Reported speech
Backshift the tense, move the pronouns, drop the quotation marks.
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Reported speech: worked examples
Five from the set, with the answer filled in and the rule that decides it. The remaining questions are in the answer key below.
- 01
She said, "I am tired." → She said she was tired.
After a past reporting verb the present simple goes back one step.
- 02
Tom said, "I feel ill." → Tom said he felt ill.
The speaker's I becomes he or she when someone else reports it.
- 03
Anna said, "My parents are on holiday." → Anna said her parents were on holiday.
Possessives move with the pronouns: my becomes her here.
- 04
Nadia said, "I am working from home today." → Nadia said she was working from home that day.
Present continuous becomes past continuous; today becomes that day.
- 05
She said, "I don't have time now." → She said she didn't have time then.
now becomes then once the moment of speaking has passed.
Answer key: all 24 questions
- 01She said, "I am tired." → She said she was tired.
- 02Tom said, "I feel ill." → Tom said he felt ill.
- 03Anna said, "My parents are on holiday." → Anna said her parents were on holiday.
- 04Nadia said, "I am working from home today." → Nadia said she was working from home that day.
- 05She said, "I don't have time now." → She said she didn't have time then.
- 06He said, "I lost my keys." → He said he had lost his keys.
- 07She said, "I saw Mark yesterday." → She said she had seen Mark the day before.
- 08They said, "We have finished the report." → They said they had finished the report.
- 09He said to me, "I will help you." → He said he would help me.
- 10Sam said, "I'll finish the job tomorrow." → Sam said he would finish the job the next day.
- 11She said, "I can't find my ticket." → She said she couldn't find her ticket.
- 12He said, "I must leave early." → He said he had to leave early.
- 13Lena said, "I may be late." → Lena said she might be late.
- 14He said, "I am not sure about this idea." → He said he wasn't sure about that idea.
- 15She said, "I'll wait here." → She said she would wait there.
- 16Tom says, "I am on my way." → Tom says he is on his way.
- 17My sister says, "I want to study medicine." → My sister says she wants to study medicine.
- 18He asked, "Where do you live?" → He asked where I lived.
- 19She asked, "What are you doing?" → She asked what I was doing.
- 20He asked, "Do you speak Spanish?" → He asked if I spoke Spanish.
- 21She asked me, "Have you finished your homework?" → She asked me if I had finished my homework.
- 22The teacher said to us, "Open your books." → The teacher told us to open our books.
- 23He said to me, "Don't touch that switch." → He told me not to touch that switch.
- 24She said to him, "Please close the window." → She asked him to close the window.
- Reported speechWhen the reporting verb is in the past, the reported tense moves one step back: present becomes past, past becomes past perfect, will becomes would.
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