Grammar

Reported Speech

Use reported speech to tell someone what another person said without quoting their exact words. Tenses usually shift back, and pronouns and time expressions often change.

Post

Level B2 Clauses

Summary

Use reported speech to tell someone what another person said without quoting their exact words. Tenses usually shift back, and pronouns and time expressions often change.

Structure

reporting verb (said/told) + (that) + clause with shifted tense

Examples

Common mistakes

• Shift the tense back: NOT 'She said she is tired' → 'She said she was tired.'
• Use statement word order in reported questions: NOT 'He asked where did I live' → 'He asked where I lived.'

Related

Past Perfect

More clauses

Relative Clauses (Defining) B1

Use defining relative clauses to give essential information that identifies which person or thing you mean. Use who for people, which for things, and that for both. No commas are used.

Reported Statements B1

Reported statements relay what someone said without quoting them directly. Tenses usually shift back one step, and pronouns and time expressions change to fit the new viewpoint.

Reported Questions B2

Reported questions turn a direct question into a statement-order clause. Yes/no questions use 'if' or 'whether', and there is no inversion or question mark in the reported form.

Reported Commands and Requests B2

Commands and requests are reported with a verb plus an object and a to-infinitive. Negative commands use 'not to' before the verb.

Reporting Verbs and Patterns C1

Beyond 'say' and 'tell', many reporting verbs summarise the function of what was said. Each follows its own grammatical pattern, such as verb + gerund, verb + object + infinitive, or verb + that-clause.

'Say' and 'tell' both report speech but differ in grammar. 'Tell' needs a person as its object, while 'say' does not take a direct person object and uses 'to' if the listener is mentioned.

External links

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