Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is a way of reporting what someone else has said without quoting their exact words. When transforming direct speech (the actual words spoken) into reported speech, there are certain changes in pronouns, tenses, and other elements to make the statement grammatically correct. Here are some key points to keep in mind when converting direct speech to reported speech:
1. Tense changes
When we report what someone has said we sometimes change the tense of the main verb: we move tenses ‘back’ one tense.
| Original tense of main verb | Tense in reported speech |
| present simple I live in Italy | past simple She said she lived in Italy |
| present continuous I’m living in Italy. | past continuous She said she was living in Italy. |
| past simple I lived in Italy. | past perfect She said she had lived in Italy. |
| past continuous I was living in Italy. | past perfect continuous She said she had been living in Italy. |
| present perfect I’ve lived in Italy. | past perfect She said she had lived in Italy. |
| past perfect I‘d lived in Italy. | past perfect She said she‘d lived in Italy. |
| be going to I‘m going to live in Italy | was/were going to She said she was going to live in Italy. |
| will I‘ll live in Italy | would She said she would live in Italy. |
| may/might I may/might live in Italy next year | might She said she might live in Italy next year. |
| can I can live in Italy | could She said she could live in Italy. |
| must I must live in Italy | had to She said she had to live in Italy. |
However, we often choose not to change the tense. This may be because:
- what we are talking about remains true:
‘This has nothing to do with the figures.’
➡️He said that the job losses have nothing to do with the figures. (at the time of reporting this fact is still true) - the original tense was past simple or past continuous:
‘We decided to change the way we operate our business two years ago.’
➡️ West claimed that they decided to make changes two years ago.
2. Reporting verbs
When we report what someone has said, we are unlikely to use exactly the same words as in the original speech. We can choose from many different reporting verbs to hep us convey the general idea using fewer words than in the original speech. Here are some common reporting verbs:
| reporting verb (+ that) |
| agree, admit, announce, argue, believe, claim, complain, deny, explain, insist, promise, propose, reply, request, say, state, suggest, think, warn: The director claimed (that) they decided to make the changes two years ago. |
| reporting verb + someone + that |
| assure, inform, persuade, remind, tell: He assured the interviewer that the company would continue to operate in the future. |
| reporting verb + to-infinitive |
| agree, ask, claim, offer, promise, propose, refuse: He promised to do his best for the employees. |
| reporting verb + someone + to-infinitive |
| advise, ask, encourage, invite, persuade, remind, tell, urge, warn: They urged the employees to stay calm. |
| reporting verb + preposition + ing/noun |
| argue about, complain about: He complained about the terrible food. apologise for: The company apologised for causing redundancies. insist on: The manager insisted on seeing the staff. complain to: He complained to the manager. |
| reporting verb + someone + preposition + ing/noun |
| accuse of: They accused the company of planning badly. advise about, remind about: They reminded her about the meeting. advise on, congratulate on: He advised me on the deal. blame for, thank for: They thanked her for coming. |
| reporting verb + ing/noun |
| accept, admit, deny, suggest: The director denied having financial problems. The employees accepted the offer of early redundancy |
| reporting verb + someone (+noun) |
| offer, promise, refuse: He offered her a job |
Some of the same verbs can be used in different ways (e.g. admit, claim, offer, persuade):
West claimed that they decided to make the changes two years ago.
West claimed to have decided to make the changes two years ago.
3. Time references etc.
We sometimes needs to change words or phrases in reported speech if they are reported at a different time from the original words:
today => that day tomorrow => the following day/the next day
yesterday => the day before next week => the following week
now => then/straight away this => that
here => there
He said he would see me tomorrow. (reported on the same day)
He said he would see me the next day. (reported at a later date)
Sometimes the context requires pronouns to change:
‘I like you’ => He said he liked her.
‘I like you’ => I said I liked her.
4. Reporting questions
We use statement word order when reporting questions:
I asked Mr West how he was going to deal with the problem (not I asked Mr West how was he going to deal with the problem)
To report questions with question words (who, what, where, why, when, how) we keep the question word:
‘What has led to this situation?’
=> The interviewer asked what had led to this situation.
We can use if or whether to report yes/no questions:
‘Are these cuts a result of Angleside’s poor performance over the past five years?’
=> I asked if/whether these cuts were the result of Angleside’s poor performance over the past five years.
ℹ️We do not use a question mark for reported questions.
Grammar extra: Other ways of reporting
We can use other expressions to report speech e.g. according to (common in spoken and written English), apparently, supposedly, seemingly (more common in spoken English): According to the radio programmer, they are cutting 150 jobs.
It’s important to note that not all reported speech requires these changes; it depends on the context and the information being conveyed. Additionally, these rules can vary in more complex sentences, and some adjustments may be necessary based on the specific situation.
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