Reported Speech

What is reported speech in English?

Reported speech (also called indirect speech) tells what someone said without using their exact words. Instead of quoting directly with quotation marks, you report the message in your own words. For example: Direct: "I am tired." Reported: She said she was tired. Corpus research shows reported speech occurs three times more often in news writing than in everyday conversation.

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When do you use reported speech?

Use reported speech for four main situations: news and journalism (reporting what officials said), retelling stories and conversations, academic writing (citing researchers), and workplace communication (relaying messages from meetings). The verbs "say" and "tell" dominate reported speech, accounting for over 73% of all reporting verb usage according to corpus linguistics research.

News & Journalism

The minister said the economy was improving. Officials reported that...

Retelling Stories

My friend told me she was moving abroad. He said he'd call back later.

Academic Writing

Smith (2020) argued that climate change... The researchers stated that...

Workplace Communication

The manager said we needed to finish by Friday. HR told us about the changes.

Interviews & Quotes

She explained that her inspiration came from... The expert claimed that...

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How do you form reported speech sentences?

To form reported speech, follow four steps: 1) Remove quotation marks and add a reporting verb (said, told, asked), 2) Change pronouns to match the new perspective (I → he/she), 3) Backshift tenses if the reporting verb is past (am → was, will → would), 4) Change time and place words (today → that day, here → there). Corpus research from Iowa State University found tense backshifting occurs in only 50-70% of cases.

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What tense changes happen in reported speech?

When the reporting verb is past tense, tenses typically "backshift" one step into the past: present simple becomes past simple, present continuous becomes past continuous, present perfect becomes past perfect, and will becomes would. However, backshift is optional when the statement is still true or when reporting recent speech.

What other words change in reported speech?

Beyond tense changes, pronouns, time expressions, and place words also change in reported speech. Pronouns shift perspective (I → he/she, we → they), time words shift reference (today → that day, tomorrow → the next day), and place words shift location (here → there). Research shows forgetting pronoun changes is the most common learner error.

How do you report questions in English?

Reported questions use statement word order (no inversion) and have no question mark. For yes/no questions, use "if" or "whether": "Are you busy?" becomes "He asked if I was busy." For WH-questions, keep the question word: "Where do you live?" becomes "She asked where I lived." The most common error is keeping question word order.

What are the most common reported speech mistakes?

The four most common reported speech errors are: forgetting pronoun changes (the most frequent error), incorrect tense backshift, unchanged time expressions, and wrong word order in reported questions. Research also shows learners often confuse "say" and "tell" - remember "tell" requires an object (told me) while "say" doesn't.

What other reporting verbs can you use besides say and tell?

English has dozens of reporting verbs that add nuance to reported speech. Beyond "say" and "tell," you can use verbs like admit, deny, promise, refuse, suggest, warn, advise, explain, insist, and recommend. Each verb follows specific grammatical patterns - some take infinitives, others take gerunds or that-clauses. Learning these patterns is essential for advanced English.

Four Main Patterns

Verbs by Function

Common Mistakes

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