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Reported speech: statements
B1 B1 grammar · lesson 9 of 23
Reported speech is how we tell other people what someone said. You use it every day when you pass on news, messages and conversations.
Direct and reported speech
Direct speech gives the exact words: Tom said, «I’m tired.» Reported speech gives the meaning, without quotation marks: Tom said (that) he was tired. The word that is optional.
Tense changes
When the reporting verb is in the past (said, told), we usually move the tense one step back.
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| present simple: «I live in Rome.» | past simple: She said she lived in Rome. |
| present continuous: «I’m working.» | past continuous: He said he was working. |
| past simple: «I lost my bag.» | past perfect: She said she had lost her bag. |
| present perfect: «I’ve finished.» | past perfect: He said he had finished. |
| will: «I’ll help.» | would: She said she would help. |
| can: «I can swim.» | could: He said he could swim. |
Say or tell?
Tell needs a person after it: She told me that… Say does not have a person straight after it: She said that… (If you want a person after say, use to: She said to me…)
«I’m hungry,» said Ali. → Ali said he was hungry.
«We’re moving to Canada,» Maria told me. → Maria told me they were moving to Canada.
«I’ve lost my keys,» said Ken. → Ken said he had lost his keys.
«I’ll call you tomorrow,» said Lucy. → Lucy said she would call me the next day.
«I can’t come tonight,» Sam said. → Sam said he couldn’t come that night.
«I saw this film last week,» Mia told us. → Mia told us she had seen that film the week before.
Other changes
Pronouns and possessives change to match the speaker: I → he/she, my → his/her, we → they. Time and place words often change too: today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the day before, here → there, now → then.
Common mistakes
✗ She said me that she was busy.
✓ She told me that she was busy.
✗ He told that he liked jazz.
✓ He said that he liked jazz.
✗ Tom said he will come later.
✓ Tom said he would come later.