Reported Speech: Rules and Examples

Reported speech — also called indirect speech — lets you tell someone what another person said without quoting them word-for-word. It is essential for storytelling, workplace communication and daily conversation.

The basic rule: backshift tenses. When the reporting verb is in the past (said, told, explained), the tenses in the reported clause shift back one step. Present Simple becomes Past Simple: "I am happy" → She said she was happy. Present Continuous becomes Past Continuous: "I am cooking" → He said he was cooking. Past Simple becomes Past Perfect: "I went home" → She said she had gone home.

Pronouns change too. "I" becomes he/she/they. "My" becomes his/her/their. "We" becomes they. "You" depends on who the original speaker was talking to: "You are great" → He told me I was great.

Time and place words shift. "Now" becomes "then." "Today" becomes "that day." "Tomorrow" becomes "the next day" or "the following day." "Here" becomes "there." "This" becomes "that." These shifts reflect the change in perspective from the original speaker to the reporter.

Questions in reported speech. Yes/no questions use "if" or "whether": "Are you coming?" → She asked if I was coming. Wh-questions use the question word directly: "Where do you live?" → He asked where I lived. Notice the word order changes from question form to statement form.

Commands and requests. Use "to" for commands: "Close the door" → She told me to close the door. For negative commands, use "not to": "Don't be late" → He told me not to be late. For requests, use "asked" + to: "Please help me" → She asked me to help her.

Practice with real conversations. Take a sentence someone said to you today and convert it to reported speech. "My friend said, 'I will call you tomorrow'" becomes "My friend said he would call me the next day." Five minutes of daily practice with real sentences builds reported speech fluency quickly. At LEWS Academy, Shaista uses this technique in every intermediate and advanced class.