Reported speech

Reported speech

by Mario Medina

​Reported speech

​Do you know how to report what somebody else said?

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Look at these examples to see how we can tell someone what another person said.

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​direct speech: 'I love the Toy Story films,' she said.

indirect speech: She said she loved the Toy Story films.

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direct speech: 'I worked as a waiter before becoming a chef,' he said.

indirect speech: He said he'd worked as a waiter before becoming a chef.

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direct speech: 'I'll phone you tomorrow,' he said.

indirect speech: He said he'd phone me the next day.

Multiple Choice

My dad ran a marathon at the age of 65.' → She told me that her dad ___ a marathon at the age of 65.

• was running

• had run

• has run

Multiple Choice

'I've written three pages of the report.' → He said that he ___ three pages of the report.

• wrote

• was writing

• had writen

Multiple Choice

'I wasn't paying attention at the time.' → He said that he ___ attention at the time.

• didn't pay

• hadn't been paying

• hasn't been paying

Multiple Choice

'I live in the centre.' → She told me that she ___ in the centre, but I think she's moved.

• has lived

• had lived

• lived

Multiple Choice

'We're meeting Toni at 8 o'clock.' → She said that they ___ meeting Toni at 8 o'clock. I hope they're having a nice time!

• were meeting

• are meeting

• had been meeting

​Grammar explanation

​Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.

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direct speech: 'I work in a bank,' said Daniel.

indirect speech: Daniel said that he worked in a bank.

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In indirect speech, we often use a tense which is 'further back' in the past (e.g. worked) than the tense originally used (e.g. work). This is called 'backshift'. We also may need to change other words that were used, for example pronouns.

Present simple, present continuous and present perfect

​When we backshift, present simple changes to past simple, present continuous changes to past continuous and present perfect changes to past perfect.

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'I travel a lot in my job.'

• Jamila said that she travelled a lot in her job.

'The baby's sleeping!'

• He told me the baby was sleeping.

'I've hurt my leg.'

• She said she'd hurt her leg.

Past simple and past continuous

​When we backshift, past simple usually changes to past perfect simple, and past continuous usually changes to past perfect continuous.

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'We lived in China for five years.'

• She told me they'd lived in China for five years.

'It was raining all day.'

• He told me it had been raining all day.

Past perfect

​The past perfect doesn't change.

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'I'd tried everything without success, but this new medicine is great.'

• He said he'd tried everything without success, but the new medicine was great.

No backshift

​If what the speaker has said is still true or relevant, it's not always necessary to change the tense. This might happen when the speaker has used a present tense.

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'I go to the gym next to your house.'

• Jenny told me that she goes to the gym next to my house. I'm thinking about going with her.

'I'm working in Italy for the next six months.'

• He told me he's working in Italy for the next six months. Maybe I should visit him!

'I've broken my arm!'

• She said she's broken her arm, so she won't be at work this week.

Open Ended

Rport the speech of the following sentence by using he told me/she told me/he said/she said: 'My best friend at school became a nurse first, then a paramedic.'

Open Ended

Rport the speech of the following sentence by using he told me/she told me/he said/she said: 'I had lived in four countries by the age of ten.'

Open Ended

Rport the speech of the following sentence by using he told me/she told me/he said/she said: 'I commute 45 minutes to work.'

Open Ended

Rport the speech of the following sentence by using he told me/she told me/he said/she said: 'We were hoping to have our wedding in June.'

Open Ended

Rport the speech of the following sentence by using he told me/she told me/he said/she said: 'Oh, hi, Ethan! I'm just leaving, unfortunately.'