Indirect speech: say & tell (tense changes)

Indirect speech:

say & tell

(tense changes)

Use tell when you mention the listener​

Mary told her parents to stay home

​

​

Use say when you don't mention the listener​

Mary said to stay home

​

​

When say and tell are in the past tense​. The verbs in the indirect speech statement often change.

They said, "The weather is awful"​

​Present becomes Past

They said (that) the weather was awful​

​Past becomes Past Perfect

Dan said (that) we all had had the flu​

They said, "There will be snow tonight"​

​Will becomes Would

They said there would be snow tonight​

My husband said, "You can come with me"

​Can becomes Could

My husband said I could come with him

Dan said, "We all had the flu"​

Multiple Choice

Use ___ when you mention the listener.

• Say

• Tell

Multiple Choice

Use ___ when you don’t mention the listener.

• Say

• Tell

Multiple Choice

When the speaker uses the simple present tense, the indirect speech uses the ___ tense.

• Present

• Past

• Past perfect

• Would

• Could

Multiple Choice

When the speaker uses the simple past tense, the indirect speech uses the ___ tense.

• Present

• Past

• Past perfect

• Would

• Could

Multiple Choice

When the speaker uses will, the indirect speech uses ___.

• Present

• Past

• Past perfect

• Would

• Could

Multiple Choice

When the speaker uses can, the indirect speech uses ___.

• Present

• Past

• Past perfect

• Would

• Could