Reported Speech

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What is reported speech?

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Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said, without quoting their exact words.

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How do we change present tense to past tense in reported speech?

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In reported speech, we often change present tense verbs to past tense. For example, 'I like' becomes 'he liked'.

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What is the rule for changing 'am' in reported speech?

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The verb 'am' changes to 'was' in reported speech.

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How do we report a question?

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When reporting a question, we change the question into a statement and often use 'if' or 'whether'.

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What happens to modal verbs in reported speech?

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Modal verbs often change in reported speech. For example, 'can' changes to 'could'.

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How do we report commands or requests?

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For commands or requests, we use 'to' + verb. For example, 'Please sit down' becomes 'He asked me to sit down'.

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What is the past tense of 'say' in reported speech?

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The past tense of 'say' is 'said'.

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How do we report the sentence 'I am happy'?

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We report it as 'He said that he was happy'.

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What is the difference between 'said' and 'told' in reported speech?

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We use 'said' when we do not mention the person we are speaking to, and 'told' when we do.

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How do we report the sentence 'I will go'?

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We report it as 'He said that he would go'.