reported speech in movies

100 Reported Speech Examples: How To Change Direct Speech Into Indirect Speech

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is a way of communicating what someone else has said without quoting their exact words. For example, if your friend said, “ I am going to the store ,” in reported speech, you might convey this as, “ My friend said he was going to the store. ” Reported speech is common in both spoken and written language, especially in storytelling, news reporting, and everyday conversations.

Reported Speech: Changing Pronouns

Pronouns are usually changed to match the perspective of the person reporting the speech. For example, “I” in direct speech may become “he” or “she” in reported speech, depending on the context. Here are some example sentences:

Reported Speech: Reporting Verbs

Reported speech: tense shifts.

When converting direct speech into reported speech, the verb tense is often shifted back one step in time. This is known as the “backshift” of tenses. It’s essential to adjust the tense to reflect the time elapsed between the original speech and the reporting. Here are some examples to illustrate how different tenses in direct speech are transformed in reported speech:

Reported Speech: Changing Time and Place References

Reported speech: question format.

When converting questions from direct speech into reported speech, the format changes significantly. Unlike statements, questions require rephrasing into a statement format and often involve the use of introductory verbs like ‘asked’ or ‘inquired’. Here are some examples to demonstrate how questions in direct speech are converted into statements in reported speech:

Reported Speech: Omitting Quotation Marks

Reported speech quiz.

Reported Speech: Rules, Examples, Exceptions

👉 Quiz 1 / Quiz 2

Advanced Grammar Course

What is reported speech?

“Reported speech” is when we talk about what somebody else said – for example:

• Direct Speech: “I’ve been to London three times.”
• Reported Speech: She said she’d been to London three times.

There are a lot of tricky little details to remember, but don’t worry, I’ll explain them and we’ll see lots of examples. The lesson will have three parts – we’ll start by looking at statements in reported speech, and then we’ll learn about some exceptions to the rules, and finally we’ll cover reported questions, requests, and commands.

So much of English grammar – like this topic, reported speech – can be confusing, hard to understand, and even harder to use correctly. I can help you learn grammar easily and use it confidently inside my Advanced English Grammar Course.

In this course, I will make even the most difficult parts of English grammar clear to you – and there are lots of opportunities for you to practice!

Backshift of Verb Tenses in Reported Speech

When we use reported speech, we often change the verb tense backwards in time. This can be called “backshift.”

Here are some examples in different verb tenses:

Reported Speech (Part 1) Quiz

Exceptions to Backshift in Reported Speech

Now that you know some of the reported speech rules about backshift, let’s learn some exceptions.

There are two situations in which we do NOT need to change the verb tense.

No backshift needed when the situation is still true

For example, if someone says “I have three children” (direct speech) then we would say “He said he has three children” because the situation continues to be true.

If I tell you “I live in the United States” (direct speech) then you could tell someone else “She said she lives in the United States” (that’s reported speech) because it is still true.

When the situation is still true, then we don’t need to backshift the verb.

But when the situation is NOT still true, then we DO need to backshift the verb.

Imagine your friend says, “I have a headache.”

• If you immediately go and talk to another friend, you could say, “She said she has a headache,” because the situation is still true
• If you’re talking about that conversation a month after it happened, then you would say, “She said she had a headache,” because it’s no longer true.

No backshift needed when the situation is still in the future

We also don’t need to backshift to the verb when somebody said something about the future, and the event is still in the future.

Here’s an example:

• On Monday, my friend said, “I ‘ll call you on Friday .”
• “She said she ‘ll call me on Friday”, because Friday is still in the future from now.
• It is also possible to say, “She said she ‘d (she would) call me on Friday.”
• Both of them are correct, so the backshift in this case is optional.

Let’s look at a different situation:

• On Monday, my friend said, “I ‘ll call you on Tuesday .”
• “She said she ‘d  call me on Tuesday.” I must backshift because the event is NOT still in the future.

Review: Reported Speech, Backshift, & Exceptions

Quick review:

• Normally in reported speech we backshift the verb, we put it in a verb tense that’s a little bit further in the past.
• when the situation is still true
• when the situation is still in the future

Reported Requests, Orders, and Questions

Those were the rules for reported statements, just regular sentences.

What about reported speech for questions, requests, and orders?

For reported requests, we use “asked (someone) to do something”:

• “Please make a copy of this report.” (direct speech)
• She asked me to make a copy of the report. (reported speech)

For reported orders, we use “told (someone) to do something:”

• “Go to the bank.” (direct speech)
• “He told me to go to the bank.” (reported speech)

The main verb stays in the infinitive with “to”:

• She asked me to make a copy of the report. She asked me  make  a copy of the report.
• He told me to go to the bank. He told me  go  to the bank.

For yes/no questions, we use “asked if” and “wanted to know if” in reported speech.

• “Are you coming to the party?” (direct)
• He asked if I was coming to the party. (reported)
• “Did you turn off the TV?” (direct)
• She wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.” (reported)

The main verb changes and back shifts according to the rules and exceptions we learned earlier.

Notice that we don’t use do/does/did in the reported question:

• She wanted to know did I turn off the TV.
• She wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.

For other questions that are not yes/no questions, we use asked/wanted to know (without “if”):

• “When was the company founded?” (direct)
• She asked when the company was founded.” (reported)
• “What kind of car do you drive?” (direct)
• He wanted to know what kind of car I drive. (reported)

Again, notice that we don’t use do/does/did in reported questions:

• “Where does he work?”
• She wanted to know  where does he work.
• She wanted to know where he works.

Also, in questions with the verb “to be,” the word order changes in the reported question:

• “Where were you born?” ([to be] + subject)
• He asked where I was born. (subject + [to be])
• He asked where was I born.

Reported Speech (Part 2) Quiz

Learn more about reported speech:

• Reported speech: Perfect English Grammar
• Reported speech: BJYU’s

If you want to take your English grammar to the next level, then my Advanced English Grammar Course is for you! It will help you master the details of the English language, with clear explanations of essential grammar topics, and lots of practice. I hope to see you inside!

I’ve got one last little exercise for you, and that is to write sentences using reported speech. Think about a conversation you’ve had in the past, and write about it – let’s see you put this into practice right away.

Master the details of English grammar:

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Table of Contents

Definition of reported speech, rules to be followed when using reported speech, table 1 – change of pronouns, table 2 – change of adverbs of place and adverbs of time, table 3 – change of tense, table 4 – change of modal verbs, tips to practise reported speech, examples of reported speech, check your understanding of reported speech, frequently asked questions on reported speech in english, what is reported speech.

Reported speech is the form in which one can convey a message said by oneself or someone else, mostly in the past. It can also be said to be the third person view of what someone has said. In this form of speech, you need not use quotation marks as you are not quoting the exact words spoken by the speaker, but just conveying the message.

Now, take a look at the following dictionary definitions for a clearer idea of what it is.

Reported speech, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, is defined as “a report of what somebody has said that does not use their exact words.” The Collins Dictionary defines reported speech as “speech which tells you what someone said, but does not use the person’s actual words.” According to the Cambridge Dictionary, reported speech is defined as “the act of reporting something that was said, but not using exactly the same words.” The Macmillan Dictionary defines reported speech as “the words that you use to report what someone else has said.”

Reported speech is a little different from direct speech . As it has been discussed already, reported speech is used to tell what someone said and does not use the exact words of the speaker. Take a look at the following rules so that you can make use of reported speech effectively.

• The first thing you have to keep in mind is that you need not use any quotation marks as you are not using the exact words of the speaker.
• You can use the following formula to construct a sentence in the reported speech.

• You can use verbs like said, asked, requested, ordered, complained, exclaimed, screamed, told, etc. If you are just reporting a declarative sentence , you can use verbs like told, said, etc. followed by ‘that’ and end the sentence with a full stop . When you are reporting interrogative sentences, you can use the verbs – enquired, inquired, asked, etc. and remove the question mark . In case you are reporting imperative sentences , you can use verbs like requested, commanded, pleaded, ordered, etc. If you are reporting exclamatory sentences , you can use the verb exclaimed and remove the exclamation mark . Remember that the structure of the sentences also changes accordingly.
• Furthermore, keep in mind that the sentence structure , tense , pronouns , modal verbs , some specific adverbs of place and adverbs of time change when a sentence is transformed into indirect/reported speech.

Transforming Direct Speech into Reported Speech

As discussed earlier, when transforming a sentence from direct speech into reported speech, you will have to change the pronouns, tense and adverbs of time and place used by the speaker. Let us look at the following tables to see how they work.

Here are some tips you can follow to become a pro in using reported speech.

• Select a play, a drama or a short story with dialogues and try transforming the sentences in direct speech into reported speech.
• Write about an incident or speak about a day in your life using reported speech.
• Develop a story by following prompts or on your own using reported speech.

Given below are a few examples to show you how reported speech can be written. Check them out.

• Santana said that she would be auditioning for the lead role in Funny Girl.
• Blaine requested us to help him with the algebraic equations.
• Karishma asked me if I knew where her car keys were.
• The judges announced that the Warblers were the winners of the annual acapella competition.
• Binsha assured that she would reach Bangalore by 8 p.m.
• Kumar said that he had gone to the doctor the previous day.
• Lakshmi asked Teena if she would accompany her to the railway station.
• Jibin told me that he would help me out after lunch.
• The police ordered everyone to leave from the bus stop immediately.
• Rahul said that he was drawing a caricature.

Transform the following sentences into reported speech by making the necessary changes.

1. Rachel said, “I have an interview tomorrow.”

2. Mahesh said, “What is he doing?”

3. Sherly said, “My daughter is playing the lead role in the skit.”

4. Dinesh said, “It is a wonderful movie!”

5. Suresh said, “My son is getting married next month.”

6. Preetha said, “Can you please help me with the invitations?”

7. Anna said, “I look forward to meeting you.”

8. The teacher said, “Make sure you complete the homework before tomorrow.”

9. Sylvester said, “I am not going to cry anymore.”

10. Jade said, “My sister is moving to Los Angeles.”

Now, find out if you have answered all of them correctly.

1. Rachel said that she had an interview the next day.

2. Mahesh asked what he was doing.

3. Sherly said that her daughter was playing the lead role in the skit.

4. Dinesh exclaimed that it was a wonderful movie.

5. Suresh said that his son was getting married the following month.

6. Preetha asked if I could help her with the invitations.

7. Anna said that she looked forward to meeting me.

8. The teacher told us to make sure we completed the homework before the next day.

9. Sylvester said that he was not going to cry anymore.

10. Jade said that his sister was moving to Los Angeles.

What is reported speech?

What is the definition of reported speech.

Reported speech, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, is defined as “a report of what somebody has said that does not use their exact words.” The Collins Dictionary defines reported speech as “speech which tells you what someone said, but does not use the person’s actual words.” According to the Cambridge Dictionary, reported speech is defined as “the act of reporting something that was said, but not using exactly the same words.” The Macmillan Dictionary defines reported speech as “the words that you use to report what someone else has said.”

What is the formula of reported speech?

You can use the following formula to construct a sentence in the reported speech. Subject said that (report whatever the speaker said)

Give some examples of reported speech.

Given below are a few examples to show you how reported speech can be written.

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Reported Speech in English

“Reported speech” might sound fancy, but it isn’t that complicated.

It’s just how you talk about what someone said.

Luckily, it’s pretty simple to learn the basics in English, beginning with the two types of reported speech: direct (reporting the exact words someone said) and indirect (reporting what someone said without using their exact words ).

Read this post to learn how to report speech, with tips and tricks for each, plenty of examples and a resources section that tells you about real world resources you can use to practice reporting speech.

How to Report Direct Speech

How to report indirect speech, reporting questions in indirect speech, verb tenses in indirect reported speech, simple present, present continuous, present perfect, present perfect continuous, simple past, past continuous, past perfect, past perfect continuous, simple future, future continuous, future perfect, future perfect continuous, authentic resources for practicing reported speech, novels and short stories, native english videos, celebrity profiles.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Direct speech refers to the exact words that a person says. You can “report” direct speech in a few different ways.

To see how this works, let’s pretend that I (Elisabeth) told some people that I liked green onions.

Here are some different ways that those people could explain what I said:

Direct speech: “I like green onions,” Elisabeth said.

Direct speech: “I like green onions,” she told me. — In this sentence, we replace my name (Elisabeth) with the pronoun she.

In all of these examples, the part that was said is between quotation marks and is followed by a noun (“she” or “Elisabeth”) and a verb. Each of these verbs (“to say,” “to tell [someone],” “to explain”) are ways to describe someone talking. You can use any verb that refers to speech in this way.

You can also put the noun and verb before what was said.

Direct speech: Elisabeth said, “I like spaghetti.”

The example above would be much more likely to be said out loud than the first set of examples.

Here’s a conversation that might happen between two people:

1: Did you ask her if she liked coffee?

2: Yeah, I asked her.

1: What did she say?

2. She said, “Yeah, I like coffee.” ( Direct speech )

Usually, reporting of direct speech is something you see in writing. It doesn’t happen as often when people are talking to each other. 

Direct reported speech often happens in the past. However, there are all kinds of stories, including journalism pieces, profiles and fiction, where you might see speech reported in the present as well.

This is sometimes done when the author of the piece wants you to feel that you’re experiencing events in the present moment.

For example, a profile of Kristen Stewart in Vanity Fair  has a funny moment that describes how the actress isn’t a very good swimmer:

Direct speech: “I don’t want to enter the water, ever,” she says. “If everyone’s going in the ocean, I’m like, no.”

Here, the speech is reported as though it’s in the present tense (“she says”) instead of in the past (“she said”).

In writing of all kinds, direct reported speech is often split into two or more parts, as it is above.

Here’s an example from Lewis Carroll’s “ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ,” where the speech is even more split up:

Direct speech: “I won’t indeed!” said Alice, in a great hurry to change the subject of conversation. “Are you—are you fond—of—of dogs?” The Mouse did not answer, so Alice went on eagerly: “There is such a nice little dog near our house I should like to show you!”

Reporting indirect speech is what happens when you explain what someone said without using their exact words.

Let’s start with an example of direct reported speech like those used above.

Direct speech: Elisabeth said, “I like coffee.”

As indirect reported speech, it looks like this:

Indirect speech: Elisabeth said she liked coffee.

You can see that the subject (“I”) has been changed to “she,” to show who is being spoken about. If I’m reporting the direct speech of someone else, and this person says “I,” I’d repeat their sentence exactly as they said it. If I’m reporting this person’s speech indirectly to someone else, however, I’d speak about them in the third person—using “she,” “he” or “they.”

You may also notice that the tense changes here: If “I like coffee” is what she said, this can become “She liked coffee” in indirect speech.

However, you might just as often hear someone say something like, “She said she likes coffee.” Since people’s likes and preferences tend to change over time and not right away, it makes sense to keep them in the present tense.

Indirect speech often uses the word “that” before what was said:

Indirect speech: She said that she liked coffee.

There’s no real difference between “She said she liked coffee” and “She said that she liked coffee.” However, using “that” can help make the different parts of the sentence clearer.

Let’s look at a few other examples:

Indirect speech: I said I was going outside today.

Indirect speech: They told me that they wanted to order pizza.

Indirect speech: He mentioned it was raining.

Indirect speech: She said that her father was coming over for dinner.

You can see an example of reporting indirect speech in the funny video “ Cell Phone Crashing .” In this video, a traveler in an airport sits down next to another traveler talking on his cell phone. The first traveler pretends to be talking to someone on his phone, but he appears to be responding to the second traveler’s conversation, which leads to this exchange:

Woman: “Are you answering what I’m saying?”

Man “No, no… I’m on the phone with somebody, sorry. I don’t mean to be rude.” (Direct speech)

Woman: “What was that?”

Man: “I just said I was on the phone with somebody.” (Indirect speech)

When reporting questions in indirect speech, you can use words like “whether” or “if” with verbs that show questioning, such as “to ask” or “to wonder.”

Direct speech: She asked, “Is that a new restaurant?”

Indirect speech: She asked if that was a new restaurant. 

In any case where you’re reporting a question, you can say that someone was “wondering” or “wanted to know” something. Notice that these verbs don’t directly show that someone asked a question. They don’t describe an action that happened at a single point in time. But you can usually assume that someone was wondering or wanted to know what they asked.

Indirect speech: She was wondering if that was a new restaurant.

Indirect speech: She wanted to know whether that was a new restaurant.

It can be tricky to know how to use tenses when reporting indirect speech. Let’s break it down, tense by tense.

Sometimes, indirect speech “ backshifts ,” or moves one tense further back into the past. We already saw this in the example from above:

Direct speech: She said, “I like coffee.”

Indirect speech: She said she liked coffee.

Also as mentioned above, backshifting doesn’t always happen. This might seem confusing, but it isn’t that difficult to understand once you start using reported speech regularly.

What tense you use in indirect reported speech often just depends on when what you’re reporting happened or was true.

Let’s look at some examples of how direct speech in certain tenses commonly changes (or doesn’t) when it’s reported as indirect speech.

To learn about all the English tenses (or for a quick review), check out this post .

Direct speech: I said, “I play video games.”

Indirect speech: I said that I played video games (simple past) or I said that I play video games  (simple present).

Backshifting into the past or staying in the present here can change the meaning slightly. If you use the first example, it’s unclear whether or not you still play video games; all we know is that you said you played them in the past.

If you use the second example, though, you probably still play video games (unless you were lying for some reason).

However, the difference in meaning is so small, you can use either one and you won’t have a problem.

Direct speech: I said, “I’m playing video games.”

Indirect speech: I said that I was playing video games (past continuous) or I said that I’m playing video games (present continuous).

In this case, you’d likely use the first example if you were telling a story about something that happened in the past.

You could use the second example to repeat or stress what you just said. For example:

Hey, want to go for a walk?

Direct speech: No, I’m playing video games.

But it’s such a nice day!

Indirect speech: I said that I’m playing video games!

Direct speech: Marie said, “I have read that book.”

Indirect speech: Marie said that she had read that book (past perfect) or Marie said that she has read that book (present perfect).

The past perfect is used a lot in writing and other kinds of narration. This is because it helps point out an exact moment in time when something was true.

The past perfect isn’t quite as useful in conversation, where people are usually more interested in what’s true now. So, in a lot of cases, people would use the second example above when speaking.

Direct speech: She said, “I have been watching that show.”

Indirect speech: She said that she had been watching that show (past perfect continuous) or She said that she has been watching that show (present perfect continuous).

These examples are similar to the others above. You could use the first example whether or not this person was still watching the show, but if you used the second example, it’d probably seem like you either knew or guessed that she was still watching it.

Direct speech: You told me, “I charged my phone.”

Indirect speech: You told me that you had charged your phone (past perfect) or You told me that you charged your phone (simple past).

Here, most people would probably just use the second example, because it’s simpler, and gets across the same meaning.

Direct speech: You told me, “I was charging my phone.”

Indirect speech: You told me that you had been charging your phone (past perfect continuous) or You told me that you were charging your phone (past continuous).

Here, the difference is between whether you had been charging your phone before or were charging your phone at the time. However, a lot of people would still use the second example in either situation.

Direct speech: They explained, “We had bathed the cat on Wednesday.”

Indirect speech: They explained that they had bathed the cat on Wednesday. (past perfect)

Once we start reporting the past perfect tenses, we don’t backshift because there are no tenses to backshift to.

So in this case, it’s simple. The tense stays exactly as is. However, many people might simplify even more and use the simple past, saying, “They explained that they bathed the cat on Wednesday.”

Direct speech: They said, “The cat had been going outside and getting dirty for a long time!”

Indirect speech: They said that the cat had been going outside and getting dirty for a long time. (past perfect continuous)

Again, we don’t shift the tense back here; we leave it like it is. And again, a lot of people would report this speech as, “They said the cat was going outside and getting dirty for a long time.” It’s just a simpler way to say almost the same thing.

Direct speech: I told you, “I will be here no matter what.”

Indirect speech: I told you that I would be here no matter what. (present conditional)

At this point, we don’t just have to think about tenses, but grammatical mood, too. However, the idea is still pretty simple. We use the conditional (with “would”) to show that at the time the words were spoken, the future was uncertain.

In this case, you could also say, “I told you that I will be here no matter what,” but only if you “being here” is still something that you expect to happen in the future.

What matters here is what’s intended. Since this example shows a person reporting their own speech, it’s more likely that they’d want to stress the truth of their own intention, and so they might be more likely to use “will” than “would.”

But if you were reporting someone else’s words, you might be more likely to say something like, “She told me that she would be here no matter what.”

Direct speech: I said, “I’ll be waiting for your call.”

Indirect speech: I said that I would be waiting for your call. (conditional continuous)

These are similar to the above examples, but apply to a continuous or ongoing action.

Direct speech: She said, “I will have learned a lot about myself.”

Indirect speech: She said that she would have learned a lot about herself (conditional perfect) or She said that she will have learned a lot about herself (future perfect).

In this case, using the conditional (as in the first example) suggests that maybe a certain event didn’t happen, or something didn’t turn out as expected.

However, that might not always be the case, especially if this was a sentence that was written in an article or a work of fiction. The second example, however, suggests that the future that’s being talked about still hasn’t happened yet.

Direct speech: She said, “By next Tuesday, I will have been staying inside every day for the past month.”

Indirect speech: She said that by next Tuesday, she would have been staying inside every day for the past month (perfect continuous conditional) or She said that by next Tuesday, she will have been staying inside every day for the past month (past perfect continuous).

Again, in this case, the first example might suggest that the event didn’t happen. Maybe the person didn’t stay inside until next Tuesday! However, this could also just be a way of explaining that at the time she said this in the past, it was uncertain whether she really would stay inside for as long as she thought.

The second example, on the other hand, would only be used if next Tuesday hadn’t happened yet.

Let’s take a look at where you can find resources for practicing reporting speech in the real world.

One of the most common uses for reported speech is in fiction. You’ll find plenty of reported speech in novels and short stories . Look for books that have long sections of text with dialogue marked by quotation marks (“…”). Once you understand the different kinds of reported speech, you can look for it in your reading and use it in your own writing.

Writing your own stories is a great way to get even better at understanding reported speech.

One of the best ways to practice any aspect of English is to watch native English videos. By watching English speakers use the language, you can understand how reported speech is used in real world situations.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

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Celebrity profiles, which you can find in print magazines and online, can help you find and practice reported speech, too. Celebrity profiles are stories that focus on a famous person. They often include some kind of interview. The writer will usually spend some time describing the person and then mention things that they say; this is when they use reported speech.

Because many of these profiles are written in the present tense, they can help you get used to the basics of reported speech without having to worry too much about different verb tenses.

While the above may seem really complicated, it isn’t that difficult to start using reported speech.

Mastering it may be a little difficult, but the truth is that many, many people who speak English as a first language struggle with it, too!

Reported speech is flexible, and even if you make mistakes, there’s a good chance that no one will notice.

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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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Movie segments to assess grammar goals.

Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals contains a series of movie segments and activities to assess or practice grammar points through fun, challenging exercises. Here you will find the movie segments, the lesson plans, printable worksheets with answer key for each activity, and the tips to develop your own grammar activities with the DVDs you have at home. New activities are posted regularly. Teaching grammar with movie segments is inspiring and highly motivating.

Jan 5, 2015

Jack and the giant slayer: modal verb for drawing conclusions - must.

Dec 15, 2014

• Cellular: Emphatic DO

• Add emphasis to a whole sentence - You do have a point.
• Add sentences to an imperative. This use of emphatic softens a command and shows polite encouragement - Do come to the party!
• Contradict a negative statement - You're wrong. I did lock the door.
• Indicate strong concession - I do not enjoy horror movies, but I did enjoy "The Conjuring".

Dec 5, 2014

• Zookeeper: Reported Speech

Nov 25, 2014

Flight plan: present and past modals for speculation.

Nov 15, 2014

• Dark Tides: Because x Because of

Nov 5, 2014

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs 2: describing people's physical characteristics.

Oct 25, 2014

The hunger games - catching fire: unrestrictive relative clauses.

Oct 15, 2014

• Frozen: Future WILL x Simple Past

Oct 5, 2014

• Rio: Possessive Adjectives & Prepositions of Place

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Movie Segments for Warm-Ups and Follow-Ups

Movie segments for warm-ups and follow-ups, a little about myself.

Casa Thomas Jefferson

Grammar Points

• (the) others (s) and another (2)
• 0 zero conditionals (2)
• 1st conditional (2)
• 1st x 2nd conditional (1)
• 2nd conditional (9)
• 2nd conditional with Would and Should (1)
• 3rd conditional (7)
• 3rd conditional - omission of IF (1)
• activity (35)
• adjective order (3)
• adjectives (13)
• adjectives describing personality (1)
• adjectives x adverbs (2)
• adverb clauses (4)
• adverbs (13)
• adverbs of frequency (3)
• adversative conjunctions (3)
• apologizing (1)
• articles (2)
• as x like (1)
• asking questions (10)
• because of x because (2)
• both neither either (3)
• can x may (1)
• causative verbs (2)
• cleft sentences (1)
• comparatives (8)
• comparatives - double comparatives (2)
• comparatives and superlatives (2)
• comparatives of quantity (1)
• comparatives with adjectives and nouns (2)
• comparatives with nouns (3)
• compound adjectives (2)
• Compound Nouns with Some Any No Every (1)
• conditionals (20)
• conditionals mixed tenses (2)
• conjunctions (8)
• conjunctions x transitions (1)
• connectors (2)
• could x managed to (1)
• countable x noncountable (3)
• dangling modifiers (2)
• demonstrative pronouns (1)
• Describing People's Physical Characteristics (2)
• determiners (7)
• dialog writing (2)
• Downloading the Segments (1)
• during x while (1)
• emphatic do (1)
• enough x too (1)
• etymology (1)
• expressing likes x dislikes (1)
• expressing opinions (1)
• figurative x literal meaning (1)
• figures of speech (7)
• functional language (4)
• future as seen from the past (1)
• future continuous (1)
• future perfect (1)
• future will (3)
• future will x simple past (1)
• future with be going to (1)
• future with would (1)
• giving directions (2)
• giving orders/instructions with WILL (1)
• greetings (1)
• had better x would rather (1)
• have got (noun) x have got to (verb) (1)
• have x be (2)
• have x get something done (1)
• have you ever...? (3)
• have you ever...? x would you ever...? (1)
• homophones x homographs (1)
• imperative forms (8)
• in case (2)
• in case x in case of (2)
• in x on (1)
• included questions (3)
• indeed x at all (1)
• indefinite articles (1)
• indirect questions (2)
• infinitive (1)
• intensifying expressions (3)
• interrogative sentences (2)
• interrogatives (3)
• inversion after negation adverbs (2)
• letters of complaints (1)
• Like to + Verb x Like + Noun (1)
• metaphors (2)
• modal verb (49)
• modal verb - passive voice (1)
• modal verb - rules with will or may (1)
• modal verb for ability (1)
• modal verb for advice (7)
• modal verb for drawing conclusions (1)
• modal verb for speculation (5)
• modal verbs for permission (4)
• modal verbs for possibility (1)
• modal verbs for prohibition and obligation (5)
• narratives (3)
• no matter... (1)
• non-count-nouns made countable (1)
• noun clauses (1)
• noun modifiers (1)
• numerals (1)
• onomatopoeia (1)
• paired conjunctions (3)
• paragraph writing (7)
• participial adjectives (1)
• participial adjectives ING x ED (1)
• participial phrases (1)
• passive voice (13)
• passive x active voice (2)
• past continuous (9)
• past modal verb (16)
• past modals for drawing conclusions (1)
• past modals for regrets (10)
• past modals for speculation (7)
• past perfect (8)
• past perfect continuous (2)
• past perfect with never (1)
• past perfect x past perfect continuous (1)
• personification (1)
• phrasal verbs (1)
• possessive adjectives (3)
• possessive pronouns (1)
• possessives (4)
• pre-determiners: what and such (1)
• prepositions (6)
• prepositions of place (1)
• present continuous (5)
• present perfect (18)
• present perfect progressive (2)
• present perfect with JUST (1)
• present perfect x present perfect progressive (2)
• pronouns (5)
• quantifiers (5)
• quantifiers with countable x uncoountable (1)
• reading (1)
• reflexive pronouns (1)
• relative clauses (9)
• relative clauses with prepositions (1)
• reported speech (5)
• reported x direct speach (1)
• restrictive relative clauses (4)
• restrictive x unrestrictive relative clauses (1)
• rules with NO (1)
• scanning - reading (1)
• sequence words (2)
• short answers (2)
• similes (2)
• similes x metaphors (1)
• simple past (33)
• simple past x past continuous (9)
• simple past x past perfect (5)
• simple past x present perfect (4)
• simple present (15)
• simple present x present continuous (1)
• simple present x simple past (1)
• since x for (2)
• so x because (since) (1)
• so x so that (2)
• so x such (2)
• so x too (1)
• story writing (3)
• subjunctive (2)
• superlative (6)
• superlative with nouns (1)
• tag questions (1)
• there to be (4)
• this that these those (1)
• time clauses (2)
• to be able to (2)
• to be supposed to (3)
• to be supposed to x to be able to (1)
• to x for (1)
• too x either (2)
• transitions (4)
• unrestrictive relative clauses (5)
• used to (7)
• used to x would (1)
• verb + gerund or infinitive (1)
• verb patterns (4)
• verbs of perception (1)
• verbs of urgency (2)
• wh-questions (1)
• whereas and while (1)
• while x during (1)
• wish / if only (2)
• wish x hope (1)
• would you ever... (1)

Activities for Beginners

• 9: Imperative Forms
• Bee Movie: Simple Present
• Dinner for Schmucks: Present Continuous
• Home on the Range: There + to Be
• Hotel Transylvania: Modal for Ability/Permission CAN
• Mary and Max: There to be
• Mr. Popper's Penguins: Modal for Ability/Permission CAN
• ParaNorman: Greetings
• Ratatouille: Determiners A, An, Some
• Robots: Present Continuous
• Saturday Night Fever: Simple Present
• Star Trek - The Future Begins: Possessives ('s)
• Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worm: Adjective Pronouns
• The 40 Year-Old Virgin: Asking Questions
• The Game Plan: Simple Present
• The Incredibles: Simple Present
• The Untuchables: Prepositions
• Undertaking Betty: There + to be
• Up in the Air: Ordinal Numbers
• Water for Elephants: Possessive ('s) & Vocabulary Practice CIRCUS and COLORS
• What Dreams May Come: Simple Present

Activities for Basic Learners

• Alice in Wonderland: Comparatives
• Australia: Simple Past
• Avalon: Homophones x Homographs
• Avalon: May (Permission) x Can (Ability)
• Bicentennial Man: Modal Verb CAN - Ability
• Big Fish: Simple Past x Past Continuous
• Big Fish: Too x Either
• Blindness: Modal Verb for Ability - CAN
• Bolt: Modal Verb CAN - Ability
• Brave: Simple Present
• Cars: Comparatives with Adjectives and Nouns
• Charlie's Angels: Superlatives
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2: Describing Physical Characteristics
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Count x Non-Count Nouns
• Couples Retreat: Adverbs of Frequency
• Did You Hear about the Morgans?: Numerals
• Duplicity: Simple Past
• Eden Lake: Giving Directions and Prepositions
• Elizabethtown: Simple Past
• Falling Down: Present Continuous
• Fame: Adverbs of Frequency
• Fracture: Simple Past
• Frantic: Asking Questions - Simple Past
• Girl, Interrupted: There to be
• Greenberg: Simple Past x Past Continuous
• Hairspray: Used to
• Hancock: Simple Past x Past Continuous
• Hugo: Simple Past x Past Continuous
• Ice Age: Adjective Pronouns
• Johnny English Reborn: Imperative Forms
• Knowing: Simple Present
• Kung Fu Panda 2: Simple Past
• Kung Fu Panda: Comparatives
• Little Miss Sunshine: Tag Questions
• Madagascar 3: Simple Past
• Mary & Max: Questions
• Midnight in Paris: Superlatives with Nouns
• Monsters Inc: Describing People (Monsters)
• Monsters, Inc: Present Continuous x Present Simple
• Mr. Beans Holiday: Wh-Questions
• My Life in Ruins: Like (adj) x Like to (verb)
• Night at the Museum - Battle of Smithsonian: Past Continuous
• Oblivion: Present Continuous
• Patch Adams: Asking Questions
• Prometheus: Asking Questions
• Puss in Boots: Comparatives and Superlatives
• Puss in Boots: Imperative Forms
• Rio: Simple Present
• Sleuth: Imperative Forms
• Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron: Dialog Writing
• Tangled: Simple Present
• The Ant Bully: This, That, These, Those - Demonstrative Pronouns
• The Beach: Indefinite Articles
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Too x Either
• The Brothers Bloom: Modal for Ability CAN
• The Croods: Possessives ('s)
• The Ghost Writer: Giving Directions - Imperative Forms
• The Greatest: Numerals
• The Holiday: Determiners - A, An, Some, Any
• The Karate Kid: Phrasal Verbs
• The Lovely Bones: Simple Past x Past Continuous
• The Pacifier: Simple Past x Past Continuous
• The Princess and the Frog: Simple Present
• The Pursuit of Happyness: Simple Past x Past Continuous
• The Shawshank Redemption: Simple Past
• The Smurfs: Superlative with Nouns
• The Three Musketeers: Superlatives
• The Uninvited: Narratives - Simple Present
• The Young and Prodigious T. S. Spivet: Prepositions - In x On
• This Must Be the Place: Apologizing, Functional Language
• To Rome with Love: Superlatives with Nouns
• Twilight: Modal Verb CAN Ability
• Up in the Air: Simple Present x Simple Past
• What Women Want: Simple Past
• X-Men First Class: Modal for Ability CAN
• Year One: Future with Be Going To
• Yes Man: Short Answers

Activities for Intermediate Learners

• (500) Days of Summer: Wish / If Only
• 100 Feet: 1st Conditional
• 1408: Reflexive Pronouns
• 17 Again: Present Perfect
• 21: Present Perfect x Present Perfect Continuous
• 27 Dresses: Present Perfect
• 300: Passive Voice
• 42: Etymology
• A Bug`s Life: Pre-Determiners Such and What
• Agora: Used to
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Present Perfect
• American Beauty: Restrictive x Unrestrictive Relative Clauses
• An American Carol: In Case x In Case of
• Angels & Demons: Passive Voice
• Astro Boy: To Be Supposed to x To Be Able to
• Avatar: Order of Adjectives
• Battle for Terra: Compound Nouns with SOME ANY NO EVERY
• Be Kind, Rewind: Present Perfect x Simple Past
• Bedtime Stories: So x Such
• Blade Runner: 2nd Conditional
• Bridesmaids: Expressing Likes and Dislikes, Functional Language
• Cars: Modals for Prohibition CAN''T & To Be Not Allowed to
• Casino Royale: Simple Past x Past Perfect
• Charlie & the Chocolate Factory: Modals for Advice
• City of Ember: Future Continuous
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Double Comparatives
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Restrictive Relative Clauses
• Contact: Participial Phrases
• Coraline: Simple Past x Past Perfect
• Creation: So x So That
• Dear John: Passive Voice with Simple Present, Simple Past & Pres Perf
• Death at a Funeral: Letters of Complaint
• Definitely Maybe: Restrictive Relative Clauses
• Despicable Me 2: Simple Past
• Despicable Me: Modal Verbs - Rules with WILL and MAY
• Did You Hear about the Morgans?: Imperative Forms
• Falling Down: Past Perfect - By The Time...
• Flashbacks of a Fool: Paired Conjunctions - Both, Neither, Either
• Flushed Away: Present Perfect
• Frankenweenie: Relative Clauses
• Freedom Writers: Indirect Speech
• French Kiss: Expressing Likes and Dislikes, Functional Language
• G-Force: Adjectives x Adverbs
• Gambit: Intensifying Expressions - Indeed x At All
• Gran Torino: Modals for Advice - Should
• Gravity: So x So That
• Grow-ups 2: Noun Clauses
• Grown-ups 2: Modal Verbs for Advice
• Hachiko - A Dog's Story: Passive Voice with Simple Past
• Hall Pass: Modals for Possibilty
• Happy Feet: To Be Supposed to
• Hitch: Imperative Forms
• Hotel for Dogs: Unrestrictive Relative Clauses
• I, Robot: Future - Will
• Imagine That: Quantifiers - Countables x Uncountables
• In Time: Time Clauses with When Before and After
• Into the Blue: Have you ever...? Present Perf x Simple Past
• It's Complicated: While x During
• Ivan the Incredible: Similes, Figures of Speech
• Jack and Jill: Have you ever...?
• Julie & Julia: Modals for Strong Advice - MUST
• Jumper: 2nd Conditional
• Juno: 2nd Conditional with Would & Should
• Kangaroo Jack: Wish, If Only
• Kick Ass: Story Writing, Narratives
• Killers: Have You Ever x Would You Ever?
• Labor Pains: Adverb Clauses
• Lady in the Water: Included Questions
• Last Samurai: Adverbs
• Leap of Faith: Modal for Advice - Should
• License to Wed: Letters of Complaint
• Lilo & Stitch: Past Modals for Regrets
• Man of Steel: Could x Managed to
• Marie Antoinette: Participial Adjectives ED x ING
• Marley & Me: Zero Conditional
• Marmaduke: Unrestrictive Relative Clauses
• Mary & Max: Present Perfect x Simple Past
• Megamind: Adversative Conjunctions
• Melancholia: 2nd Conditional
• Memoirs of a Geisha: Compound Adjectives
• Miss Congeniality: Unrestrictive Relative Clauses
• Monster House: Personification, Figures of Speech
• Monsters University: Modals for Advice
• Monsters vs Aliens: Superlatives
• Morning Glory: Expressing Opinions, Functional Language
• Mr. Woodcock: Modals for Obligation and Prohibition
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Order of Adjectives
• New Moon: Present Perfect x Present Perfect Continuous
• New in Town: Quantifiers Enough x Too
• Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist: Modals for Advice and Past Regrets - SHOULD
• Now You See Me: Prepositions To x For
• Old Dogs: Because of x Because
• Once upon a Time in America: Used to
• Outlander: Transitional Words or Phrases
• Oz The Great and the Powerful: Personification, Figures of Speech
• Paranormal Activity: Since x For
• Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief: Zero Conditional
• Planes: Imperative Forms
• Planet 51: Passive Voice with Present Perfect
• Planet 51: Passive Voice with Simple Present
• Premium Rush: Comparatives with Adjectives and Nouns
• R.I.P.D.: Verbs of Perception
• Rachel Getting Married: Adverb Clauses - Conjunctions
• Radio Days: While x During
• Ratatouille: Passive Voice
• Save the Last Dance: Similes x Metaphors
• School of Rock: Reported Speech
• Sex and the City: Past Continuous x Simple Past
• Shall We Dance?: Similes x Metaphors
• Shallow Hal: 2nd Conditional
• Speed Racer: Used To x Would
• Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron: Onomatopoeia
• Splice: Past Perfect x Simple Past
• Stardust: Adjectives x Adverbs
• Surrogates: Passive Voice with Future Tenses
• Surrogates: To Be Able to
• Swingers: 2nd Conditional
• Tangled: Past Perfect (with Never)
• The Adventures of Tin Tin: Sequence Words
• The Amazing Spider-Man: Wish
• The Ant Bully: Active x Passive Voice
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: Comparatives with Adjectives and Nouns
• The Box: 1st and 2nd Conditionals
• The Curse of the Jade Scorpion: Giving Orders with WILL
• The Devil's Arithmetic: Time Clauses with Before, After and When
• The Great Gatsby: Comparatives, Superlatives, Double Comparatives
• The Great Gatsby: Simple Past
• The Happening: Modals for Speculation
• The Heartbreak Kid: Adversative Conjunctions - Opposition
• The Hitcher: Modals for Advice - Should
• The Hunger Games Catching Fire: Unrestrictive Relative Clauses
• The Hunger Games: 2nd Conditional
• The Island: Modal Verb Can, Have to - Permission, Obligation
• The Men Who Stared at Goats: So x Too
• The Mist: Modal Verbs - Speculation - Might, Could , Can't
• The Money Pit: Causative Verbs
• The Other Man: Simple Past x Past Perfect
• The Pacifier: Sequence Words
• The Phantom of The Opera: Used to
• The Purple Rose of Cairo: Reported Speech
• The Rebound: Present Perfect
• The Tale of Desperaux: Simple Present
• The Time Traveler`s Wife: 2nd Conditional
• The Ultimate Gift: Conjunctions - So, Because, Since
• The Village: Modal Verb Might, May Must - Probability
• The Water Horse: Passive Voice
• The Young Victoria: Had Better x Would Rather
• The Young and Prodigious T. S. Spivet: Used to
• Tooth Fairy: In Case x In Case of
• Twins: Comparatives with Quantity and Nouns
• Unbreakable: Present Perfect (With Just)
• Under the Dome: Modals for Speculation
• Up: Modal for Suggestion COULD
• Up: Used to
• WALL-E: Future - Will
• Wanderlust: Figurative x Literal Meaning
• Warm Bodies: Both... And/ Neither...Nor
• Warm Bodies: Modal Verbs for Advice
• What Dreams May Come: Determiners - BOTH, EITHER, NEITHER
• What's Your Number: Adverbs of Frequency
• While You Were Sleeping: Reported Speech
• Wreck It Ralph: Dialog Writing
• X2 - X-Men Reunited: Past Continuous x Simple Past

Activities for Advanced Learners

• 2012: Future Perfect
• A Christmas Carol: Passive Voice with Modal Verbs
• A Monster in Paris: Inversion after Negation Adverbials
• Anna Karenina: (An) Other (s), The Other (s)
• Avatar: (the) Other (s) / Another
• Before Sunset: 3rd Conditional
• City of Angels: Mixed Conditional Sentences
• Click: Past Modals for Regrets and WISH
• Closed Circuit: Past Perfect Continuous
• Crazy Heart: Past Modals for Speculation and Regrets
• Dark Skies: Past Modals for Speculation
• Death Becomes Her: Idioms
• Emperor: Mixed Modal Verbs: Permission and Obligation
• Ender's Game: Adjectives that Describe Personality and Leaders
• Europa Report: Past Modals for Speculation
• Fearless: So x Such
• Flight Plan: Modals for Speculation - Present and Past
• Footloose: Modal Verbs for Prohibition, Obligation and Permission
• Four Christmases: 3rd Conditional with Mixed Tenses
• Grease: Dangling Modifiers
• Green Lantern: Active x Passive Voice
• Gulliver's Travels: Subjunctive, Verbs of Urgency
• I Am Legend: Future Perfect
• Imagine That: Non-Count Nouns Made Countables
• Legally Blonde: Verb Patterns
• Love Happens: Past Modals for Regrets
• Mamma Mia: Order of Adjectives
• Meet the Robinsons: 3rd Conditional
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Subordinating Conjunctions x Transitions
• Oz The Great and the Powerful: Idioms
• Premonition: Past Modals - Speculation
• Reservation Road: Past Modals for Regrets
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes: As x Like
• Saw: Past Modal - Speculation
• Sex and the City: 3rd Conditional
• The Beach: Prepositions in Relative Clauses
• The Bucket List: Possessive Pronouns with Gerunds
• The Butterfly Effetc: Past Modals for Speculation
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 3rd Conditional
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Wish x Hope
• The Devil Wears Prada: Dangling Modifiers
• The Green Zone: Scanning - Teaching Reading
• The Joy Luck Club: Past Modals - Regrets
• The Karate Kid: Cleft Sentences
• The Longest Yard: The Subjunctive
• The Omen: Inversion after Negation Adverbials
• The Proposal: Past Perfect x Past Perfect Continuous
• The Stepford Wives: Participial Adjectives as Noun Modifiers
• The Third Miracle: Past Modal Verbs for Speculation
• Titanic: 3rd Conditional - Omission of IF
• Urban Legend: Past Modals - Regrets
• Wanderlust: Idioms
• Wanderlust: No Matter...
• Yogi Bear: 3rd Conditional

Activities for Kinesthetic Learners

• Grown-ups 2: Modals for Advice and Regrets
• Kick-Ass: Story Writing, Narratives
• Morning Glory: Expressing Opinions - Functional Language
• This Must Be the Place: Apologizing - Functional Language
• WALL-E: Future with WILL
• Wreck-It Ralph: Dialog Writing

WHY USE MOVIE SEGMENTS TO PRACTICE GRAMMAR AND HOW TO DO IT

TESOL France - Interview Published in September 2011 - Issue 62 - Page 6

Review at TESOL France Printemps 2012 Edition

From Darkness to a Sparkling Connected ELT Community

Interview given to the blog COLLABLOGATORIUM

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Movie quotes you should know!

• Culture Vulture
• TV & Cinema

Grammar - reporting verbs

LESSON OVERVIEW

With this worksheet, your students will learn some classic movie quotes, use them to practise reporting verbs and do some fun pairwork activity.

DISCUSSION & MOVIE QUOTES

The worksheet starts with a short discussion about the types of movies students like. Next, they move to reading some famous quotes and they have to match them with movie titles . To extend a bit this activity, ask them whether they remember any of these films and what they were about. It’s up to you (and your students’ willingness to speak) how much time you spend on this activity.

REPORTING VERBS

Next, students get a table which presents reporting verbs and the structures we use with them. Their task is to rewrite the quotes using verbs in brackets. You can divide your students into pairs or groups as they have to rewrite as many as ten quotes. Then, you can check the answers together.

On top of that, there is a semi-controlled production task where students need to be a bit creative and come up with some original celebrity quotes . First, they write down a name of a famous person (politician, actress, singer, model, etc.) under each bubble. Then, they exchange their handouts and write what these famous people could say. Finally, they get the handouts back from their partners and report what the celebrities said using reporting verbs where possible.

RELATED LESSON PLANS

This worksheet goes well with our lesson plan:

• Practise reported speech with Vogue interviews

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There are some really nice activities in this lesson. Guessing the quotes from film is a really nice context for looking at reporting verbs. My class also enjoyed the final activity at the end which we turned into a guessing game. Thanks!

Thank you for your feedback! I’m really glad to hear that 🙂

Thanks for the great lesson!

The last category on slide 30 is a bit misleading as we don’t use prepositions after ‘deny, admit…’

Hi Oksana! Thanks for the comment! Actually, we forgot to transfer brackets to the e-lesson plan from our PDF version of the worksheet. The correct label in the table should be ‘verb + (preposition) + ing’ to make students aware that a preposition is optional. Thanks for bringing it to our attention! We’ve just fixed that!

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Grammar: Reported Speech in English

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358 comments.

Dear Madam I thank you very much for your efforts & hard work to help people like me. I loved above video abuot repported speech. i got it but what is reported speech when original sentence it a past perfect / past perfect continuous and future’s other 3 tenses.

Some more things i m not sure are . how would be negative sentence of this

1.she has a nice car.

she doesn’t have a nice car. or she doesn’t has a nice car.

Ravi Burlington, Canada

She doesn’t have a car

sorry has is wrong

She doesn’t have a car.

Hello Rebecca!!

i love ur lectures, infact im now in love with this website. all of u are doing great.

your lesson on reported speech is very clear n precised. it helped me a lot. but could u please, if possible, manage to record a lesson on “WH” words (like who, what, when, where, and how) reported speech with their affirmative, negative and interrogative also please try to cover the topic about “let” reported speech sentences.

hoping to hear from you soon. thanks.

she told me that he doesn’t have a car

Hey! i can help you with this sentences: 1. She has a nice car (Present Simple Tense) Angela said me that she had a nice car. 2. she doesn’t have a nice car(the same tense) Angela mentioned that she didn’t has a nice car. there is nothing hard. you must also take it in next tense (present simple to past simple; present continuous to past continuous and so on).

James, sorry but you have done a mistake. Use always said without me. You have to use me as told me. An example: She told me she had a car or She said she had a car. Tks.

she doesn’t have a nice car because you’re usind DOES. You can say : She hasn’t a nice car

According with Essential Grammar in use 2nd edition unit 7 section c pag 20 she hasn’t got a car indicates a possession (like she has got green eyes or she has green eyes) when you are using a negative sentence in present simple the auxiliary verb doesn’t indicates the third singular person and the negation so the main verb goes in its base form: she doesn’t have a car otherwise using has after doesn’t will be a grammatical error (she doesn’t has a car) because you will be making two negations in the same sentence. Good night!

hi hgnis 76; past perfect doesn’t change: She said, “The lesson had already started when he arrived.”= she said that she had already started when he arrived. past perfect continous doesn’t change: She said, “I’d already been teaching for five minutes.”=She said she’d already been teaching for five minutes.

-she dosn’t have a nice car

We thank her

Dear hgnis76,

my English has a poor level but I’m sure “she doesn’t has a nice car” is ungrammatical. Only one verb can give -s in one sentence (clause).

Dear Rebecca,

does exist a reporting speech? I mean for example: I tell you (not past tense!) that you’re very nice because of this cool online teaching.

Yes, reported speech exists but not in your sentence. Thanks for your feedback. All the best to you,Skalkaz.

hello english teacher. how are you doing? this is deepak. could u please tell me difference between, do, does, did, don’t, & has, have, had, &how to use them like, he don’t, or he doesn’t, he has, had. please help me with this, hoping for a very soon reply. T.K.G.B….

Thanks for helping and for the cool comments.

Thanks for the ideas for future lessons. We’ll try and help you in this way.

Please explain the followinng:

In indirect speech after writing reporting verb “THAT” is written while you did not use “that” in indirect speech please explain

The conjunction that is often dropped, especially after common reporting verbs (e.g. say, think) in informal speech. She said (that) she’d had enough. I think (that) you’re probably right.

That cannot be dropped after certain verbs, especially intransitive verbs – e.g. reply, email, shout. James replied that he was feeling better, (NOT James replied he was …) She shouted that she was busy, (NOT She shouted she was busy.)

(source: Practical English Usage)

Thanks for your question, Noor, and thanks for providing the answer, Shalkaz! Good work!

Hi Rebecca,

Just a thought… In the first set of examples: to change “He is a teacher” into “He told me he was a teacher” does kind of mean he wasn’t a teacher anymore. This might be mis-leading (although I know it doesn’t intend to).

Does this mean the listener to the report should also adjust himself to the english style of reporting?

When you say “He told me he was a teacher.” , you are using reported speech correctly. It means the person is still a teacher, even though it may sound like it’s not true right now.

If you say, ” He told me he used to be a teacher.” then it means he is not a teacher any more.

See the difference?

hi, mrs Rebecca u really r the best teacher of mine!!!!

Mrs. Rebecca, If the original sentence was “He USED to be a teacher”, would the reported speech be “He told me he HAD used to be a teacher” or “He told me he USED to be a teacher”? Thank you for the reply and the nice lesson.. :)

Thanks for this reply. It’s quite clear now.

Hello Rebecca .

Just stopped by to say Hi to you and James . I am an English teacher here in Brazil and always recomend your website to my students . I think it is a great tool for them . Thank YOU ! God bless you . tchau …

Thanks for help, I will have exam for 2 days and it it helped me to understand my problems. by love from Zagreb

Hope you got a really high score on your exam! Thanks for your feedback, Matej.

You are doing a great job with this site to teach English. Thank you very much. And I would like to tell, I felt that I was learned something about your “Reported Speech” lesson. I like to learn more in future.

Best Regards. Prabath – Sri lanka

Thanks Prabath. Glad I could help you understand Reported Speech a little better. Good luck with your English.

A lesson is really good, Madam!

first of all thanks for your help ,but i still have a doubt ,i read that when that If the sentence starts in the present, there is no backshift of tenses in Reported speech. Example: Susan: “I work in an office.” Susan says that she works in an office. If the sentence starts in the past, there is often backshift of tenses in Reported speech. (see: Note) Example: Susan: “I work in an office.” Susan said that she worked in an office.

as you can see both examples are in present. how to know if i have to change the sentence at past or not?——————————————————————————–

Thanks for your feedback, Elizabet. Please see my detailed comments to Jonathan below.

My best wishes to you.

thank you very very very very very much

i realy benfite from you thanks alot alot alot

You’re very, very, very welcome! So glad the lesson helped you.

thank you can you explan time perfect??

Okay, I will record a lesson on this just for you and the many others who are confused by the perfect tenses in English.

In the meantime, make sure to review the present and past simple, present and past continuous and the future tenses, because you can also express your thoughts quite adequately using just these tenses. So making sure you master these first will make your life easier.

Thanks again for your suggestion.

I enjoyed your lesson and I wanted to give you my thanks.

I would like if you could do a video with the explication to use the words “by” and “for”. They mean very similar in spanish. Also about “Although” and “despite”.

Have a nice day Raul

Thanks, Raul for the compliment and your suggestion. I will be recording some new lessons soon and will do the ones you’ve suggested. Thanks.

Thanks again your another useful video lesson. I have had 100.00 score. That’s cool. Tata very much.

Great stuff!

These lessons are so very important,I was need it.Now I feel better because day by day I´m improving faster than a few years ago.

Thank you Rebecca,God Blees you!

So glad the lesson helped you. Good for you!

Thank you for refreshing my memory teacher. :-)

My pleasure.

Dear Rebecca, thanks for the great things you have shared with the world. I do understand the reported Speech, but I am not sure with the qouted speech. What is the differences between the other two? when should I use reported Speech and when should I use the qouted speech. Please educate me here.

Thanks Dismas

Thanks for your feedback.

Well, usually, it’s difficult to quote someone when we’re speaking. We usually only refer to famous quotations in speech.

In writing, it’s possible to use the exact quotation because we can see the quotation marks and understand that it is a direct quote.

Also, while speaking we only use the exact words when there is a special reason to quote the person. Perhaps what he or she said was surprising or shocking or wonderful…something exceptional.

Otherwise, we just use reported speech. Hope this helps to clarify the issue a little.

Hi, Teacher !

I love yr lesson ! Tks for enlighten me ! I will keep updating lessons here, hope u dont mind..

Yes, please do come back as we add new lessons all the time. Happy I could help you.

I have some questions about reported specch. 1. Can we keep the tense in reported speech if it still true? For example: Jay said,” I like / love/ hate eating apples.” ( Jay said that he likes/ loves/ hates eating apples)

2. Can we use ‘say(s)’ as reporting verb in reported speech? Jane says, ” I like action film.” ( Jane says that she likes action film.)

3. Any rules in reported speech about stative verbs (like, love, see, seem, etc)?

Thanks for your questions, Itim.

1) Yes, it is possible.

3) The same rules apply as to other verbs.

frist to all, thank you very much for the lessons, they are very useful for me. I think that never had seen “she doesn’t have”… I thought that the correct form was: “she hasn´t” are both forms correct? Thanks!

thanks for teach. Good luck to you!!!

Thanks; the same to you!

wow.. it’s difficult.. but i must try to loved it.. thanks for the teach.. and good luck for your job

Good for you, for not giving up! My best to you, Karel.

Hi thank you very much . I have learnt a lot. However I have some questions about time indicators: for example: I am going to see my mother today. I think that this film is amazing. could you please change them to indirect speech, and explain.

Thanks a lot

He said he was going to see his mother today.

She said she thought this film was amazing.

All the best to you, Souri.

hi rebecca, thank you for your all help.best wishes for you.

And to you too, Noureen. Thanks for watching and for your feedback.

hi ! My name is anh . I come from vietnam. Ilike you very much when you teach english . I could ask you some questions if you agree I will ask you later. do you teach me english on internet ? which way I pay money to you

Thank you kindly for your offer, Anh. At this time, I don’t teach English over the Internet. There are many other excellent teachers who do. I wish you the best, Anh.

Thanks a lof …. The lesson was very useful.. I learnt a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So glad I could help, Nathy. All the best to you in the future.

thank you very much your lesson very useful Thank you very very very very much again I am very happy for your lossen

My pleasure, Ebrahim. Thank you for your kind comments. All the best to you, too.

Dear Rebicca, I thank you vey much for your effort to help people to learn the most great language in all over the world . I was so happy when i found your site because I think that the teaching directly by videos is most usefull and helpsull. Thanks again and may allah pless and help you .

Thank you for your kind feedback, Ali. I wish you all the best.

Dear Rebecca

Thanks a lot, this lesson was very useful for me.

So glad the lesson helped you. My best wishes to you, elhidrologo.

Dear Rebbecca Thank you very much for your excellent explanation english lessons that you corronspound to your worldwide students,and i hope you you will be the winner of english teachers all over the world THANK YOU AGAIN.

Thank you kindly, Ahmed. Everyone gains when we help each other. I learn from my students each day, too. There are so many lessons to learn in life, and luckily, learning keeps life interesting.

My best wishes to you, Ahmed.

Hi Rebecca, I have some questions to you about some special usage of the word get. Here is the pattern. get+noun+adjective. i saw it in the dictionary but i can’t understand the explanation it says here that the word get is being used to cause somebody or something to be or become. i hope you will answer my question as soon as possible. May the lord always blessed you. Thank you.

Thanks so much for your comments, Bg.

I am not sure exactly what you’re asking me so please give me an example so I can help you. Maybe you mean, “You got your mother worried by not calling for so long.’ This would mean that you made your mother become worried.

We use get in lots of different ways in English. I wish you all the best.

thank u mam.i really happy to watch your web site.my speaking power is week and i m so happy to see u.again thanks..

Keep practicing and you will improve each day. All the best to you, Anjali.

hi Rubecca,i am Dibad and i am from Somlia,i recently joined this wonderful sate which i realy found helpful, particularly report speech lessons so i strongly say to you, thank you very much for your effort that you have done for sake of us.

Welcome to engvid, Dibad. So glad you are enjoying the lessons and learning from them too. My best to you.

hi i am juhi i am in 7th std thank u for explaning so nicely

Thanks. I am sure you will do very well in your English studies, since you are taking the initiative to increase your knowledge at such a young age. Good for you, Juhi! My best wishes to you.

i am very thankful to you for your priceless advice here

.thnks ,thanks alot madam

You’re very welcome, Ashu. All the best to you.

Thanks mam. The way u teach us is awesome.

That’s very kind of you. Thanks!My best wishes to you, Jack.

Hello, dear Rebbeca. thanks for your help. I see that you are very generous and humble. you deserve all the best. just a questions. what is the difference between indirect quesiotns and reposted questions. indirect questions=embedded questions Do you know what time it is? REPORTED QUESTIONS He asked me what time it is.

thanks in advance from Peru Norma

Thanks for your comments, Norma.

In embedded questions, we change the order of the words, but we do not change the tense.

Example: Where is the supermarket? becomes Do you know where the supermarket is?

In reported speech questions, we usually change the tense.

Where is the supermarket/ becomes He asked me where the supermarket was.

My best wishes to you, Norma.

hello madam, first of all thank you for the effort you make to help us,may god bless you. second i’m a student from an arabic country,and my question is :some times we are given exersices in which we find indirect speeches and we are asked to write the direst ones, my problem is with the past perfect,for exemple:(mike said that he had finished writing his book), i don’t know whether i write :mike said:”i have finished/finished or had finished writing my book”. thank you in advance fifi

In this case, because you are adding a direct quote, you would write:

Mike said, : I have finished writing my book.”

All the best to you, Fifi.

i like your maner of teaching. you make your lessons understood easily and staying in mind of people.

I’m glad you found the lesson effective. Thank you kindly for your feedback. my best wishes to you, Clovis.

good lesson

Thanks, Samreen. All the best.

Hi Rebecca, I came across your videos because I was looking for reported speech in Spanish and was curious because I had just had a minor disagreement with my Venezuelan-born teacher over how English reported speech is constructed. Her position was the same as yours, that there is always a back-step in tense in reporting, however I do not believe that this is a universal truth. The back-step, if made, is almost always in the context of some other point that the speaker wants to stress. So for example, there is nothing at all that I can see that is wrong with the construction “the professor said that you are smart”. To use the past tense in this case would likely indicate some other issue within the sentence and likely a one-time situation, so for example “the professor said that you were smart to choose the MBA course ” for example, although in such a case it is likely that the original sentence would also have been in the past “Jane, you were smart to choose the MBA course”. Alternatively, the use of the past tense might indicate a true past event “the professor said that you were smart once but are not any more” but again in that case, the original sentence would also have been expressed in the past “you were smart once but not anymore”. Sorry therefore, but I cannot agree with your analysis that you always step back a tense in reporting speech and I believe that this is something that should be corrected with the people that are learning English through your programme.

Thanks for your question, Jonathan. I can understand your point of view.

In these video lessons, we explain the basic rules of English grammar, as applicable most of the time. There are always grammatically correct exceptions, and there are also grammatically incorrect expressions used commonly by native speakers of a language without too much regard to the rules. Reported speech certainly falls into this category. This is why your sample sentence, “The professor said you are smart.” seems quite acceptable and certainly understandable.

In terms of the grammatical rules, when we report what someone has said though, we are supposed to do the back step. The exceptions are as follows:

a) Sentences with should, ought to and might do not change b) Sometimes, if reporting something immediately after or soon after it was said, we need not do a back step in tense. c) If we’re talking about general truths, we need not make the change. d) If the reporting verb itself is simple present, present perfect or future, we do not change the tense. Example: She SAYS she jogs every day.

Hope this helps to clarify the issue.

I want lesson of concession please. thanks bye

you are smart and good job of ours lessons video thank you so much.

hı teacher I am from turkey everyday I watchıng your lesson very usefull for me..

Dear Rebecca, How can I change the following sentence into a reported speech? “It’s can’t be very nice having all these cars going by all the time” Thank you in advance!

thank you teacher rebbeca!^^ it will help me a lot for my study in english..

Everything is correct in this quiz.I was very excited,I know this very good.

hello again,let me try with your sentence ANH: first there is a mistake at the beginning,there shouldn’t be an auxiliary before the modal verb “can”, so you may say: it couldn’t be very nice having all those cars going all that time. I wish the teacher would agree with me.goodluck for all.

hi rebecca, i have a question for you …

when you were explaining the first part of the video you didn’t use the word “that” in the sentences , but when you asked to the audience some examples, you used “that”…. is “that” an optional word?

you are a great teacher!!! ^.^b greetings from Mexico

Thank you so much. I really learned a lot.I am going through more on your website.Thank you so much, I really found it helpful.

THIS IS A WONDERFULL PAGE TO PRECTICE MY ENGLISH I´M HAPPY TO HAVE FOUND IT! :)

i got 100 score))))…thanks Mrs.Rebecca.U r great teacher.

rebecca u r amazing teacher.i have problem that i understand all english but im scare to speak english and do some mistkes when i go to speak actually i know all the tenses but i do mistakes when i speak plz rebecca help me out thanks waithing for replay

thanks a lot it was really helpful

THANK YOU MS.REBECCA;*

“I used to smoke” he said He said he used to smoke /OR hE SAID HE HAD USED TO SMOKE. PLEASE WHICH ONE IS APPROPRIATE. mANY THANKS MRS REBECCA

heloo rebecca,,,, nice to see your video,,, thanks to teach us english

Hi Rebecca :) what are the different functions of reported speech?…actually me and my friends are going to report “Reported Speech” in our English class and because of your video we are somewhat enlightened to what is “Reported Speech”…thanks :)

I need ask you something when we write he toled me ….. it always like this and … when we can write said thnx:)

Thank you for your teaching. It’s very helpful. I couldn’t using grammar correctly before. but from now, I have a little bit increasing. Thank you again.

What a nice explination it’s my first time to understand this grammer clearly thanks alot.

Thanks a lot My Score in the Reported Speech was : 100.00 . I got 10 correct out of 10. you are the best I’m Arabic and I am English teacher. I will learn from you a lot about how to teach English because you are the best . :)

hi Rebecca. Could you please give me a lesson about the differences between MUST and HAVE TO.I sometimes make a mistake between them.

Thank you very much for your help

Dear Madam , I have a very important question. Is it possible to use present perfect tense,or past perfect tense in the main sentence? I have told you that….. I had told you that….. If yes, does the tenses changes after them or not like after the simple past tense? For example: I had told you that you would be happy. /instead of you will be happy/ I wait for your answer urgently Thank you in advance Teoleander

Hi rebaca, your lessons are excellent. I attended for many English classes but I never met a teacher like you.

In your profile by saying that “there is no bad student” you given me lot of confidence.

your accent is neutral.please suggest good books(novels,grammer) which will help in improving my English. I am from India.

Hi, rebaca Iam from Indonesia and your lesson are excellent but sorry my english is not good, Rebaca, Do you know Toeic ?

Rebecca, when we use told and said in reported speech. I don’t understand. Please help me!

“Cindy’s voice was music to my ears,” Roger told me. Was changes to what?

Dear Rebecca i am from Afghanistan i would like to thank you so much for vidio teaching i learned so much from it and i appreciate your hard work and your friendly teaching. best regards

hi. rebecca what do u mean for ‘one step back in tense’? is that i have understood below? simple present ——>simple past present conti.——->past conti. present perfect——>past perfect present perfect conti——> past perfect conti simple past———->past perfect past perfect———>past perfect past conti.———->past perfect conti. past perfect conti—–>past perfect conti simple future——->simple past future conti——>past conti future perfect——->past perfect future perfect conti——->past perfect conti.

am i right? please throw light. thanks.

Thank you Rebecca! It was a very useful lesson to me.

I can’t come to the party tonight.”

Why is it? couldn’t came… It is couldn’t come?

Thanks ma am You theach very very well!!!

thanks my angel

This is very, very useful lesson for all of us who have been practising English as foreign language. Just keep doing that, you are the best. . .

Hi Rebecca, I am confused.In spoken english people always use the tense in a diffrent way.Once I was talking with one English man.He used the following. ” Yeasterday I told Thomas to arrange a car for me.He told I will do it .But he did not do anything .I think these people are irresponsible.” later I called him he said sorry, I forgot ” .In this sentence as per correct grammer He should say 1) ” He told he would do it” and 2) he said he was sorry, he had forgotten”.Any comments from your side.

Very simple: people don’t always speak correctly.

what about “you should say that”? Would it be “he told me:”you could say that”? So, ‘should’ becomes ‘could’, ‘shall’ becomes ‘should’, is this correct? Lastly, what about ‘could’, ‘would’, and ‘must’?

Thank you Rebecca.You’re very nice to explain.Lily from Brasil

thank you.u’re very patient to explain a lot..thanks to ur brain…

Thanks Rebeca. could you please tech about third conditional or second. I really appreciate.

dear madam rebeca,ur’just fantastick!

What makes you perfect, that you are versed of what you say. Thanks.

thaaank you so much for the hard work that you are doing i have an exam tom and en sa2 allh i will bass it

I like your lessons so much, please do more lessons soon. Thanks.

Love u much teacher Rebecca for what you have done

Hello Madam . You explained the reported speech very well but what about the imperative and the question in the reported speech ?

Thank you so much. I did not understand “Future report speech”. Example on the test: Rachel: “Michael and I are getting married next summer.” Rachel announced that _____ next summer. May i use “were” or “are” ..

Thank you so much

hi what about the imperative and the question ?

Hi Rebecca that was excellent on reported speech. I would really like to know the difference between indirect and reported speech. Kamal

Would u like to give me some lectres on WH question.

very nice explanation,good teacher

Thanks a lot Rebecca!

It was a nice video. I’ve been watching these videos from past few months. They are very interesting.

sincerely, Vivek

i’m happy, i got full marks. thank you teacher

really useful

dear madam: i like your teaching way. i got 80 marks this lesson.

Hi Rebecca!

When I was high school,I got lowest grade on my English subject because I didn’t know how to use the grammar rules correctly.But when I was watching your video Ive learned a lot.My English skills are improving and I can’t thank you enough for the help… God Bless and more power!

What about the example of She said, “My name is Sally”. Do you change the tense in the reported speech and make it. She said her name was Sally?! I think it should be “her name is..”.. What do you think? Need to know your opinion about this one and about the change of tense when you report facts.

we must change “to be”,so its indirect speech must be (her name was),if reporting verb is in past simple,this rule is followed,am i rite Rebbeca?

oh! i need learn english

Hai rebecca , it was a nice video and i learnt a lot from your website. I dont have a strong foundation in english but still i am planning to give GRE and TOEFL in next four months. Could u please give some tips for english preparation. It will be helpful for me.

in the indirect speech we also change the pronouns as u did’nt change “you” into another pronoun.

Hi! And what’s the reported speech for this:”I would like to speak to you”?

this video site it’s really helpful for everyone including me,i’ve learnt English since i was young and i’m becoming an English Teacher now but i’m still learning and increasing my ability to explain some material to my students because i think the good explanation give the good impact and result,and you guys are the best tutor,espesially you Rebecca.say hi from Indonesia =)

Dear Teacher,

I would like to express my profound thanks to you for explaining clearly about report speed grammar and I think that your lesson and your explanation will really help me improve my English. Teacher could I ask you about English words outside the lesson? I have wondered so long already about one English word and that word is :the plant which produce cauliflower what is English called ? because I have ever seen the cauliflower only but never seen its plant’s name. I’m sorry teacher asking that word which is not related to the lesson above.

Respectfully,

SOM.SOPHEAK RITH FROM CAMBODIA

The plant is also called cauliflower.

Dear Teacher REBECCA,

Thank you very much for answering my question.

SOM.SOPHEAK RITH

Actually i don’t know how to thank you miss Rebecca. thank you so much

Dear Rebecca, in my test I made just one mistake, the 5th one. Could you tell me why the correct answer is “she couldn´t come” instead “she couldn´t came”, suposed to be the verb must be changed to past.

Thank you in advanced.

I was really excited to come across this site that provides comprehensive details in grammar. My question to you is how do we identify a habitual action? This in turn means that we don’t have to change the verb tense? I need some constructive examples.

I love study English!!! do and accecpt is wonderful…thanks very much Rebecca…

Hi Rebecca, I really got excited after I found this site that provides comprehensive details in grammar. My question to you is about the differences between “indirect Questions” and “Embedded Questions”. They seem to be the same to me. I need some constructive examples. Thanks

Hi Rebecca, What about indirect questions??

Sue said that she was very happy with her new job.into direct speech I am very happy with her new job,Sue said

thank vrey much for this fantastck lesoon <3

Hello madam Rebecca, Direct Speech And Indirect Speech…. is it same with reported speech??… Thanks

Dear Madam: Could you explain me the difference using “Must and Have to” in indirect speech?

I am waiting for answer!!

Past tomorrow I will have a exam and I´m really very happy watching your class about Report Speech. In a short time you explained the subject very clear. Actually I´m very glad to have found these excellent teachers spending the time for teaching us. I let to you my hug and Hello from Chile. I´m Brazilian but I’m living at Chile and I studying at Chilean College, Translation from English to Spanish. It’s no easy because both languages are not mine, but I can say to you that it’s very interesting challenge. My best regards from South America to everybody.

Bye, Marcio

Day after tomorrow I will have a exam and I´m really very happy watching your class about Report Speech. In a short time you explained the subject very clear. Actually I´m very glad to have found these excellent teachers spending the time for teaching us. Receive my hug and Hello from Chile. I´m Brazilian (Portuguese language)but I’m living in Chile and I’m studying at Chilean College, Translation from English to Spanish. It’s no easy because both languages are not mine, but I can say to you that it’s very interesting challenge. My best regards from South America to everybody. Bye, Màrcio

We like these hugs!

Dear Rebbeca,

In Brazil we have this greeting like normal to say goodbye. I think is too important to change our energies through the hugs. Let the physical distance to the Asiatics!

Many hugs to you.

Thank you… :)

Hello,teacher.I think i may be your young student. i want to know lesson Report Speech, if it is posible Can you explain me.

Thanks a lot!

hello madam, i would like to ask you how to speak direct and indirect speech.if anybody tell something ,the same word tell to the third person.most of the peoples are using said that,said,he was saying,told me.please explin me with example and send to my mail id

Thank you Rebicca you are awesome teacher and you will say in reported speach: he said : I was awesome.Thank you and “Merry Christmas”

thank you it was useful

I liked this lesson. It is easy to understand. Happy new year to all.

This lesson helps a lot! Thanks so much. This lesson will really improve grammatically and verbally my English skills.

Thanks! It is very useful for me. I was afraid to learn grammar before but I try to understand now……

Thank you. I was struggle in how to use Reported speech properly,now,I clarifies this concept.

Thank you so much!!!

Ma’am

In your 1st set of examples, “You are smart” isn’t it changed into “he said that I was smart” ?

thank you :D

thanx rebecca ..10/10 ı did. my friend told me rebecca was very good teacher. yes he is right..:)))

Hello Rebecca,

You are awesome teacher !!! I understand the whole lessen perfectly. Write down one fan to this website.

Thank you very much.

thank you Rebeca I listed this class several times with other teacher and you´re the best

hi you are a clever teacher.

Hello everybody. I’m Ole.

Hello! It of great help to me as I took that quiz just below the video.I did not see the video, but I could get all the answers correct except for the first one.I am very happy with my results.I whole-heartedly thank you.

Hmm.. do we use reported speech after: -He noticed….. -They suggested… -She proposed… etc. when it is clear that the person was saying something ?

{Jeevan said to his teacher ,” I cannot understand this lesson .Will you teach it to me once again?}

MAM THIS IS A QUESTION THAT REWRITE IN A REPORTED SPEECH….

I feel that oral questions more effective for me than written.

questions is more fix

Rebecca i want to say something for you: YOU ARE SWEET AND THE BEST ONE…love you! Bisous

what is the meaning of WOULD i really be mad :((( please help me my teacher i will wait your unswer it is so important for me

hello !!! i have a question : jean asked jeany “are you a student ?” – “yes, i am” can you transform this question to reported speech for me ? Thanks

hi mrs,it’s for the first time i get on this website,i really love this lesson,it is so useful for me,my name is Jeff,from haiti bye

Hi Rebecca, I have a question. What if the reporting person is first and second person who report about themselves. Does the pronoun remain the same in the reported speech? Eg: I said:’I am here’ and You said:’you are here’ Thanks in advance

Hi Rebecca. Thanks so much all of you teaching.

Hi Rebecca, Fantastic lesson…it will be useful for my students

it is really confusion bt i understood it well n thank u alot for making me understand it well

That is so wonderful. I will try to learn from you and I will ask you whenever I have the question. Please you good luck and please you keep your mission to help to many people around the world. Thanks from Pharin.

i have no words to express my feelings .because this site solve my big problems .but now i want to start from the start but how??

HI REBECCA, VERY GOOD LESSON. I GOT A QUESTION ABOUT EMBEDDED QUESTION. DO YOU CHANGE THE SENTENCE FROM PRESENT TO PAST IN THE EMBEDDED QUESTION?

Thanks teacher for your nice lesson I hope that you will bring new Technic for this subject. Thanks.

can you explain how i can Utter sounds

I hate to see you tell students that we use ‘reported speech’ because we use ‘reported speech’. I think you said we HAVE to use ‘reported speech. But only if you don’t care about accuracy. You say, ‘He told me he was a teacher’, but that’s not true. He told you he IS a teacher, if he is still a teacher. If he was a teacher from 1995 to 2006, then you would say, ‘He told me he was a teacher (from 1995 to 2006). The notion of ‘reported speech’ is a CONSTRUCT, it is not something that makes any sense. We should stop trying to teach it. It is NOT useful. Sorry, I’m not shouting but there is no way to underline. Contact me if you like .

br dot hadvines at yahoo dot com

Thanks a lot. it was helpful :)

Rebecca, could you explain the topic of: the direct and indirect questions with reported speech please? thank you =)

Rebecca, I just watched your VDO, It’s very good VDO !!! Now I’m studying english in USA ,I’m looking for writing learning on internet.

Could you please recommend me.

Regards,Kit

Hello Madam, could you please help me to identify whether the following sentence is in reported speech or not? “The death toll is expected to rise.”

thanks alot

Thank you so much Rebecca! You’re great :)

Hey Rebecca, nice videos you’re great! I have a question regarding reported speech. For example:

Mary: There’s a great movie on TV today.

In reported speech it could written in two ways right? First: “Mary told me there was a great movie on TV that day.” – Which implies the day she said it was before the day I was talking.

Second: “Mary told me there’s a great movie on TV today”. – It can stay the same because we are living the day the movie is going to be on right? Thanks in advance!

Hi miss…

ty for ur lesson…10/10—actually reported speeches are a bit confusing, yet we have to practice to gain more confidence… regards… carlos,lima..peru

Very useful! Thanks for your classes.

Thank you!! Finally I understood “reported speech”!!

Could you complete the list please:

Present simple becomes Past Simple Past Simple…..Past Perfect Past Perfect….? Past Continuos….Past Perfect Continuous Present Perfect…Past Perfect

And all verb tenses

Thank you again!!

sometimes it is a little difficult to understand that kind of thing, but thanks to you it is easier for me.

he tOLD me he would ( wrong) I WOULD TRUE 7 .00

hi Rebica thank you for all hose who stand in front of the cam to teach and gives there time to us, I have problem when i talk to the people who are poor in the english language i ll be confused and i can not understand from them at all not like the native one second pro. is when i talk i m posing or tattering any suggestion best regard Hassan

10 out of 10 thanks Rebeca

Hi,thanks for a very nice lesson about reported speech. But would you like give us a lesson about REPORTING VERBS?

OK I got 10 out of 10 corect, so I can’t explain why I can’t pass an exam that I’m doing online about reported speech. By the way I saw you didn’t talk about “asked” form of reported speech, so if you can do it in future lessons that will be great. Thank so much for your help.

thanks I got from 10 -10 grade

Hi Rebecca Thank u very much for ur great lessons on reported speech. Please explain to me when do we use “that” in reported speech. I noticed u have used in some sentences and left in others. What is the right set of rule to follow.? Waiting for ur reply, thanks

THANK YOU SO MUCH !REBECCA .YOU ARE MY IDOL !

it helped me a lot and thank you because it was an assignment in my school thanks a lot.

good job teacher i really love ur explaination

Thanks dear Rebecca it was easy and understanduable Thanks again

please explain for students how to make question in reported speach ! i heard that it is a bit difficult

Dear rebecca madam, tomorrow is my eng. Exam n ur dis video wz vry helpful to me n u made it vry clr..now i feel i don need to open the book..thnxx.. U r even better den mah english teacher..:)

thank you very much for the lessons

9 out of 10

Thank you very much for clear lesson :-)

hi every one I want to know if some one told me “you ate dinner” the reported speech will be “he said that I had eaten dinner” or as the teacher said it will be “he said that you had eaten dinner”?

Thanks ma’am this lesson’s realy work!!!

Thnahs Rebecca…very very helpful lesson

Dear Rebecca, I am a form two student from Hong Kong.It is my first time to ask questions here.Thanks your help first. I want to ask you three questions. First, do we need to change the tense in reported speech if it is a fact or it is a opinion in direct speech. I asked many people before but someone answered “Yes” and someone answered “No”. So,I really feel confused about it. For example,Mary said”It is a fantastic place.” A.Mary said that it was a fantastic place. or B. Mary said that it is a fantastic place. Which answer is correct? Second, I want to ask a question about pronoun in reported speech. For example,”You needn’t wait for me” said Mary. We need to answer [Mary said that I needn’t wait for her.] or [Mary said that he/she need’t wait for her.]This means if the direct speech doesn’t mention which person it is talking to but there is “you”, we need to change “you” to “I” or”he” or”she”? For example, [“She will take you all to Stanley Market.” said Mary] We need to answer [Mary said that she would take us all to Stanley Market] or {Mary said that she would take them all to Stanley Market] Lastly, I want to ask what is the different about “said” and”told” For example, [Mary said to us”We got married six months ago.” We should say[Mary told us they had got married six months before.” or [Maru said to us they had got married six months before.]? Please answer the questions as soon as possible because I had a test on Monday about reported speech. Thanks you so much! Best wishes, Alice

tnx reBecca Very HelpFul lessOn

Hello Rebecca! Thanks for the videos. In fact I had a test on the 3rd of march and my grammer class work was with one of my classmates.It was just then that i came across the website of eduvid and got a practice on reported speech. Thanks a million, Regard, prashant,banglore,india

Excellent! It’s easier than I thought! Thanks for your explanations :)

I used to be panic about reported speech–too complicated . I had to change the tense , paid attention to pronoun and felt slight boring to say told told told… From your given quiz , I got D too, I learned more useful words , such as comment , admit , announce,confide. I am so excited. Thank you.

i’m going to cry :( this is the first time in my life… it did not happened to me before i got many full marks in the same day realy i don’t know how can i thank you rebecca

hi rebacca i’m amine in morrocco i love the way how you explain thank you

Great lesson !

Hi Rebacca, Can we use this concept in writing as well? Or it’s only in speech

hi mam if there is an universal sentence how we could change it , into reported speech ? for example. sun rises from east i am waiting for your answer .I hope u will be replay me an answer

Thanks Rebecca, it’s so useful lesson.

i got 7/10 ;(

Rebacca, you are An amazing Teacher … You make The English More Easier to Me :)

i have a question about it, is it correct?

john: What did you do? mary : John asked what i did

why could it be correct? if past switched to past perfert.

thank a lot for this lesson video!

Hello,teacher Rebecca.Thanks you so much for your teaching you are perfect teacher.

A little difficult to catch it immediately but I’m pleased for the lesson, thanks!

I had a little problem with this subject. But not any more. I got the lesson. :) I got 10 correct out of 10. :) Thanks Rebecca. Whatever a lesson is difficult, you make it very simple. And I like your teaching because you are very patient, and you give us many examples. :)

thank you so much .i have a question i don’t know when to say in reported speech she told and she said…i really get confused when it comes to said and told.do they have the same meaning or not if not when to use them correctly. thank you

hi rebecca can you explain to us about active and passive voice because these days i will be an exam and you will have helped me by the and of this month

I loved this explanation. Thank you so much for all the effort that you guys do for teaching us in wherever places we are. I’m so grateful. However in my case it could’ve been more useful if instead of the original sentences that were writing on the board we had the report speech examples.

Hello Rebeca, Thank you very much for your lesson. I learned Reported Speech in high school as well as in ESL classes and here watched your lesson, the rules are same, but I find native speakers often don’t follow the rules. It’s very confusing. Finally I found this site that explains the why. I wanted to run by you and see if what it says is right, http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/repspee.htm “The main problem for the learner of English is to decide which tense is needed for the verb(s) in what is reported. Generally, English speakers do not change the tense if what is said is still true or has not happened yet, and they believe the speaker.” it has examples, which are exactly what I often hear how native speakers talk. I look forward to hearing your reply. Thank you very much.

In the video you had this example: “you ate dinner.” and you reported it as “he said that you had eaten dinner.” Shouldn’t we report you as I in this sentence and report it like this: “He said that I had eaten dinner.” ?

great lesson

Thank you very much

Simply excelent

Thanks Rebbeca.

I’m deeply grateful for your lesson!It’s was very interesting!)

Thank you Ms Rebbeca

super ı have 100 points

Hi, Rebecca thank you for your teaching, you are great. I got 100 %. Was very usefull.I appreciate

Thank you very much, got 90%.

Thank you dear Rebecca, you are a saviour ;)

I GOT 100% ON THE TEST!!! IT WAS EASY THANKS TO YOUR LESSON DEAR REBECCA, xoxoxoxo

i got 10 correct out of 10…..thanks rebecca.

Rebecca, thank you very much for your interesting lesson! I like it very much!

I’ve got 100! thanks,Rebecca

Thank you sir.

I got 100, thanks for your help Rebecca!

Thank you ,Rebecca.

i got 100 score :) thank you :*

Hi MS REBECCA! WHAT WOULD BE THE REPORTED SPEECH OF “HE IS MY BROTHER”. THANK YOU!

thank a lot of mam . God bless…

Thank you Rebecca

merci madam

Hello Rebecca! I got 100%, but I have a doubt if I had to pass PRESENT SIMPLE or WILL from REPORTED SPEECH to DIRECT SPEECH, how would be it? Do I have to change the tense or not? for example:

Reported speech: He refuses to sell the movie rights

Direct speech: I refuse to sell the movie rights

Is it right?

Thanks, Rebecca!

Thamks millions

Thanks, Nice.

thank you for the help it was amazing

I want to ask the question of whether I can put [ told me that ]

9 of 9 thank you very much

Thanks for this useful video. This help me to understand clearly about this grammar. Thank you very much.

Dear Rebecca, I convey you a great thank you for this lesson. Yours sincerely.

my quiz 100 You got 10 correct out of 10. :D

hi, teacher your lessons are good, but I noticed that you don’t explain every example on blackboard, you always face to the camera and give us examples, whereas using the board is effective for students! thanks teacher

hi rebecca how will you tell someone in a polite way that he’s/she’s using a wrong grammar.

thank you so much Rebeecca

i am just ask when say He/She Said and when i say He/She Told me ?

Thank you Rebecca.

why you don’t use (that)

He told me that he was a teacher ????

help plz!!!

Thank you teacher , I got 100 :) I like this lesson very easy to understand .

I like this part of the grammer very much. I got 10. thanks.

Hello Rebecca, In the question, “John: “I love chocolate cake.” John told me _____ chocolate cake.”

Is it “he loved” or “that he loved”?

Kindly clarify the difference.

Thank you in advance,

Hi,teacher,hope,you’ll be fine.I’m a student of O levels,Teacher please will you help me with the english,I go through from many mistakes.

I really admire the way,you teach,I did 8 idioms yesterday from your given lecture,really adoring,thank you loads

Yessss. I got 10 correct out of 10. :D

This grammar was new for me, thanks a lot Rebbeca.

Thank you, dear Rebecca!

what is the difference between they live in Russia and They are living in Russia…?

I scored 100% in the quiz. thank you! :)

I wish to understand correctly this lesson, but I can’t. It is so confussing to learn the English tenses. How you can help me the different way or What technique I should to use for that?

Thanks Rebecca Nice lesson :)

Hi Rebecca I’d like to ask you a question…. I watched a video of yours in which you were teaching the reported speech….you mentioned an example in direct speech “he is a teacher.” Then you wrote the corresponding indirect form of it…like ( he told me he was a teacher ) … My question is that doesn’t it have to be like ( he told me he were a teacher) because I read in the English grammar digest by Trudy Aronson it is to be always “were” form of be instead of “was”

Hi I myself found the answer….I was confusing it with the conditional forms….but I didn’t know how to remove the comment…

Thank you so much, very useful.

My friend told me that she had eaten rice and kimchi for lunch today.:D Thank you Rebecca.

thank you ma’am i got 90

You are the only teacher that I could understand every lesson very well without getting confused or tired

thank you teacher I got 100 % you’re a vary good teacher thanks allot.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy

10/10 …. very good lesson thanks for your help ?

Thanks Rebecca! You made it so simple to understand.

nice speech regarding narrations moreover I have passed the test by giving correct answers 10 / 10

Thanks Rebecca!

You got 10 correct out of 10.

I was watching the following video https://www.engvid.com/english-grammar-if-will-would-were/ and tried to practice reported speech with something that James said.

James: If I were to pay atention what I was doing I would be better at the board.

So James commented on the fact that if he had been paying atention what he had been doing he would be better at the board.

Well I kindly ask you to advice whether the reported speech was applied correctly.

Thanks in advance. Best regards,

This lesson was very hard. Could you please make more videos about reported speech? thanks

Hi Mrs.Rebecca.

My name is Ilgar.I am 32 years old and from Azerbaijan. I would like to improve my english skill and get IELTS certificate.I have watched yours videos on YouTube and enjoy your tutoring. I am looking for English tutor and I think if you will be agree,I would be glad to improve my english to the high level by your support. How can it be possible to be your student?Do you conduct lessons on SKYPE? I will look forward to hearing about the ways how I can be your student.

Thanks for attention

Hi Rebecca Do you have any personal website? If you have, please send me it’s URL address. My email: [email protected] My websites: http://www.sheshjavan.ir http://www.venuscomputer.ir

it’s the first time to understand his lesson. thank you very much.

thank you. You said that we had to use the reported speech when we had to say something that someone else had said.

i am happy i got 10/10

Thank you …

9/10. Thank you! Rebecca, could you please to explain, why in the 4th question the right answer is she “couldn’t come”? Thank you for all your help to us!!

i think can not-could not.therefore come no past tense.

thank you Rebecca. you are really helping for my study processing.

THANKS A LOT

‘do you have exams this Friday?’ mum asked me. can you please tell me how to write this sentence in reported speech.

10/10 tanks again

I watched this video twice on July 30, 2021, and took the quiz after watching it once. I got ten out of 10.

Hello….I’d like to brush my speaking up. Is there anyone else who is interested in speaking to me on a regular basis? My whatsapp number is +88 01812788727. Thank you. Rasho.

10/10 thanks Rebecca <3

10/10 thanks Rebecca

Regarding the 5th question. Angela: “I can’t come to the party tonight.” Angela explained she couldn’t come to the party tonight. Aren’t we supposed to change the word ‘tonight’ into ‘that night’ as well?

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• B1-B2 grammar

Reported speech

Daisy has just had an interview for a summer job. 

Instructions

As you watch the video, look at the examples of reported speech. They are in  red  in the subtitles. Then read the conversation below to learn more. Finally, do the grammar exercises to check you understand, and can use, reported speech correctly.

Sophie:  Mmm, it’s so nice to be chilling out at home after all that running around.

Ollie: Oh, yeah, travelling to glamorous places for a living must be such a drag!

Ollie: Mum, you can be so childish sometimes. Hey, I wonder how Daisy’s getting on in her job interview.

Sophie: Oh, yes, she said she was having it at four o’clock, so it’ll have finished by now. That’ll be her ... yes. Hi, love. How did it go?

Daisy: Well, good I think, but I don’t really know. They said they’d phone later and let me know.

Sophie: What kind of thing did they ask you?

Daisy: They asked if I had any experience with people, so I told them about helping at the school fair and visiting old people at the home, that sort of stuff. But I think they meant work experience.

Sophie: I’m sure what you said was impressive. They can’t expect you to have had much work experience at your age.

Daisy:  And then they asked me what acting I had done, so I told them that I’d had a main part in the school play, and I showed them a bit of the video, so that was cool.

Sophie:  Great!

Daisy: Oh, and they also asked if I spoke any foreign languages.

Sophie: Languages?

Daisy: Yeah, because I might have to talk to tourists, you know.

Sophie: Oh, right, of course.

Daisy: So that was it really. They showed me the costume I’ll be wearing if I get the job. Sending it over ...

Ollie: Hey, sis, I heard that Brad Pitt started out as a giant chicken too! This could be your big break!

Daisy: Ha, ha, very funny.

Sophie: Take no notice, darling. I’m sure you’ll be a marvellous chicken.

We use reported speech when we want to tell someone what someone said. We usually use a reporting verb (e.g. say, tell, ask, etc.) and then change the tense of what was actually said in direct speech.

So, direct speech is what someone actually says? Like 'I want to know about reported speech'?

Yes, and you report it with a reporting verb.

He said he wanted to know about reported speech.

I said, I want and you changed it to he wanted .

Exactly. Verbs in the present simple change to the past simple; the present continuous changes to the past continuous; the present perfect changes to the past perfect; can changes to could ; will changes to would ; etc.

She said she was having the interview at four o’clock. (Direct speech: ' I’m having the interview at four o’clock.') They said they’d phone later and let me know. (Direct speech: ' We’ll phone later and let you know.')

OK, in that last example, you changed you to me too.

Yes, apart from changing the tense of the verb, you also have to think about changing other things, like pronouns and adverbs of time and place.

'We went yesterday.'  > She said they had been the day before. 'I’ll come tomorrow.' >  He said he’d come the next day.

I see, but what if you’re reporting something on the same day, like 'We went yesterday'?

Well, then you would leave the time reference as 'yesterday'. You have to use your common sense. For example, if someone is saying something which is true now or always, you wouldn’t change the tense.

'Dogs can’t eat chocolate.' > She said that dogs can’t eat chocolate. 'My hair grows really slowly.' >  He told me that his hair grows really slowly.

What about reporting questions?

We often use ask + if/whether , then change the tenses as with statements. In reported questions we don’t use question forms after the reporting verb.

'Do you have any experience working with people?' They asked if I had any experience working with people. 'What acting have you done?' They asked me what acting I had done .

Is there anything else I need to know about reported speech?

One thing that sometimes causes problems is imperative sentences.

You mean like 'Sit down, please' or 'Don’t go!'?

Exactly. Sentences that start with a verb in direct speech need a to + infinitive in reported speech.

She told him to be good. (Direct speech: 'Be good!') He told them not to forget. (Direct speech: 'Please don’t forget.')

OK. Can I also say 'He asked me to sit down'?

Yes. You could say 'He told me to …' or 'He asked me to …' depending on how it was said.

OK, I see. Are there any more reporting verbs?

Yes, there are lots of other reporting verbs like promise , remind , warn , advise , recommend , encourage which you can choose, depending on the situation. But say , tell and ask are the most common.

Great. I understand! My teacher said reported speech was difficult.

And I told you not to worry!

Check your grammar: matching

Check your grammar: error correction, check your grammar: gap fill, worksheets and downloads.

What was the most memorable conversation you had yesterday? Who were you talking to and what did they say to you?

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• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Reported speech: indirect speech

Indirect speech focuses more on the content of what someone said rather than their exact words. In indirect speech , the structure of the reported clause depends on whether the speaker is reporting a statement, a question or a command.

Indirect speech: reporting statements

Indirect reports of statements consist of a reporting clause and a that -clause. We often omit that , especially in informal situations:

The pilot commented that the weather had been extremely bad as the plane came in to land. (The pilot’s words were: ‘The weather was extremely bad as the plane came in to land.’ )

I told my wife I didn’t want a party on my 50th birthday. ( that -clause without that ) (or I told my wife that I didn’t want a party on my 50th birthday .)

Indirect speech: reporting questions

Reporting yes-no questions and alternative questions.

Indirect reports of yes-no questions and questions with or consist of a reporting clause and a reported clause introduced by if or whether . If is more common than whether . The reported clause is in statement form (subject + verb), not question form:

She asked if [S] [V] I was Scottish. (original yes-no question: ‘Are you Scottish?’ )

The waiter asked whether [S] we [V] wanted a table near the window. (original yes-no question: ‘Do you want a table near the window? )

He asked me if [S] [V] I had come by train or by bus. (original alternative question: ‘Did you come by train or by bus?’ )

Questions: yes-no questions ( Are you feeling cold? )

Reporting wh -questions

Indirect reports of wh -questions consist of a reporting clause, and a reported clause beginning with a wh -word ( who, what, when, where, why, how ). We don’t use a question mark:

He asked me what I wanted.

Not: He asked me what I wanted?

The reported clause is in statement form (subject + verb), not question form:

She wanted to know who [S] we [V] had invited to the party.

Not: … who had we invited …

Who , whom and what

In indirect questions with who, whom and what , the wh- word may be the subject or the object of the reported clause:

I asked them who came to meet them at the airport. ( who is the subject of came ; original question: ‘Who came to meet you at the airport?’ )

He wondered what the repairs would cost. ( what is the object of cost ; original question: ‘What will the repairs cost?’ )

She asked us what [S] we [V] were doing . (original question: ‘What are you doing?’ )

Not: She asked us what were we doing?

When , where , why and how

We also use statement word order (subject + verb) with when , where, why and how :

I asked her when [S] it [V] had happened (original question: ‘When did it happen?’ ).

Not: I asked her when had it happened?

I asked her where [S] the bus station [V] was . (original question: ‘Where is the bus station?’ )

Not: I asked her where was the bus station?

The teacher asked them how [S] they [V] wanted to do the activity . (original question: ‘How do you want to do the activity?’ )

Not: The teacher asked them how did they want to do the activity?

Questions: wh- questions

Indirect speech: reporting commands

Indirect reports of commands consist of a reporting clause, and a reported clause beginning with a to -infinitive:

The General ordered the troops to advance . (original command: ‘Advance!’ )

The chairperson told him to sit down and to stop interrupting . (original command: ‘Sit down and stop interrupting!’ )

We also use a to -infinitive clause in indirect reports with other verbs that mean wanting or getting people to do something, for example, advise, encourage, warn :

They advised me to wait till the following day. (original statement: ‘You should wait till the following day.’ )

The guard warned us not to enter the area. (original statement: ‘You must not enter the area.’ )

Verbs followed by a to -infinitive

Indirect speech: present simple reporting verb

We can use the reporting verb in the present simple in indirect speech if the original words are still true or relevant at the time of reporting, or if the report is of something someone often says or repeats:

Sheila says they’re closing the motorway tomorrow for repairs.

Henry tells me he’s thinking of getting married next year.

Rupert says dogs shouldn’t be allowed on the beach. (Rupert probably often repeats this statement.)

Newspaper headlines

We often use the present simple in newspaper headlines. It makes the reported speech more dramatic:

JUDGE TELLS REPORTER TO LEAVE COURTROOM

PRIME MINISTER SAYS FAMILIES ARE TOP PRIORITY IN TAX REFORM

Present simple ( I work )

Reported speech

Reported speech: direct speech

Indirect speech: past continuous reporting verb

In indirect speech, we can use the past continuous form of the reporting verb (usually say or tell ). This happens mostly in conversation, when the speaker wants to focus on the content of the report, usually because it is interesting news or important information, or because it is a new topic in the conversation:

Rory was telling me the big cinema in James Street is going to close down. Is that true?

Alex was saying that book sales have gone up a lot this year thanks to the Internet.

‘Backshift’ refers to the changes we make to the original verbs in indirect speech because time has passed between the moment of speaking and the time of the report.

In these examples, the present ( am ) has become the past ( was ), the future ( will ) has become the future-in-the-past ( would ) and the past ( happened ) has become the past perfect ( had happened ). The tenses have ‘shifted’ or ‘moved back’ in time.

The past perfect does not shift back; it stays the same:

Modal verbs

Some, but not all, modal verbs ‘shift back’ in time and change in indirect speech.

We can use a perfect form with have + - ed form after modal verbs, especially where the report looks back to a hypothetical event in the past:

He said the noise might have been the postman delivering letters. (original statement: ‘The noise might be the postman delivering letters.’ )

He said he would have helped us if we’d needed a volunteer. (original statement: ‘I’ll help you if you need a volunteer’ or ‘I’d help you if you needed a volunteer.’ )

Used to and ought to do not change in indirect speech:

She said she used to live in Oxford. (original statement: ‘I used to live in Oxford.’ )

The guard warned us that we ought to leave immediately. (original statement: ‘You ought to leave immediately.’ )

No backshift

We don’t need to change the tense in indirect speech if what a person said is still true or relevant or has not happened yet. This often happens when someone talks about the future, or when someone uses the present simple, present continuous or present perfect in their original words:

He told me his brother works for an Italian company. (It is still true that his brother works for an Italian company.)

She said she ’s getting married next year. (For the speakers, the time at the moment of speaking is ‘this year’.)

He said he ’s finished painting the door. (He probably said it just a short time ago.)

She promised she ’ll help us. (The promise applies to the future.)

Indirect speech: changes to pronouns

Changes to personal pronouns in indirect reports depend on whether the person reporting the speech and the person(s) who said the original words are the same or different.

Indirect speech: changes to adverbs and demonstratives

We often change demonstratives ( this, that ) and adverbs of time and place ( now, here, today , etc.) because indirect speech happens at a later time than the original speech, and perhaps in a different place.

Typical changes to demonstratives, adverbs and adverbial expressions

Indirect speech: typical errors

The word order in indirect reports of wh- questions is the same as statement word order (subject + verb), not question word order:

She always asks me where [S] [V] I am going .

Not: She always asks me where am I going .

We don’t use a question mark when reporting wh- questions:

I asked him what he was doing.

Not: I asked him what he was doing?

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StoryLearning

Learn A Language Through Stories

A Comprehensive Guide To Reported Speech In English

There are times when someone tells you something and you’ll have to report what they said to someone else.

How can you do this in English?

You’ll need to know how to use what's called reported speech in English and this is what you’ll learn in this blog post.

What Is Reported Speech In English?

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is a way of retelling what someone else has said without repeating their exact words. 

For example, let’s say you have a friend called Jon and one called Mary. Mary has organised a house party and has invited you and Jon. 

Jon, however, is not feeling well. He says to you, “Sorry but I cannot come to the party. I spent all day working outside under the rain and I feel ill today.” 

A few days after the party, you meet Sarah. She’s another one of your friends and she was at the party too, but she arrived late – a moment before you left. You only had time to say hello to each other. 

She asks you, “I saw you at the party but I didn’t see Jon. Where was he?”

When Sarah asks you, “Where was Jon?” you can say, 

“Jon said, ‘Sorry but I cannot come to the party. I spent all day working outside under the rain and I feel ill today’.”

However, it would be more natural to use indirect speech in this case. So you would say, “Jon said he couldn’t come to the party. He had spent all day working outside under the rain and he felt ill that day .” 

Did you notice how the sentence changes in reported speech?

Here’s what happened:

• “I” became “he”
• “Cannot” became “couldn’t”
• “Spent” became “had spent”
• “I feel ill today” became “he felt ill on that day” 

Let’s take a closer look at how we form reported speech.

How To Form Reported Speech In English

To form reported speech, you might have to make a few changes to the original sentence that was spoken (or written). 

You may have to change pronouns, verb tenses, place and time expressions and, in the case of questions, the word order.

There are certain patterns to learn for reporting promises, agreements, orders, offers, requests, advice and suggestions.

Let’s have a look at all these cases one by one.

Reported Speech In English: Changing Verb Tenses

In general, when we use reported speech, the present tenses become past tenses.  

We do this because we are often reporting someone else’s words at a different time (Jon’s words were spoken 3 days before you reported them to Sarah).

Here’s an example:

Jenny (on Saturday evening) says,  “I don't like this place. I want to go home now.”(present tenses)

Matt (on Sunday morning) talks to James and says, “Jenny said that she didn't like the place, and she wanted to go home. (past tenses)

So this is how different verb tenses change:

Simple Present → Simple Past

DIRECT: I need money.

INDIRECT: She said she needed money.

Present Progressive → Past Progressive

DIRECT: My French is improving.

INDIRECT: He said his French was improving.

Present Perfect → Past Perfect

DIRECT: This has been an amazing holiday.

INDIRECT: She told me that it had been an amazing holiday.

What if there is a past simple form of the verb in direct speech? Well, in this case, it can stay the same in reported speech or you can change it to past perfect .

Past Simple → Past Simple Or Past Perfect

DIRECT: I didn’t go to work.

INDIRECT: Mary said that she didn’t go to work / Mary said that she hadn’t gone to work 

Past Perfect Tenses Do Not Change

DIRECT: I arrived late because I had missed the bus.

INDIRECT: He said he arrived (or had arrived) late because he had missed the bus.

Modal verbs like “can,” “may,” and “will” also change in reported speech.

Will → Would

DIRECT: The exam will be difficult.

INDIRECT: They said that the exam would be difficult.

Can → Could

DIRECT: I can’t be there.

INDIRECT: He told me he couldn’t be there.

May → Might

DIRECT: We may go there another time.

INDIRECT: They said they might go there another time.

However, past modal verbs don’t change (would, must, could, should, etc.) don’t change in reported speech.

DIRECT: It would be nice if we could go to Paris.

INDIRECT: He said it would be nice if we could go to Paris.

Here are some other examples:

So, in summary, 

• am/is → were
• do/does → did
• have/has → had
• had done → had done
• will → would
• can → could
• may → might
• could → could
• would → would
• like/love/buy/see → liked/loved/bought/saw or had liked/ had loved/had bought/had seen.

You make these verb tense shifts when you report the original words at a different time from when they were spoken. However, it is often also possible to keep the original speaker’s tenses when the situation is still the same.

For example, 

1. DIRECT: I am feeling sick.

   INDIRECT: She said she is feeling sick.

2. DIRECT: We have to leave now.

   INDIRECT: They said they have to leave now.

3. DIRECT: I will call you later.

   INDIRECT: He said he will call me later.

4. DIRECT: She is not coming to the party.

   INDIRECT: He said she is not coming to the party.

5. DIRECT: They are working on a new project.

   INDIRECT: She said they are working on a new project.

What about conditional sentences? How do they change in reported speech?

Sentences with “if” and “would” are usually unchanged.

DIRECT: It would be best if we went there early.

INDIRECT: He said it would be best if they went there early.

But conditional sentences used to describe unreal situations (e.g. second conditional or third conditional sentences) can change like this:

DIRECT: If I had more money I would buy a new car.

INDIRECT: She said if she had had more money, she would have bought a new car OR She said if she had more money, she would buy a new car.

Reported Speech In English: Changing Pronouns

In reported speech, because you’re reporting someone else’s words, there’s a change of speaker so this may mean a change of pronoun.

An example:

Jenny says,  “I don't like this place. I want to go home now.”

Matt says, “Jenny said that she didn't like the place, and she wanted to go home.” 

In this example, Jenny says “I” to refer to herself but Matt, talking about what Jenny said, uses “she”.

So the sentence in reported speech becomes:

• Jenny said that she didn’t like . . . ( not Jenny said that I didn’t like . . .)

Some other examples:

1 . DIRECT: I have been studying for hours.

   INDIRECT: He said he had been studying for hours.

2. DIRECT: I don’t like that movie.

   INDIRECT: She said she didn’t like that movie.

3. DIRECT: He doesn't like coffee.

   INDIRECT: She said he doesn't like coffee.

4. DIRECT: We have a new car.

   INDIRECT: They told me they had a new car.

5. DIRECT: We are going on vacation next week.

    INDIRECT: They said they are going on vacation next week.

Reported Speech In English: Place And Time Expressions

When you’re reporting someone’s words, there is often a change of place and time.  This may mean that you will need to change or remove words that are used to refer to places and time like “here,” “this,” “now,” “today,” “next,” “last,” “yesterday,” “tomorrow,” and so on. 

Check the differences in the following sentences:

DIRECT: I'll be back next month.

INDIRECT: She said she would be back the next month , but I never saw her again.

DIRECT: Emma got her degree last Tuesday.

INDIRECT: He said Emma had got her degree the Tuesday before.

DIRECT: I had an argument with my mother-in-law yesterday .

INDIRECT: He said he’d had an argument with his mother-in-law the day before .

DIRECT: We're going to have an amazing party tomorrow.

INDIRECT: They said they were going to have an amazing party the next day.

DIRECT: Meet me here at 10 am.

INDIRECT: He told me to meet him there at 10 am.

DIRECT: This restaurant is really good.

INDIRECT: She said that the restaurant was really good.

DIRECT: I'm going to the gym now.

INDIRECT: He said he was going to the gym at that time.

DIRECT: Today is my birthday.

INDIRECT: She told me that it was her birthday that day .

DIRECT: I'm leaving for Europe next week.

INDIRECT: She said she was leaving for Europe the following week.

Reported Speech In English: Word Order In Questions

What if you have to report a question? For example, how would you report the following questions?

• Where’s Mark?
• When are you going to visit your grandmother?
• What do I need to buy for the celebration?
• Where are your best friend and his wife staying?
• Do you like coffee?
• Can you sing?
• Who’s your best friend?
• What time do you usually wake up?
• What would you do if you won the lottery?
• Do you ever read nonfiction books?

In reported questions, the subject normally comes before the verb and auxiliary “do” is not used.

So, here is what happens when you're reporting a question:

DIRECT: Where’s Mark?

INDIRECT: I asked where Mark was. 

DIRECT: When are you going to visit your grandmother?

INDIRECT: He wanted to know when I was going to visit my grandmother.

DIRECT: What do I need to buy for the celebration?

INDIRECT: She asked what she needed to buy for the celebration.

DIRECT: Where are your best friend and his wife staying?

INDIRECT: I asked where his best friend and his wife were staying.

DIRECT: Do you like coffee?

INDIRECT: I asked if she liked coffee.

DIRECT: Can you sing?

INDIRECT: She asked me if I could sing.

DIRECT: Who’s your best friend?

INDIRECT: They asked me who my best friend was. 

DIRECT: What time do you usually wake up?

INDIRECT: She asked me what time I usually wake up.

DIRECT: What would you do if you won the lottery?

INDIRECT: He asked me what I would do if I won the lottery.

DIRECT: Do you ever read nonfiction books?

INDIRECT: She asked me if I ever read nonfiction books.

You might have noticed that question marks are not used in reported questions and you don’t use “say” or “tell” either.

Promises, Agreements, Orders, Offers, Requests & Advice

When you’re reporting these, you can use the following verbs + an infinitive:

Here are some examples:

DIRECT SPEECH: I’ll always love you.

PROMISE IN INDIRECT SPEECH: She promised to love me.

DIRECT SPEECH: OK, let’s go to the pub.

INDIRECT SPEECH: He agreed to come to the pub with me.

DIRECT SPEECH: Sit down!

INDIRECT SPEECH: They told me to sit down OR they ordered me to sit down.

DIRECT SPEECH: I can go to the post office for you.

INDIRECT SPEECH: She offered to go to the post office.

DIRECT SPEECH: Could I please have the documentation by tomorrow evening?

INDIRECT SPEECH: She requested to have the documentation by the following evening.

DIRECT SPEECH: You should think twice before giving him your phone number.

INDIRECT SPEECH: She advised me to think twice before giving him my phone number.

Reported Speech In English

All right! I hope you have a much clearer idea about what reported speech is and how it’s used. 

And the good news is that both direct and indirect speech structures are commonly used in stories, so why not try the StoryLearning method ? 

You'll notice this grammatical pattern repeatedly in the context of short stories in English.

Not only will this help you acquire it naturally, but you will also have a fun learning experience by immersing yourself in an interesting and inspiring narrative.

Have a wonderful time learning through books in English !

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| | --> by English Through Videos , , | Views: 78,515 | Level: , , , | 4 out of 5, rated by 17 teachers | ! Click this link & select your corrected file. Once we've received your revision, we'll review it and publish here, replacing the original worksheet."> Found a mistake? ' + ' Your revised worksheet '+file.name+' has been uploaded successfully and will be moderated shortly. Thank you! ' + '' + ' ' + ''; $(notice).purr({usingTransparentPNG:true,removeTimer:4000/*,isSticky:true*/}); } }); uploader.bind('Error', function(up, err) { var notice = ' ' + ' '+(err.file ? 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Let's do English ESL general grammar practice. Organize sentences to make reported speech statements, students will have to make changes in tenses, pronouns an…. School of Rock With this video you can practice the reported speech 100 Reported Speech Examples: How To Change Direct Speech Into Indirect Direct: "I do my exercises every morning.". Reported: He explained that he did his exercises every morning. Direct: "She is going to start a new job.". Reported: He heard she was going to start a new job. Direct: "I can solve this problem.". Reported: She said she could solve that problem. Reported Speech: Rules, Examples, Exceptions (reported speech) For reported orders, we use "told (someone) to do something:" "Go to the bank." (direct speech) "He told me to go to the bank." (reported speech) The main verb stays in the infinitive with "to": She asked me to make a copy of the report. She asked me make a copy of the report. He told me to go to the bank. Reported Speech Reported Speech - Movie Quotes gener…: English ESL video lessons. Donate a coffee. English ESL Video Lessons. Grammar Practice. General grammar practice. Reported Speech (Indirect speech) Reported Speech - Movie Quotes. alejandracano. 6693. While you were sleeping- Reported Speech Movie segments to assess Grammar goals Reported Speech Reported Speech: In this article, you will be introduced to reported speech, its meaning and definition, how and when to use it. You can also check out the examples given for a much better understanding of reported speech. ... Dinesh exclaimed that it was a wonderful movie. 5. Suresh said that his son was getting married the following month. Reported Speech in Movie Clips Reported Speech (Indirect speech) Reported Speech in Movie Clips. sofigath. 864. 1. 0. 0 ... Reported Speech in English "Reported speech" means talking about the things that other people have said. Read this post to learn about direct and indirect reported speech in English. ... FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons. You can try FluentU for free ... Reported Speech Direct speech: I like ice cream. Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream. She said (that) she liked ice cream. She said (that) she was living in London. She said (that) she had bought a car OR She said (that) she bought a car. She said (that) she had been walking along the street. Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals contains a series of movie segments and activities to assess or practice grammar points through fun, challenging exercises. Here you will find the movie segments, the lesson plans, printable worksheets with answer key for each activity, and the tips to develop your own grammar activities with the DVDs you ... Movie quotes you should know! Reported speech activities Grammar. With this lesson, students practise reported speech in various situations. They report on audio recordings and film clips, use reporting verbs and work on reported questions. Students also play a fun quest game! Grammar: Reported Speech in English Rebecca. • 2-Intermediate • grammar. Grammar: Reported Speech in English. In this lesson you will learn how to correctly relate what others have said to you. In English grammar, this point is known as "reported speech". You'll learn how to change tenses, as required, to convey your message correctly in spoken and written English. Reported speech Yes, and you report it with a reporting verb. He said he wanted to know about reported speech. I said, I want and you changed it to he wanted. Exactly. Verbs in the present simple change to the past simple; the present continuous changes to the past continuous; the present perfect changes to the past perfect; can changes to could; will changes ... Learn English From Movies Reported Speech (Indirect speech) Learn English From Movies - Reported Speech. zrutkowska. 34. 0. 0. 0 ... Reported speech: indirect speech Reported speech: indirect speech - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary Reported Speech In English: The Ultimate Guide Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is a way of retelling what someone else has said without repeating their exact words. For example, let's say you have a friend called Jon and one called Mary. Mary has organised a house party and has invited you and Jon. Jon, however, is not feeling well. Reported Speech We use reported speech when we say the words of other people. Reported speech is also called indirect speech. 4 important rules to remember when forming the... Movie Worksheet: Kids Say the Funniest Things (Reported Speech) This is a fun video activity to practise using reported speech. Learners listen to cute kids speaking. Then they change the direct speech into reported speech (indirect speech). It can be done as a speaking and/or writing activity. The worksheet has more detailed instructions. Find more great video activities at YouTube channel "English Through ... Reported speech 10 movies Reported speech exercise Movie quotes Movie quotes - reported speech. rebaba. 7420. 112. 119. 0. 1/3. The object of this worksheet is to practice reported speech in a fun way. Give each student a card. Reported speech movie clips About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright ... assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review speech thesis