What is reported speech?
“Reported speech” is when we talk about what somebody else said – for example:
Direct Speech: “I’ve been to London three times.”
Reported Speech: She said she’d been to London three times.
We often use “reported speech” when talking about a conversation that happened in the past. There are some changes to the verbs with reported speech; read the table to find out how each verb tense changes:
| DIRECT SPEECH | REPORTED SPEECH | EXAMPLE |
| Simple present | Simple past | “I want to go home.” She said she wanted to go home. |
| Present continuous | Past continuous | “I’m reading a good book.” She said she was reading a good book. |
| Simple past | Past perfect | “I ate pasta for dinner last night.” She said she’d eaten pasta for dinner last night. |
| Present perfect | Past perfect | “I’ve just finished cleaning my room.” She said she’d just finished cleaning her room.“My mother has never been to Japan.” She said her mother had never been to Japan. |
| Can / can’t | Could / couldn’t | “I can meet with you next Monday.” She said she could meet with me next Monday.“Sorry, I can’t talk now. I’m at work.” She said she couldn’t talk at the moment because she was at work. |
| Will / won’t | Would / wouldn’t | “I’ll pick him up at the airport.” She said she’d pick him up at the airport.“I won’t tell anybody your secret.” She said she wouldn’t tell anybody my secret. |
Be careful: “said” and “told” have a small difference.
After “told,” we need to include a person:
- She said she wanted to go home.
- She told me she wanted to go home.
- She told John that she wanted to go home.
- She told she wanted to go home.
- She said me that she wanted to go home.
Reported Speech (Part 1) Quiz
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