An English grammar lesson on reported speech with many simple examples
Reported speech in English
Study this example situations on reported speech.
Mike said ‘I’m feeling ill.’
Or you can use reported speech:
Mike said that he was feeling ill.
In writing, we use these quotation marks to show direct speech.
reported Mike said that he was feeling ill.
When we use reported speech, the main verb of the sentence is usually past (Mike said that … I I told her that … etc.). The rest of the sentence is usually past too:
Mike said that he was feeling ill.
I told Tom that I didn’t have any money.
You can leave out that. So you can say:
John said that he was feeling ill. or John said he was feeling ill.
Present tense to past tense
In general, the present form in direct speech changes to the past form in reported speech:
- am/is = was
- do/does = did
- will = would
- are = were
- have/has = had
- can = could
- want/like/know/go etc. = wanted/Liked/knew/went etc.
Compare direct speech and reported speech:
You met Alice. Here are some of the things she said in direct speech:
My parents are fine.
I’m going to learn to drive.
I want to buy a car.
John has a new job.
I can’t come to the party on Friday.
I don’t have much free time.
I’m going away for a few days.
I’ll phone you when I get back.
Later you tell somebody what Alice said.
You use reported speech:
Alice said that her parents were fine.
She said that she was going to learn to drive.
She said that she wanted to buy a car.
She said that John had a new job.
She said that she couldn’t come to the party on Friday.
She said she didn’t have much free time.
She said that she was going away for a few days and would phone me when she got back.
Tense change in reported speech
The past simple {did/saw/knew etc.) can usually stay the same in reported speech, or you can change it to the past perfect (had done I had seen I had known etc.):
direct Jack said ‘I woke up feeling ill, so I didn’t go to work.’
reported Jack said (that) he woke up feeling ill, so he didn’t go to work. or
Jack said (that) he had woken up feeling ill, so he hadn’t gone to work.
