grammar exercises reported speech

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• Reported Speech

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Reported Speech, Indirect Speech – English Grammar Exercises

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Reported Speech – Free Exercise

Write the following sentences in indirect speech. Pay attention to backshift and the changes to pronouns, time, and place.

• Two weeks ago, he said, “I visited this museum last week.” → Two weeks ago, he said that   . I → he|simple past → past perfect|this → that|last …→ the … before
• She claimed, “I am the best for this job.” → She claimed that   . I → she|simple present→ simple past|this→ that
• Last year, the minister said, “The crisis will be overcome next year.” → Last year, the minister said that   . will → would|next …→ the following …
• My riding teacher said, “Nobody has ever fallen off a horse here.” → My riding teacher said that   . present perfect → past perfect|here→ there
• Last month, the boss explained, “None of my co-workers has to work overtime now.” → Last month, the boss explained that   . my → his/her|simple present→ simple past|now→ then

Rewrite the question sentences in indirect speech.

• She asked, “What did he say?” → She asked   . The subject comes directly after the question word.|simple past → past perfect
• He asked her, “Do you want to dance?” → He asked her   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you → she|simple present → simple past
• I asked him, “How old are you?” → I asked him   . The subject comes directly after the question word + the corresponding adjective (how old)|you→ he|simple present → simple past
• The tourists asked me, “Can you show us the way?” → The tourists asked me   . The subject comes directly after whether/if |you→ I|us→ them
• The shop assistant asked the woman, “Which jacket have you already tried on?” → The shop assistant asked the woman   . The subject comes directly after the question word|you→ she|present perfect → past perfect

Rewrite the demands/requests in indirect speech.

• The passenger requested the taxi driver, “Stop the car.” → The passenger requested the taxi driver   . to + same wording as in direct speech
• The mother told her son, “Don’t be so loud.” → The mother told her son   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The policeman told us, “Please keep moving.” → The policeman told us   . to + same wording as in direct speech ( please can be left off)
• She told me, “Don’t worry.” → She told me   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t
• The zookeeper told the children, “Don’t feed the animals.” → The zookeeper told the children   . not to + same wording as in direct speech, but remove don’t

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• B1-B2 grammar

Reported speech

Daisy has just had an interview for a summer job. 

Instructions

As you watch the video, look at the examples of reported speech. They are in  red  in the subtitles. Then read the conversation below to learn more. Finally, do the grammar exercises to check you understand, and can use, reported speech correctly.

Sophie:  Mmm, it’s so nice to be chilling out at home after all that running around.

Ollie: Oh, yeah, travelling to glamorous places for a living must be such a drag!

Ollie: Mum, you can be so childish sometimes. Hey, I wonder how Daisy’s getting on in her job interview.

Sophie: Oh, yes, she said she was having it at four o’clock, so it’ll have finished by now. That’ll be her ... yes. Hi, love. How did it go?

Daisy: Well, good I think, but I don’t really know. They said they’d phone later and let me know.

Sophie: What kind of thing did they ask you?

Daisy: They asked if I had any experience with people, so I told them about helping at the school fair and visiting old people at the home, that sort of stuff. But I think they meant work experience.

Sophie: I’m sure what you said was impressive. They can’t expect you to have had much work experience at your age.

Daisy:  And then they asked me what acting I had done, so I told them that I’d had a main part in the school play, and I showed them a bit of the video, so that was cool.

Sophie:  Great!

Daisy: Oh, and they also asked if I spoke any foreign languages.

Sophie: Languages?

Daisy: Yeah, because I might have to talk to tourists, you know.

Sophie: Oh, right, of course.

Daisy: So that was it really. They showed me the costume I’ll be wearing if I get the job. Sending it over ...

Ollie: Hey, sis, I heard that Brad Pitt started out as a giant chicken too! This could be your big break!

Daisy: Ha, ha, very funny.

Sophie: Take no notice, darling. I’m sure you’ll be a marvellous chicken.

We use reported speech when we want to tell someone what someone said. We usually use a reporting verb (e.g. say, tell, ask, etc.) and then change the tense of what was actually said in direct speech.

So, direct speech is what someone actually says? Like 'I want to know about reported speech'?

Yes, and you report it with a reporting verb.

He said he wanted to know about reported speech.

I said, I want and you changed it to he wanted .

Exactly. Verbs in the present simple change to the past simple; the present continuous changes to the past continuous; the present perfect changes to the past perfect; can changes to could ; will changes to would ; etc.

She said she was having the interview at four o’clock. (Direct speech: ' I’m having the interview at four o’clock.') They said they’d phone later and let me know. (Direct speech: ' We’ll phone later and let you know.')

OK, in that last example, you changed you to me too.

Yes, apart from changing the tense of the verb, you also have to think about changing other things, like pronouns and adverbs of time and place.

'We went yesterday.'  > She said they had been the day before. 'I’ll come tomorrow.' >  He said he’d come the next day.

I see, but what if you’re reporting something on the same day, like 'We went yesterday'?

Well, then you would leave the time reference as 'yesterday'. You have to use your common sense. For example, if someone is saying something which is true now or always, you wouldn’t change the tense.

'Dogs can’t eat chocolate.' > She said that dogs can’t eat chocolate. 'My hair grows really slowly.' >  He told me that his hair grows really slowly.

What about reporting questions?

We often use ask + if/whether , then change the tenses as with statements. In reported questions we don’t use question forms after the reporting verb.

'Do you have any experience working with people?' They asked if I had any experience working with people. 'What acting have you done?' They asked me what acting I had done .

Is there anything else I need to know about reported speech?

One thing that sometimes causes problems is imperative sentences.

You mean like 'Sit down, please' or 'Don’t go!'?

Exactly. Sentences that start with a verb in direct speech need a to + infinitive in reported speech.

She told him to be good. (Direct speech: 'Be good!') He told them not to forget. (Direct speech: 'Please don’t forget.')

OK. Can I also say 'He asked me to sit down'?

Yes. You could say 'He told me to …' or 'He asked me to …' depending on how it was said.

OK, I see. Are there any more reporting verbs?

Yes, there are lots of other reporting verbs like promise , remind , warn , advise , recommend , encourage which you can choose, depending on the situation. But say , tell and ask are the most common.

Great. I understand! My teacher said reported speech was difficult.

And I told you not to worry!

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• B1-B2 grammar

Reported speech: questions

Do you know how to report a question that somebody asked? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

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

direct speech: 'Do you work from home?' he said. indirect speech: He asked me if I worked from home. direct speech: 'Who did you see?' she asked. indirect speech: She asked me who I'd seen. direct speech: 'Could you write that down for me?' she asked. indirect speech: She asked me to write it down.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 2: 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

A reported question is when we tell someone what another person asked. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.

direct speech: 'Do you like working in sales?' he asked. indirect speech: He asked me if I liked working in sales.

In indirect speech, we change the question structure (e.g. Do you like ) to a statement structure (e.g. I like ).

We also often make changes to the tenses and other words in the same way as for reported statements (e.g. have done → had done , today → that day ). You can learn about these changes on the Reported speech 1 – statements page.

Yes / no questions

In yes / no questions, we use if or whether to report the question. If is more common.

'Are you going to the Helsinki conference?' He asked me if I was going to the Helsinki conference. 'Have you finished the project yet?' She asked us whether we'd finished the project yet.

Questions with a question word

In what , where , why , who , when or how questions, we use the question word to report the question.

'What time does the train leave?' He asked me what time the train left. 'Where did he go?' She asked where he went.

Reporting verbs

The most common reporting verb for questions is ask , but we can also use verbs like enquire , want to know or wonder .

'Did you bring your passports?' She wanted to know if they'd brought their passports. 'When could you get this done by?' He wondered when we could get it done by.

Offers, requests and suggestions

If the question is making an offer, request or suggestion, we can use a specific verb pattern instead, for example offer + infinitive, ask + infinitive or suggest + ing.

'Would you like me to help you?' He offered to help me. 'Can you hold this for me, please?' She asked me to hold it. 'Why don't we check with Joel?' She suggested checking with Joel.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 2: 2

Language level

Can anyone explain to me the rules of Speech for the following: The client warned her website designer that she paid him less if he did not develop the website as per her request. The guard: That ambulance has been parked all afternoon. (Please change this statement into Indirect Speech using verbs deny or point out)

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Hello Sarita,

That first sentence doesn't seem right to me. After 'that' it seems as if either 1) the structure should be a second conditional ('she would pay him less') or 2) 'if' should change into 'because' if it's reporting a past situation.

For the second one, it would begin like this 'The guard pointed out that'. Then put the rest of the sentence but change the verb from the present perfect passive ('has been parked') to a past perfective passive ('had been parked').

Does that make sense?

All the best, Kirk LearnEnglish team

what if the sentence is "The judge asks why he did it, and the thief says he loves books."? I see that he might ask now and the thief say now. So the original quote would be "why do you do it?"

Hello aigerimwonderer,

If I understand your question correctly, the original question would be 'Why did you do it?' because the act (stealing) is still in the past relative to the time the question is asked. 

'Why do you do it?' would be a question not about a single act in the past but about a general tendency. The judge might ask this if the thief has a career of crime and the question is not so much about the books but about the thief's life choices. In other words, this question has the meaning 'Why are you a thief?' rather than 'Why did you steal those books?'

The LearnEnglish Team

reported speech of "he asked : which shoes are yours" isn t it he asked me which shoes were mine ?

Hello holingutenderg,

Yes, that's correct. May I ask where you see that on our page?

Hi, please how can solve this for me, thank. Q/ Change the following into reported speech.

1. "I'm really tired of all these questions," he said. 2. "My sister is cleaning her room," said Lisa. 3. "I can't wait to get home today," said Frank. 4. "I don't have much time today," she said.

Hello waad Ali,

I'm afraid we don't solve tasks from elsewhere for users. We're happy to give advice and explanations but we can't just provide answers or we'll end up doing our users' tests and homework for them!

Hi, I want to ask about reported speech. He said: "Do you want me to send this postcard for you?" -> He asked if i wanted him to send that postcard for me. I think this is what is normally changed from direct to indirect speech. But it's kinda weird for me. And i changed the sentence like this: -> He asked whether to send that postcard for me. Could you answer this for me? Thanks in advanced.

Hi Jenny2101,

Yes, I think the first one ("He asked if I wanted ...") is the typical way to transform the question into indirect speech.

The second one ("He asked whether ...") is also grammatically fine and means pretty much the same thing. But compared to the first one, it doesn't explicitly contain the idea of you wanting him to do that, which might or might not be important, depending on the situation.

I hope that helps.

Reported speech exercises

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Rewrite the sentences in the reported speech

Change the tenses, pronouns, expressions of time and place to rewrite the sentences from the direct to reported speech.

Check test Answer key Clear test

Direct and indirect speech Exercises with answers and grammar rules.

Reported speech worksheets PDF exercises with answers.

Reported questions, commands and requests Exercises and grammar rules.

Reported speech - brief summary

In the reported speech we usually change tenses (one tense back), pronouns, time and place.

"I admire you," said Sarah. Sarah said she admired me.

"We came back yesterday," they told me. They told me they had come the day before.

"Peter has put it here," he thought. He thought that Peter had put it there.

"I'm afraid that your parents won't like me," said George. George said he was afraid that my parents wouldn't like him.

How to avoid the shift of tenses:

It is simple to avoid shift of tenses in the reported speech if you use the reporting verb in the present simple tense instead of the past simple tense.

"I admire you," said Sarah. Sarah says she admires me.

"I'm afraid that your parents won't like me," said George. George says that he is afraid that my parents won't like him.

• Speaking English

Unit 6 - Exercise 1 - Reported speech (statements)

Rewrite the direct speech as reported speech to complete the sentences. Use contractions where possible.

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Exercise on Reported Speech

Mixed exercise 1.

Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note whether the sentence is a request, a statement or a question.

• He said, "I like this song." → He said
• "Where is your sister?" she asked me. → She asked me
• "I don't speak Italian," she said. → She said
• "Say hello to Jim," they said. → They asked me
• "The film began at seven o'clock," he said. → He said
• "Don't play on the grass, boys," she said. → She told the boys
• "Where have you spent your money?" she asked him. → She asked him
• "I never make mistakes," he said. → He said
• "Does she know Robert?" he wanted to know. → He wanted to know
• "Don't try this at home," the stuntman told the audience. → The stuntman advised the audience

• Explanations

Reported Speech Exercise 11

Perfect english grammar.

This reported speech exercise looks at statements using the present perfect tense.

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• Grammar & vocab

Upper-intermediate grammar exercise (B2 level): reported speech

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English grammar practice exercise, upper-intermediate.

In this exercise you will practise reported speech.

Exercise instructions

Rewrite the following using reported speech:

Anonymous - November 3, 2020, 6:18 am Reply

Good exercise.

Anonymous - November 20, 2022, 6:26 pm Reply

Great excercise

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• Upper-intermediate grammar exercise (B2 level): word order in reported speech sentences
• Reported speech
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• Upper-intermediate grammar exercise (B2 level): prepositions
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• Upper-intermediate grammar exercise (B2 level): prepositions ex. 3
• Upper-intermediate grammar exercise (B2 level): third conditional
• Upper-intermediate grammar exercise (B2 level): first, second and third conditionals

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Exercise: reported speech 1.

Changing direct speech to reported speech (affirmative, negative phrases)..

The direct speech sentences below were said a few days ago . Complete the reported speech version. You should omit the relative pronoun that . You can use the contracted (I'm) form or the complete (I am) form of the verb.

Example: Mary: "I don't like watching television."

Mary said she didn't like watching      television.

1) Mary: "I like eating out."

Mary said out.

2) John: "I don't want to see that new film."

John said to see that new film.

3) Dave: "I've had a hard day."

Dave said a hard day.

4) Steve: "I can't play the piano."

Steve said the piano.

5) Melissa: "I've got lots of homework."

Melissa said lots of homework.

6) Mary: "I'm speaking on the phone."

Mary said on the phone.

7) John: "I had an accident on the way home."

John said an accident on the way home.

8) Dave: "I'll call when I get home."

Dave said when he got home.

9) Steve: "I wasn't having a bath."

Steve said a bath.

10) Melissa: "I may stay in bed."

Melissa said in bed.

Solutions and help...

(Use of "that" also possible in all sentences: "Mary said that..." )

1) Mary said she liked eating out.

2) John said he didn't want to see that new film.

3) Dave said he'd had a hard day.

4) Steve said he couldn't play the piano.

5) Melissa said she'd got lots of homework.

6) Mary said she was speaking on the phone.

7) John said he'd had an accident on the way home.

8) Dave said he'd call when he got home.

9) Steve said he hadn't been having a bath.

10) Melissa said she might stay in bed.

Explanation of changing direct speech to reported speech ...

Index of English exercises... (return to same section)

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Grammar exercise - reported speech.

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Do the exercise below on reported speech and click on the button to check your answers.

(Before doing the exercises you may want to read the lesson on reported speech )

Complete the sentences in reported speech.

• John said, "I love this town." John said
• "Do you like soccer ?" He asked me. He asked me
• "I can't drive a lorry," he said. He said
• "Be nice to your brother," he said. He asked me
• "Don't be nasty," he said. He urged me
• "Don't waste your money" she said. She told the boys
• "What have you decided to do?" she asked him. She asked him
• "I always wake up early," he said. He said
• "You should revise your lessons," he said. He advised the students
• "Where have you been?" he asked me. He wanted to know

Before submitting the test, check the following:

• Punctuation and capitalization
• Spaces (don't add any unnecessary spaces)

Related materials:

• Reported speech exercise (mixed)
• Reported speech exercise (questions)
• Reported speech exercise (requests and commands)
• Reported speech lesson

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Reported speech - 1

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Worksheets - handouts

Reported speech

Present: what does he say.

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Direct and Indirect Speech: Definitions, Examples, Exercises and Rules

Direct and Indirect Speech: This article brings to you complete details about direct and indirect speech. Find definitions of direct and indirect speech, conversion exercises, examples, rules, and much more.

Direct and Indirect Speech : In this article, we are going to cover one of the most important parts of English Grammar, Direct and Indirect Speech. This is an important topic from an exam’s point of view and would be useful for students throughout their lifetime. Direct and Indirect Speech also form questions in various competitive exams. As mentioned earlier, it is important since all sentences are formed, spoken, and written either in direct or indirect speech. Learning how to write one and convert it is essential for learning the English Language. Find below what they mean, in detail.

Direct Speech Definition

While speaking to another person, we might have to quote something the third person has said. If the third person is being directly quoted, then it is called direct speech. In order to write a sentence in direct speech, inverted commas are used (“ “). The statement or sentence that is to be quoted is written in between the commas. For example: Ram said, “I am working on the project right now”.

Indirect Speech Definition

If the third person is being quoted indirectly, without using his exact words or phrases, then the speech is said to be indirect. For indirect speech, inverted commas are not used and the sentences are written in the third form, referring to the third person. For example: Ram said that he was working on the project at that time. While converting direct speech into indirect speech, the form of tense and subject are changed. One important aspect is to keep the meaning of the sentence intact.

Difference between Direct and Indirect Speech

Rules of direct and indirect speech.

There are some important rules for writing direct and indirect speeches and for conversion of the two. These are important for forming correct sentences. Check all the rules for direct and indirect speech here.

Rules for conversion of direct into indirect and vice versa are slightly different from each other, given the form of speeches they fall under. But, the primary rule is that direct and indirect sentences can be divided into two parts: Reported verb and Reported speech. The reported verb states who has said the sentence and the reported speech consists of the quote.

Rules for Converting Direct Speech into Indirect Speech

1. While converting direct speech into indirect speech, remove the inverted commas and replace them with that.

For example: Riya said, “I am honest”. (Direct)

                             Riya said that……. (Indirect)

2. If the quote or message under inverted commas is a universal truth or a habitual action, then the tense remains the same.

3. If the reporting verb of the sentence is in the present tense, then the tense remains unchanged.

     For example: He says” There are eight planets in the world”. (Direct)

                                   He says that there are eight planets in the world. (Indirect)

4. If the reporting verb of the sentence is in past tense, the reporting speech will be changed to past tense.

For Example: Rahul said, “He is playing” (direct)

                              Rahul said that he was playing  (indirect).

• Simple present gets converted to simple past
• Present Continuous gets converted to past continuous
• Present Perfect gets converted to past perfect
• Present Perfect Continuous gets converted to Past Perfect Continuous
• Simple Past gets converted to Past Perfect
• Past Continuous gets converted to Past Perfect Continuous
• Will gets changed to would
• May gets changed to might
• Can gets changed to could
• Shall gets changed to should

5. While converting direct speech into indirect speech, the subject in the reported speech gets changed to pronouns, as present in the reporting verb.

For Example: She said “I am smart” (Direct)

                              She said that she is smart (indirect)

 6. If there’s a mention of time in the reported speech, then the way of referring to that particular time gets changed in indirect speech.

For example: Rita said “I will be going to the temple tomorrow” (Direct)

                             Rita said that she would be going to the temple the next day. (Indirect)

• Today gets changed to that day
• Tomorrow gets changed to the next day or the following day
• Yesterday gets changed to the previous day
• Now changes to Then
• Tonight changes to that night
• Yesterday night changes to the previous night
• Tomorrow night changes to the following night
• Here changes to There

7. If a sentence in direct speech starts with a question, no conjunction will be used while converting it into indirect speech and the question mark will be removed.

For Example: “What are you doing” asked Riya (Direct)

                              Riya asked me what I was doing. (Indirect)

8. If a sentence in direct speech starts with a helping verb/auxiliary verb, then the joining clause gets changed to if/whether. During conversion, if the reporting verb has words like said or said to, then it gets changed to asked/enquired/demanded, depending on the nature of the sentence.

For Example: He asked me “Do you listen to Hindi music?” (Direct)

                              He asked me if I listen to Hindi music

9. Interjections are removed while converting direct speech into indirect speech. The sentence is turned into an assertive sentence.

For example: Riya said, “Wow, I won the competition”. (Direct)

                             Riya exclaimed with joy that she had won the competition. (Indirect)

  Rules for converting Indirect Speech into Direct Speech

• While converting Indirect speech into direct speech, put a comma before the statement starts and put the first letter of the statement in the capital.
• You can use question marks, quotations, commas, and exclamations on the basis of the nature of the sentence.
• Avoid the usage of conjunctions. Use only when necessary.
• Change the past tense into the present tense, while converting.
• Change past perfect tense either into present perfect tense or past tense (based on the need).
• Use say, said to effectively. Ensure that the meaning of the sentence is not tweaked.

Direct to Indirect Speech Conversion Exercise with Answers

1. He said, “I arrived before you”.

Answer. He said that he had arrived before you.

2. Harish said, “I have a headache today”.

Answer. Harish said that he had a headache that day.

3. He asked me, “When are you leaving?”

Answer. He questioned me when I was leaving.

4. Rahul said, “Can you call me back later?”

Answer. Rahul asked me if I could call him back later.

5. Mom said to me, “May God Bless you”.

Answer. Mom wished that God might bless me.

Indirect to Direct Speech Conversion Exercise with Answers

1. She asked whether I would come to the sun festival

Answer. She said, “Will you come to the Sun Festival?”.

2. My friend says that she dances well.

Answer. My friend says, “She dances well”.

3. Ram said that he was walking alone on the street the previous night.

Answer. Ram said, “I was walking alone on the street yesterday night”.

 4. He enquired me if I reach home by 9 PM every day.

Answer. He asked me, “Do you reach home by 9 PM every day?”.

5. The boy said that he has a habit of biting nails.

Answer. The boy said, “I have a habit of biting nails”.

Email Writing Format

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Report Writing Format

Notice Writing Format

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