative.