Student´s name:__________________________

Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

Grammar Notes: Reported speech

Definition

Reported speech is often also called indirect speech. When we use reported speech, we are usually talking
about the past (because obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore
usually have to be in the past too. For example:

"I'm going to the cinema".

He said he was going to the cinema.

Basic tense chart

The tenses generally move backwards in this way (the tense on the left changes to the tense on the right):

present simple past simple

I'm a teacher. He said he was a teacher

past continuous.
present continuous
He said he was having lunch with his
I'm having lunch with my parents.
parents.

present perfect simple past perfect simple

I've been to France three times. He said he had been to France three times.

present perfect continuous past perfect continuous

I've been working very hard. He said he had been working very hard.

past simple past perfect

I bought a new car. He said he had bought a new car.

past continuous past perfect continuous

It was raining earlier. He said it had been raining earlier.

past perfect past perfect

The play had started when I arrived. NO CHANGE POSSIBLE

past perfect continuous

past perfect continuous
I'd already been living in London for five
NO CHANGE POSSIBLE
years.

Other verb forms

Other verb forms also sometimes change:

will would
I'll come and see you soon. He said he would come and see me soon.

can could
I can swim under water for two He said he could swim under water for two
minutes. minutes.

Grammar Notes Reported Speech 1

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

had to
must
He said that all tickets had to be bought in
All tickets must be bought in advance.
advance.

shall should
What shall we do about it? He asked what we should do about it.

may might
May I smoke? He asked if he might smoke.

Things are slightly more complicated with imperatives.

positive imperative tell + infinitive

Shut up! He told me to shut up.

negative imperative tell + not + infinitive

Don't do that again! He told me not to do it again.

ask + infinitive
imperatives as requests He asked me to give him some money.
Please give me some money.

When verbs don't follow the rules

The verb tenses do not always follow the rules shown above. For example, if the reporting verb is in the
present tense, there is no change in the reported sentence. Also, a sentence in direct speech in a present
or future tense can remain the same if what is said is still true or relevant. For example:

You've invited someone for dinner at your house, and the phone rings. It's them! They say:
I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to be a bit late. There's a lot of traffic.

After you finish speaking on the phone, you say to someone else:
That was Juan. He said he thinks he's going to be late because there's a lot of traffic.

Another example:

A friend says to you:

María's ill. She's got chickenpox!

You say to someone else:

Laura said that María's ill. She's got chickenpox.

However, the following day you see María at the beach. You're surprised and say to her:
Laura said that you were ill. She said you had chickenpox.

This has to change to the past because it isn't true. María obviously isn't ill.

Direct statements in a past tense do not always change either, because a change might alter the meaning
or just make it sound confusing. For example:

A friend is telling you about the horrible weather:

It started raining heavily when I left work.

Grammar Notes Reported Speech 2

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

This is where things get confusing:

He said it had started raining heavily when he had left work (it sounds horrible and the sentence is almost
nothing but verbs).

He said it had started raining heavily when he left work (is wrong because it means it was already raining
when he left work)

He said it started raining heavily when he left work (is the best version because it is accurate, short, and
there is no confusion because of the time context)

Generally speaking, the past simple and continuous don't always need to be changed if:

there is a time context which makes everything clear,

and/or

there is another action already using the past perfect, which might alter the meaning or make things
confusing.

Time and place references

Time and place references often have to change:

now then

today that day

here there

this that

this week that week

the following day

tomorrow the next day
the day after

the following week

next week the next week
the week after

the previous day

yesterday
the day before

the previous week

last week
the week before

previously
ago
before

2 weeks previously
2 weeks ago
2 weeks before

tonight that night

Grammar Notes Reported Speech 3

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

the previous Saturday

last Saturday
the Saturday before

the following Saturday

the next Saturday
next Saturday
the Saturday after
that Saturday

Examples:

I went to the theatre last night.

He said he had gone to the theatre the night before.

I'm having a party next weekend.

He said he was having a party the next weekend.

I'm staying here until next week.

He said he was staying there until the following week.

I came over from London 3 years ago.

He said he had come over from London 3 years before.

Personal pronouns

You also need to be careful with personal pronouns. They need to be changed according to the situation.
You need to know the context. For example, there is possible confusion when you try to change reported
speech to direct speech:

She said she'd been waiting for hours.

(Is she one person or two different people?)

I told them they would have to ask permission.

(Are we talking about two groups of people or only one?)

Grammar Notes Reported Speech 4

 Student´s name:__________________________
Teacher: Jimena Castellión Date:________

English Department

Grammar Notes Reported Speech 5