Reported speech – Simple Present – Sentences – Exercise
Task no. 2331.
Finish the sentences using Reported speech. Always change the tense, although it is sometimes not necessary.
Abigail, "Isabella hates fish." Abigail said (that)
Abigail said (that) Isabella hated fish .
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Reported speech
- Helen, "I speak English and Spanish." Helen said (that) .
- Ken, "Joy often reads comics." Ken said (that) .
- Harry and Marie, "We go swimming in the lake." Harry and Marie told me (that) .
- Madison, "I'm tired." Madison remarked (that) .
- Amy, "The boys always wear jeans." Amy told me (that) .
- Oliver and Noah, "Our smartphones don't work." Oliver and Noah mentioned (that) .
- Lisa, "Alan sometimes meets friends." Lisa said (that) .
- Andrew, "I really love my moped." Andrew said (that) .
- Nick, "You have a fast car." Nick remarked (that) .
- Josie, "Your dogs are cute." Josie told me (that) .
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Reported Speech Exercise 10
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- B1-B2 grammar
Reported speech: statements
Do you know how to report what somebody else said? 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 said.
direct speech: 'I love the Toy Story films,' she said. indirect speech: She said she loved the Toy Story films. direct speech: 'I worked as a waiter before becoming a chef,' he said. indirect speech: He said he'd worked as a waiter before becoming a chef. direct speech: 'I'll phone you tomorrow,' he said. indirect speech: He said he'd phone me the next day.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 1: 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.
direct speech: 'I work in a bank,' said Daniel. indirect speech: Daniel said that he worked in a bank.
In indirect speech, we often use a tense which is 'further back' in the past (e.g. worked ) than the tense originally used (e.g. work ). This is called 'backshift'. We also may need to change other words that were used, for example pronouns.
Present simple, present continuous and present perfect
When we backshift, present simple changes to past simple, present continuous changes to past continuous and present perfect changes to past perfect.
'I travel a lot in my job.' Jamila said that she travelled a lot in her job. 'The baby's sleeping!' He told me the baby was sleeping. 'I've hurt my leg.' She said she'd hurt her leg.
Past simple and past continuous
When we backshift, past simple usually changes to past perfect simple, and past continuous usually changes to past perfect continuous.
'We lived in China for five years.' She told me they'd lived in China for five years. 'It was raining all day.' He told me it had been raining all day.
Past perfect
The past perfect doesn't change.
'I'd tried everything without success, but this new medicine is great.' He said he'd tried everything without success, but the new medicine was great.
No backshift
If what the speaker has said is still true or relevant, it's not always necessary to change the tense. This might happen when the speaker has used a present tense.
'I go to the gym next to your house.' Jenny told me that she goes to the gym next to my house. I'm thinking about going with her. 'I'm working in Italy for the next six months.' He told me he's working in Italy for the next six months. Maybe I should visit him! 'I've broken my arm!' She said she's broken her arm, so she won't be at work this week.
Pronouns, demonstratives and adverbs of time and place
Pronouns also usually change in indirect speech.
'I enjoy working in my garden,' said Bob. Bob said that he enjoyed working in his garden. 'We played tennis for our school,' said Alina. Alina told me they'd played tennis for their school.
However, if you are the person or one of the people who spoke, then the pronouns don't change.
'I'm working on my thesis,' I said. I told her that I was working on my thesis. 'We want our jobs back!' we said. We said that we wanted our jobs back.
We also change demonstratives and adverbs of time and place if they are no longer accurate.
'This is my house.' He said this was his house. [You are currently in front of the house.] He said that was his house. [You are not currently in front of the house.] 'We like it here.' She told me they like it here. [You are currently in the place they like.] She told me they like it there. [You are not in the place they like.] 'I'm planning to do it today.' She told me she's planning to do it today. [It is currently still the same day.] She told me she was planning to do it that day. [It is not the same day any more.]
In the same way, these changes to those , now changes to then , yesterday changes to the day before , tomorrow changes to the next/following day and ago changes to before .
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 1: 2
Language level
Good evening from Turkey.
Is the following example correct: Question: When did she watch the movie?
She asked me when she had watched the movie. or is it had she watched the movie.
Do Subjects come before the verbs? Thank you.
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Hello muratt,
This is a reported question, not an actual question, as you can see from the fact that it has no question mark at the end. Therefore no inversion is needed and the normal subject-verb word order is maintained: ...she had watched... is correct.
You can read more about this here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/b1-b2-grammar/reported-speech-questions
The LearnEnglish Team
Thank you for your response.
Hello Sir, kindly help with the following sentence-
She said, "When I was a child I wasn't afraid of ghosts."
Please tell me how to write this sentence in reported/ indirect speech.
Hello! I was studying reported speech and I didn't really understand the difference between 'need' and 'need to' when we shift them. Could you please explain a little bit about the semi-modal need? I came across to this while I was studying: Backshift Changes need (no change) ‘You needn’t come till six o’clock,’ he said. He said we needn’t come till six o’clock. AND need to (becomes needed to) She said, 'I need to have a party.' She said she needed to have a party. Why do we change 'need to' but not 'need'? Could you also please give a positive indirect reported speech with the word 'need' and a negative indirect speech with the word 'need to'? Thanks in advance!
Hello Meldo,
'need' can be used -- and is most often used -- as an ordinary verb. In the text you copied above, this is the second entry ('need to'). Since it is an ordinary verb, in indirect speech, it backshifts in the way other ordinary verbs do. An example of a negative form here is 'They told me I didn't need to bring my passport'.
Particularly in British English (only very rarely in American English), 'need' can also be used as a modal verb. In this case, it behaves as a modal verb, i.e. no 's' is added to a third person singular form, infinitives after it are used without 'to' and 'do/does/did' is not used to form questions, negatives or past simple forms. This is also why '-ed' is not added for a backshift.
When 'need' is a modal, it's most commonly used in the negative. It is possible to use it in questions (e.g. 'Need I bring my passport?' or 'I asked if I need bring my passport'), but it's generally not used in the affirmative.
You might find this BBC page and this Cambridge Dictionary explanation helpful if you'd like to read more.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes, Kirk LearnEnglish team
Do we change 'had better' in indirect reported speech? I think no, but I just wanted to make sure. Can you also give an example with 'had better' in an indirect speech? Thanks a lot! The best English grammar site ever!
Hello Melis_06,
'had better' is not generally changed in reported speech. Here's an example for you:
- direct: 'You had better be on time!'
- indirect: They told us we had better be on time.
Glad you find our site useful!
Could you tell me why say is sometimes used in reported speech instead of said?
Hello Khangvo2812,
In general, it's used when it's something that people say not just in one specific situation, but in general.
We also sometimes use the present simple to talk about the past when telling stories. You can read more about this on our Present simple page -- scroll down to the very end of the explanation, just after the Present simple 8 exercise.
If there's a specific sentence you want to ask about, please include it in your comment.
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- ESL Discussion Topic — Planning
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- ESL Speaking Activity — Past Simple Find Someone Who [set 1]
- ESL Discussion Topic — Minimalism (less is more)
- ESL Speaking Activity — Unfinished sentences [set 1]
- Reported Speech — Present Continuous — Exercise 1
Reported Speech — Present Continuous — Exercise 2
Task: Change the direct speech into reported speech.
Reported statements — mixed tenses — Exercise 1
Task: Finish the sentences using Reported speech. Pay special attention to changing pronouns and time phrases where necessary.
Reported statements — mixed tenses — Exercise 2
Reported statements — mixed tenses — Exercise 3
Task: Finish the sentences using Reported speech. Pay special attention to changing pronouns where necessary.
Reported statements — mixed tenses — Exercise 4
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Reported Speech (Indirect Speech)
Change of the tenses.
If the reporting verb is in the past form (said, told,...), you have to change the tense .
Example: Peter said, "Carol is a nice girl." Peter said (that) Carol was a nice girl.
Don't change these verbs: might, could, would, should
He said, "I might arrive late." He said (that) he might arrive late.
It isn't necessary to change the present tense into the past tense if the information in the direct speech is still true or a general statement .
Frank said, "My sister is a secretary." Frank said (that) his sister is (was) a secretary.
He told us, "The sun rises in the east." He told us that the sun rises (rose) in the east.
Change of the pronouns
When you form the reported speech, you have to pay attention that the pronouns refer to the correct persons.
Susan said, " My parents are clever scientists." Susan said (that) her parents were clever scientists.
Tom said, " I like PE best." Tom said (that) he liked PE best.
They said, " We went swimming with our friends." They said (that) they had gone swimming with their friend.
Betty said, "Sam told me the truth." Betty said (that) Sam had told her the truth.
You and your:
They told her / him / me / them / us , "George likes you ."
They told her / him / me / them / us (that) George liked her / him / me / them / us .
They told her / him / me / them / us ,"George likes your sister."
They told her / him / me / them / us (that) George likes her / his / my / their / our sister.
They told her / him / me / them / us ," You are clever."
They told her / him / me / them / us (that) she / he / I / they / we was / were clever.
Change of expressions of time and place
Example: She said, "I have already seen Carol today ." She said (that) she had already seen Carol that day .
Reported Questions
If there is a question word , we keep it.
They asked me, " Where is the next supermarket?" They asked me where the next supermarket was.
She asked them, " How often do you play golf?" She asked them how often they played golf.
If there is no question word , we start the reported speech with if or whether .
She asked me, "Do you like some tea?" She asked me if/whether I liked some tea.
We asked them, "Did she arrive in time?" We asked them if/whether she had arrived in time.
Reported Requests
If someone asks you in a polite way, use (not) to + infinitive
He asked her, "Could you close the door, please?" He asked her to close the door.
She asked them, "Help me, please." She asked them to help her.
Reported Commands
If someone doesn't ask you politely or gives you an order, use (not) to + infinitive .
She told us, "Don't stay up too late!" She told us not to stay up too late.
Reported Speech Exercise 1 - statements - mixed tenses
Reported Speech Exercise 2 - statements - present tense
Reported Speech Exercise 3 - statements - present tense
Reported Speech Exercise 4 - statements - mixed tenses
Reported Speech Exercise 5 - statements - mixed tenses
Reported Speech Exercise 6 - statements, questions, commands
Reported Speech Exercise 7 - statements, questions, commands
Reported Speech Exercise 8 - questions, commands
Reported Speech Exercise 9 - questions, commands
Reported Speech Exercise 10 - statements, questions, commands
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Reported speech - 1
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Worksheets - handouts
Exercises: indirect speech
- Reported speech - present
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- Reported speech - questions
- Reported questions - write
- Reported speech - imperatives
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- Indirect speech - tenses 1
- Indirect speech - tenses 2
- Indirect speech - write 1
- Indirect speech - write 2
- Indirect speech - quiz
- Reported speech - tenses
- Indirect speech – reported speech
- Reported speech – indirect speech
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Reported speech - indirect speech
- English year 1
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- You are learning...
- Reported Speech
- 01 Reported Speech rules
- 02 Pronouns change
- 03 Pronouns change
- 04 Change place and time
- 05 Simple Present
- 06 Introduction Simple Pres.
- 07 Backshift
- 08 Backshift Tenses
- 09 Simple Past negative
- 10 Simple Past negative
- 11 Questions
- 12 Questions
- 13 Past - Past Perfect
- 14 Past - Past Perfect
- 15 Past Perfect negative
- 16 Past Perfect negative
- 17 with-out question word
- 18 with-out question word
- 19 Perfect Past Perfect
- 20 Perfect - Past Perfect
- 21 Perfect - Past Perfect
- 22 Perfect - Past Perfect
- 23 Questions without qw.
- 24 Questions with qw.
- 25 will - would
- 26 Will-Future
- 27 Will-Future negative
- 28 Will-Future negatives
- 29 Will-Future Questions
- 30 Will-Future will - would
- 31 Commands
- 32 Commands Reported
- 33 Commands negative
- 34 Commands negative
- 35 Mixed exercises
- 37 Questions all tenses
- 38 Questions all tenses
- 39 Commands all tenses
- 40 Commands all tenses
- 41 all forms all tenses
- 42 all forms all tenses
- 43 Change place and time
- 44 Change place and time
- 45 Test Reported Speech
- English Tenses
- Simple Present Tense
- Simple past Tense
- Present perfect
- Past Perfect
- Simple Future
- Future Perfect
- Going-to-Future
- Continuous Tenses
- Present Continuous
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- Present perfect Progr.
- Past Perfect Continuous
- Simple Future Continuous
- Future 2 Continuous
- Comparison of Tenses
- Passive exercises
- If clauses - Conditional
Tests reported speech
41 Reported speech all tenses all tenses 42 Mixed exercises all forms tenses 43 All tenses place, time 44 Reported speech place, time 45 All tenses place, time
Reported speech exercises
01 Reported speech rules 02 Pronouns Change of pronouns 03 Pronouns Change of pronouns 04 Reported speech place and time
Simple present / without backshift
05 Simple present 06 Simple present
Simple past - with backshift
Present ⇒ past, simple past - statements.
07 Simple past Backshift 08 Backshift tenses
Reported speech negative
09 Negatives 10 Negative exercises
Questions reported speech
11 Questions 12 Question words
Past ⇒ past perfect
13 Past - past perfect 14 Past - Past perfect
15 Simple past - past perfect negative Backshift 16 Simple past - past perfect negative Backshift
Questions with - without question words
17 Past perfect questions question words 18 Past perfect questions without question words
Present perfect ⇒ past perfect
19 Present perfect to past perfec t with backshift 20 Present perfect to past perfect with backshift
21 Present perfect to past perfect negatives 22 Present perfect to past perfect
Reported speech questions
23 Present perfect - past perfect questions 24 Present perfect - past perfect questions
Present will ⇒ would
25 will - would Will - would 26 Will future
27 Will future negative 28 Negative statements
29 Questions - will-future 30 Questions - examples
Reported speech commands
31 Commands 32 Commands
Reported speech, commands negative
33 reported speech commands - negative 34 reported speech commands negative
Mixed exercises
Reported speech, positive sentences.
35 reported speech mixed exercises 36 reported speech tenses
reported speech, Questions
37 reported speech mixed exercises Questions 38 reported speech tenses Questions
Reported speech, commands
39 Mixed exercises 40 Commands
Reported speech, questions, commands
41 All tenses All forms and tenses 42 Mixed exercises All forms and tenses
Tests - questions, commands...
43 All tenses place and time 44 Reported speech place and time
Test reported speech - all tenses, place, time
45 Reported speech all tenses Exerciseswith place and time
Reported speech exercises with answers
Reported speech sentences. Online exercises with questions and Reported speech positive and negative sentences.
English grammar Reported speech exercises. Free exercises on english tenses and mixed tenses. Ejercicios en linea ingles. Exercicios das aulas de Ingles gratis online, exercicios de vocabularios, gramatica inglesa.
Reported Speeh Present Simple Continuous
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Perfect English Grammar. Here's a list of all the reported speech exercises on this site: ( Click here to read the explanations about reported speech ) Reported Statements: Present Simple Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here) Present Continuous Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy)
Ella, "It's not raining." Ella remarked (that) . Jacob, "Riley is checking the computer." Jacob said (that) . Owen, "They aren't watching TV." Owen told me (that) . Nora, "He is learning Spanish words." Nora said (that) . Sentences in Reported speech in the Present Progressive in English in an Online Exercise.
Lisa, "Alan sometimes meets friends." Lisa said (that) . Andrew, "I really love my moped." Andrew said (that) . Nick, "You have a fast car." Nick remarked (that) . Josie, "Your dogs are cute." Josie told me (that) . Sentences in Reported speech in the Simple Present in English in an Online Exercise.
Watch my reported speech video: Here's how it works: We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. ( Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell' .) If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the sentence: Direct speech: I like ice cream. Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.
Reported Speech — Present Continuous — Exercise 1. Change the direct speech into reported speech. 1. Justin, "Tom is writing an email to his friend.". Justin said (that). 2. Fred, "Katie is wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans.". Fred said (that). 3.
English grammar exercise about reported speech with the present continuous tense
Hi HLH, You can but it is unusual. If you say I was eating an apple (past continuous), it means that it was in the past.You already finished eating the apple and you are not eating it now. But if your friend asked you just a moment ago, I guess you are still eating the apple when she/he asks the second question, so I would say I'm eating an apple (because you are still doing it).
An exercise to practise Reported / Indirect Speech. School subject: English as a Second Language (ESL) (1061958) Main content: Reported speech (2013113)
indirect speech: Daniel said that he worked in a bank. In indirect speech, we often use a tense which is 'further back' in the past (e.g. worked) than the tense originally used (e.g. work). This is called 'backshift'. We also may need to change other words that were used, for example pronouns. Present simple, present continuous and present perfect
Charlotte, "Someone is singing a beautiful song.". Charlotte said (that). someone was singing a beautiful song. 9. William and Peter, "We are studying engineering in college.". Willian and Peter said (that). they were studying engineering in college. 10. Olivia, "I am preparing for the test.".
Reported speech exercises: present. Reported statements in English. Direct and indirect speech. Elementary exercises esl.
Download the section 1 PDFs here. Lesson 1: Present simple with 'do' for emphasis (1:15) Exercise - Present simple with 'do'. Lesson 2: The present continuous for habits in the present (2:39) Exercise - The present continuous for habits in the present. Lesson 3: The past simple and would with 'wish' (2:13)
Reported statements — mixed tenses — Exercise 1 . Task: Finish the sentences using Reported speech. Pay special attention to changing pronouns and time phrases where necessary.
Present simple: Past simple: Present continuous: Past continuous: Present perfect: Past perfect: Past simple: Past perfect (or past simple) Past continuous: ... Improve your English with exercises and materials about reported speech. Exercise 1. Listen and answer the questions. Practice now. Exercise 2. Read the text and fill in the blanks ...
Unit 7 - Exercise 1 - Reported speech. Rewrite the direct speech as reported speech to complete the sentences. Use contractions where possible.
Reported speech 2. Reported requests and orders. Reported speech exercise. Reported questions - worksheet. Indirect speech - worksheet. Worksheets pdf - print. Grammar worksheets - handouts. Grammar - lessons. Reported speech - grammar notes.
Example: Peter said, "Carol is a nice girl." Peter said (that) Carol was a nice girl.. Don't change these verbs: might, could, would, should Example: He said, "I might arrive late." He said (that) he might arrive late.. It isn't necessary to change the present tense into the past tense if the information in the direct speech is still true or a general statement.
School subject: English as a Second Language (ESL) (1061958) Main content: Reported speech (2013113) De:Zaray Corredor García. Other contents: present simple,present continuos, repoting verbs.
Exercises: indirect speech. Reported speech - present. Reported speech - past. Reported speech - questions. Reported questions - write. Reported speech - imperatives. Reported speech - modals. Indirect speech - tenses 1. Indirect speech - tenses 2.
Reported speech exercises. 01 Reported speech rules 02 Pronouns Change of pronouns 03 Pronouns Change of pronouns 04 Reported speech place and time. Simple present / without backshift. 05 Simple present 06 Simple present. Simple past - with backshift Present ⇒ past Simple past - statements. 07 Simple past Backshift 08 Backshift tenses ...
13/03/2022. Country code: ES. Country: Spain. School subject: English as a Second Language (ESL) (1061958) Main content: Reported speech (2013113) Practise easy transformation from Direct Speech to Indirect Speech.
Unit 1 - Exercise 1 - Present simple and continuous. Complete the sentences with the present simple or present continuous form. of the verbs in brackets. Use contractions where possible.