reported speech rs002

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Reported speech (b1).

• RS013 - Reported Speech
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Reported speech (b1).

• RS001 - Reported Speech - Mixed Exercises
• Adjective - Adverb
• Gerund and Infinitive
• Reported Speech
• Language in Use
• Prepositions
• Phrasal Verbs
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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

Hello Team. If the reporting verb is in the present perfect, do we have to backshift the tenses of the direct speech or not?    For example: He has said, "I bought a car yesterday."    

1- He has said that he bought a car yesterday.

2- He has said that he had bought a car the previous day.

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Hello Ahmed Imam,

It's not necessary to backshift the verb form if the situation being reported is still true. For example:

"I'm a doctor"

She told me she is a doctor. [she was a doctor when she said it and she is still doctor now]

She told me she was a doctor. [she was a doctor when she said it and may or may not still be a doctor now]

The reporting verb in your example would be 'said' rather than 'has said' as we are talking about a particular moment in the past. For the other verb both 'bought' and 'had bought' are possible without any change in meaning. In fact, when the verb is past in the original sentence we usually do not shift the verb form back.

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you for the information. It states that If what the speaker has said is still true or relevant, it's not always necessary to change the tense. I wonder if it is still correct to change the tense in this example: 'London is in the UK', he said. to He said London was in the UK. Or  it has to be the present tense. 

Hello Wen1996,

Yes, your version of the sentence is also correct. In this case, the past tense refers to the time the speaker made this statement. But this doesn't mean the statement isn't also true now.

Best wishes, Kirk LearnEnglish team

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. 

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

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.

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Reported Speech

Perfect english grammar.

Reported Statements

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.

We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'. (As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)

But , if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech:

• Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.

* doesn't change.

• Direct speech: The sky is blue.
• Reported speech: She said (that) the sky is/was blue.

Click here for a mixed tense exercise about practise reported statements. Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.

Reported Questions

So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative sentences. But how about questions?

• Direct speech: Where do you live?
• Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
• Direct speech: Where is Julie?
• Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.
• Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?
• Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.

Click here to practise reported 'wh' questions. Click here to practise reported 'yes / no' questions. Reported Requests

There's more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example:

• Direct speech: Close the window, please
• Or: Could you close the window please?
• Or: Would you mind closing the window please?
• Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.
• Direct speech: Please don't be late.
• Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.

Reported Orders

• Direct speech: Sit down!
• Reported speech: She told me to sit down.
• Click here for an exercise to practise reported requests and orders.
• Click here for an exercise about using 'say' and 'tell'.
• Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.

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B1 Reported Speech RS002 - English Practice

B1 Reported Speech RS002 Change the sentences to Reported Speech ! 1. Mary said, I will play a card game tomorrow. Mary informed me that _____ . 2. Sophie said, I went to bed early last night. Sophie said that _____ . 3. The teacher said to Jenny, You have to learn your grammar. The teacher told Jenny _____ . 4. Jessica told the immigration officer, This is my first trip to England. Jessica told the immigration officer that _____ . 5. He told me, You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. He told me that _____.

Reported Speech - PDF Worksheet - B1 (Intermediate) - RS002 Author: Nikolaus ROSMANITZ Subject: Reported Speech - PDF Worksheet - B1 \(Intermediate\) - RS002 Created Date: 10/16/2019 5:14:17 AM ...

  Worksheet , Reported , Speech , Reported speech

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Transcription of B1 Reported Speech RS002 - English Practice

1 B1 Reported Speech RS002 Change the sentences to Reported Speech ! 1. Mary said, I will play a card game tomorrow. Mary informed me that _____ . 2. Sophie said, I went to bed early last night. Sophie said that _____ . 3. The teacher said to Jenny, You have to learn your grammar. The teacher told Jenny _____ . 4. Jessica told the immigration officer, This is my first trip to England. Jessica told the immigration officer that _____ . 5. He told me, You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. He told me that _____.

2 6. Marty said, I m going to visit my uncle next month. Marty said that _____ . 7. Lara said, I get on with my parents really fine. Lara said that _____ . 8. Gloria explained, I can t come to the party because I m going away for the weekend. Gloria explained that _____ . 9. Mark said, My friend found a new job in the music business. Mark said that _____ . 10. Judy complained, I have already written this essay four times. Judy complained that _____ . 11. Peter announced, I will not give up until this factory is shut down.

3 Peter announced that _____ 12. Her boyfriend told her, You have bought a wonderful dress. Her boyfriend told her that _____ . 13. Paul said, I don t like my new flat. Paul said that _____ . 14. My father told Ben, I am sure I saw you here last week. My father told Ben that _____ . 15. Betty said, If I knew the answer, I would tell you. Betty said that _____ . KEY 1. Mary said, I will play a card game tomorrow. Mary informed me that she would play a card game the following day. 2. Sophie said, I went to bed early last night.

4 Sophie said that she had gone to bed early the night before. 3. The teacher said to Jenny, You have to learn your grammar. The teacher told Jenny that she had to learn her grammar. The teacher told Jenny to learn her grammar. 4. Jessica told the immigration officer, This is my first trip to England. Jessica told the immigration officer that it/that was her first trip to England. 5. He told me, You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. He told me that I was the most beautiful girl in the world. 6. Marty said, I m going to visit my uncle next month.

5 Marty said that he was going to visit his uncle the following month. 7. Lara said, I get on with my parents really fine. Lara said that she got on with her parents really fine. 8. Gloria explained, I can t come to the party because I m going away for the weekend. Gloria explained that she couldn t / wasn t able to come to the party because she was going away for the weekend. 9. Mark said, My friend found a new job in the music business. Mark said that his friend had found a new job in the music business. 10.

6 Judy complained, I have already written this essay four times. Judy complained that she had already written that essay four times. 11. Peter announced, I will not give up until this factory is shut down. Peter announced that he would not give up until that factory was shut down. 12. Her boyfriend told her, You have bought a wonderful dress. Her boyfriend told her that she had bought a wonderful dress. 13. Paul said, I don t like my new flat. Paul said that he didn t like his new flat. 14. My father told Ben, I am sure I saw you here last week.

7 My father told Ben that he was sure he had seen him there the week before. 15. Betty said, If I knew the answer, I would tell you. Betty said that if she had known the answer she would have told me/us.

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RS012 - Reported Speech

Complete the sentences and change to reported speech.

• I explained, "The game won't be so easy". I explained that the game so easy.
• She said, "I can see the Eiffel Tower from here": She said that the Eiffel Tower from .
• He asked me, "Did you see John yesterday?" He asked me John the day before.
• Dad said, "Don't drive so fast !" Dad advised me so fast.
• My friend said, "I will have to go to London next week." My friend said that he/she to London .
• The doctor warned her, "Don't smoke any more cigarettes!" The doctor warned her any more cigarettes.
• The boy asked, "Can we go out if the rain stops?" The boy wanted to know out if the rain .
• I said, "The film will be very interesting." I said that the film very interesting.
• She asked us, "Who do you normally visit on Sundays?" She wanted to know on Sundays.
• The instructor explained to us , "Tennis is not an easy game to play. The instructor explained that tennis an easy game to play.
• Ann asked Jim, "Please close the door." Ann asked Jim the door.
• Jack told us, "I have been enjoying my new job ". Jack told us that he new job.

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