reported speech rules cambridge

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• > Grammar for English Language Teachers
• > Reported and direct speech

Book contents

• Frontmatter
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part A Words
• Part B More about verbs and related forms
• Part C Sentence constituents and word order
• Part D Complex sentences
• Part E Researching language
• Phonemic symbols

18 - Reported and direct speech

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2023

Key considerations

Direct speech is what people actually say, e.g. I’m tired . Reported speech (also called ‘indirect speech’) is how we later report this, making changes to the words the speaker originally used (e.g. She said (that) she was tired .).

In order to make these changes appropriately, learners need to consider the context in which they are reporting: who they are speaking to, whether this person knows the person who said the original and whether what was said is still true. They also need to know a number of reporting verbs such as say, tell, explain and suggest , and they must be able to choose the patterns/construct the clauses that follow these verbs. In order to find the ‘correct’ answer in certain kinds of test and examinations, learners also sometimes need to know a number of formulaic ‘rules’.

We use the term ‘reported speech’ to include reports of what was written and thought as well as spoken.

Reported speech

What is reported speech?

Traditional practice exercises and tests ask learners to change sentences like those in the left-hand column into ones like those in the right-hand column (and sometimes even vice versa).

Often no context is provided in such exercises and tests, and little guidance is given for choosing between ‘direct’ and ‘reported’ speech. In fact, the two are rarely interchangeable – in reality we almost never use reported speech to convey exactly what someone has said. If we are interested in what was said exactly, we generally use direct speech.

Direct speech

Direct speech conveys exactly what someone has said, often:

• to dramatise.

• to create a sense of immediacy.

• because the precise words used were in some way important (for example funny or strange).

It is found in newspaper reports, fiction and oral narratives.

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• Reported and direct speech
• Martin Parrott
• Book: Grammar for English Language Teachers
• Online publication: 09 February 2023
• Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009406536.021

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About Words – Cambridge Dictionary blog

Commenting on developments in the English language

Reported speech – how to say what someone told you

He said he wanted to come with us.

She told me she hadn’t seen the document.

This is what the textbooks call ‘ reported speech ‘, because you are reporting what has been said to you.

To use reported speech correctly, you have to be careful about what tense you use. The basic rule is that you look at the tense the speaker used, then you go back one tense to report it.

So, for instance, if someone says something in the present tense , you report it in the past tense :

‘I like dogs.’ ‘She said she liked dogs.’

            ‘I’ m visiting my cousin.’ ‘He said he was visiting his cousin.’

In the same way, if someone says something in the present perfect , you report it in the past perfect :

‘I’ ve cleaned the kitchen.’ ‘He told me he ‘d cleaned the kitchen .’

            ‘I’ ve been reading her latest novel.’ ‘He said he’ d been reading her latest novel.’  

However, if someone says something in the past perfect, there’s no tense to go back to, so you use the same tense:

‘I had met him somewhere before.’ ‘She said she had met him somewhere before.’

            ‘I had been thinking about moving house.’ ‘He told me he had been thinking about moving house.’

If the person speaking uses a past simple tense, things are a little less clear. The safest thing is to use the past perfect:

‘I was at the meeting.’ ‘She said she had been at the meeting.’

            ‘I was eating my lunch.’ ‘He said he had been eating his lunch.’

However, in real-life English, it is very common not to change tenses, and you will often hear things like this:

‘I was at the meeting.’ ‘She said she was at the meeting.’

            ‘I was eating my lunch.’ ‘He said he was eating his lunch.’

In real-life English, you will hear other tenses reported without going back a tense too, but as always, if you are writing something formal , or taking an exam, it’s safest to stick to the rules.

Finally, if you want to report a question, you use if or whether .

‘Are you a doctor?’ ‘He asked me if I was a doctor.’

            ‘Has the concert started?’ ‘She asked whether the concert had started.’

And remember – after if and whether , you need to use statement word order, not question word order.

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23 thoughts on “ Reported speech – how to say what someone told you ”

Wow! I am glad to learn about reported speech as i was quite unclear on some of the topics.Thanks for sharing

Pingback: Reported Speech (Explanation and Video) « English Post

Hi! My name is Juan Carlos and I’m studying Upper-Intermediate English. I’ve learnt about Reported speech in the classroom but it is really important for me when you say that in real-life Engllish, it is very common not to change tenses. This is what I hadn’t been told until now. Thanks a lot.

،اشدن غخع بخق فثزاهدل عس..

Thank you It was useful for me..:)

Reblogged this on premkumar131's Blog .

Liz Walter. If you will THINK about the nonsense your rule on Reported Speech dictates, you will see what’s the matter. For example, if he said, “I’ve cleaned the kitchen”, he mis-spoke. He should say, would correctly say, “I cleaned the kitchen’. Then you report, “He told me he cleaned the kitchen”, NOT “He told me he had cleaned the kitchen”. You are dispensing incorrect English grammar, as can be clearly demonstrated. Drop me a line and I will try to explain it to you.

Dear Bradvines. I’m sorry you find it necessary to comment so rudely. It is in fact perfectly possible to say ‘I’ve cleaned the kitchen.’ If you think about the question ‘Have you cleaned the kitchen?’, you will see that this is true. And the basic rule for reported speech is that the present perfect is reported as past perfect. Perhaps you are more exposed to American English, where present perfect is less commonly used?

Dear Liz Walter, There is nothing rude about calling what you wrote “nonsense”. Had I written “that’s bxllshxt”, THAT would be “rude”. I cannot write it more clearly than what I wrote above. Read it again and THINK about what it says. There are people who think it makes them seem erudite, learned, educated, to put ‘have’s and ‘had’s in front of past tense verbs, but it’s not true. It only makes them seem ignorant and uneducated. We do NOT say, properly, “Have you cleaned the kitchen?” We say, DID you clean the kitchen. The proper English answer is “Yes, I did” or “Yes, I cleaned the kitchen”. Believe me, you won’t make yourself sound smart and well-educated by asking “Have you cleaned the kitchen” or by replying “Yes, I have.” That’s bad, BAD, English, regardless of how many times you might hear it spoken that way, and regardless of which side of the pond you live on. Living in England is no excuse for using incorrect English. Sorry to be so long replying but this just popped up. .brad.friday.03july2015.

I´m not here to defend Miss Walter. But she´s absolutely right in her explanations on reported speech. Mr. Bradvines must have mixed up American English with British English. Rick Antonio

Dear Bradvines, Liz Walter’s use of the present perfect tense is perfectly correct. In fact, the question could well be “Have you cleaned the kitchen yet?” and the answer “Yes, I have” or “Yes, I’ve cleaned it”. When a question or a statement includes the word “YET” or “NOT YET”, the past tense cannot (and must not) be used, only the present perfect (or past perfect) can be used. If someone asks a question in the present perfect tense, it is absolutely correct to reply by using the verb in the present perfect tense (“Yes, I have cleaned the kitchen” or “No, I have not cleaned the kitchen yet”), or just the auxiliary (“Yes, I have” or “No, I haven’t”). It is also correct that in the reported speech, one should say “He told me that he had cleaned the kitchen” and you could perhaps continue the sentence by saying “but I found it still very filthy”. I know this is subtle, but I’m sure you can understand that mastering that kind of language is by no means speaking BAD English. I dare say, it is quite the opposite. Liz, keep on with the good work, your articles are always very thoughtful and informative.

Sorry Luc007 and Liz Walter. This is still in my inbox from Feb 17 and it’s now 14 March 2016. I regret my oversight.

Luc007 wrote: “Dear Bradvines, Liz Walter’s use of the present perfect tense is perfectly correct. In fact, the question could well be “Have you cleaned the kitchen yet?” and the answer “Yes, I have” or “Yes, I’ve cleaned it”.

… to which I would have replied then and still do reply now: You’re right. If someone erroneously said, “Have you cleaned the kitchen yet?” you might well reply, “Yes, I have”, but giving an incorrect answer to an incorrect question, doesn’t make enough sense for my taste. If someone wants to perpetuate ignorance, someone wants to perpetuate ignorance.

The problem is that the question should have been, DID you clean the kitchen? and the correct answer to that correct question is, “Yes, I DID”.

To back it up a step, maybe several steps, the so-called “reported-speech” rule can be shown to not make sense. Proponents would have us say, “The president said (past tense; he’s not saying it now) he hoped (sometime in the past) the Israelis will not do anything provocative”. But, as a matter of FACT, he still hoped it when he said it.

Correct is, necessarily: “The president said he HOPES the Israelis will not do anything provocative”.

Imagine, as I do, that a graduate student somewhere, sometime in the past, hoping to make himself or herself seem smarter than he or she really was, let fly the Reported Speech Rule, in the hope that it might propel its protagonist to, or toward, an advanced degree. It stuck with us, but it STILL makes no sense. Didn’t then, doesn’t now.

.brad.monday.14march2016.

Thanks Mrs Walter for exposing us to the rules of reported speech.

Mrs Walter, thank you for exposing me to the basic rules of reported speech though i studied English Language in my 1st and 2nd degree yet I don’t know these rules God bless u for citing comprehensive examples to back each rule up.

Pingback: Say and tell: How to talk about talking (1) | About Words - Cambridge Dictionaries Online blog

Reblogged this on shukrimahmoodmohamed .

Reblogged this on StatsLife .

Thank you very much for this post, which is another great one, Ms Walter.

As for the present perfect vs simple past tense issue, I can say that the advice given here is in-line with the advice in another source I find valuable, The Economist Style Guide. Here is what it says:

“In particular, do not fight shy – as Americans often do – of the perfect tense, especially where no date or time is given.”

I think it is indeed something arising from the UK-US English divide.

Reblogged this on afnan1991 .

Still on the subject of reported speech, maybe someone can help me. I found this quote: “This is what the textbooks call ‘reported speech‘, because you are reporting what has been said to you”, which reminds me that there is extant the notion that some people think it makes them seem educated, learned, erudite, to put ‘has’ or ‘had’ or ‘have’ in front of past tense verbs, as in the quote above. Correct, straight-forward English would make the quote read: “This is what the textbooks call ‘reported speech‘, because you are reporting what WAS said to you.” My question: what can we call those who do what I just described? We need a name – a tag – so that when we use it, everyone who cares about such niceties as “reported speech”, will know what we mean and what we’re talking about. There ARE such people and what they perpetrate/perpetuate is widespread, among writers, teachers, speakers, anyone and everyone who uses our language. This may seem a complicated explanation, but that is exactly why we need a name, a tag, that pulls it together so we can more-easily talk about it, AND, not-incidentally, TEACH it. Teaching must be the focus of eliminating the widespread practice of putting those “helpers” in front of past tense verbs. If this makes your head hurt, let it go!

Still on the subject of reported speech, maybe someone can help me. I found this quote.

Pingback: Say and tell: How to talk about talking – The Blog to learn english

I really appreciate your explanation that people often don’t go back a tense in real-life English. It really sucks going back all the time eg. “he said he had been eating his lunch” to report”I was eating my lunch” it’s clearly easier to say “he said he was eating his lunch.” This has always confused me and I was worried we were all speaking bad English. Now I know it’s quite normal and I’m more at ease now, thanks a million

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• English Grammar
• Reported Speech

Reported Speech - Definition, Rules and Usage with Examples

Reported speech or indirect speech is the form of speech used to convey what was said by someone at some point of time. This article will help you with all that you need to know about reported speech, its meaning, definition, how and when to use them along with examples. Furthermore, try out the practice questions given to check how far you have understood the topic.

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 (b1).

• RS013 - Reported Speech
• RS012 - Reported Questions and Commands
• RS011 - Reported Speech
• RS010 - Reported Speech
• RS009 - Reported Commands
• RS008 - Reported Questions
• RS007 - Reported Speech
• RS006 - Reported Speech
• RS005 - Reported Speech
• RS004 - Reported Speech
• RS003 - Reported Speech
• RS002 - Reported Speech - Mixed Exercises
• RS001 - Reported Speech - Mixed Exercises
• Adjective - Adverb
• Gerund and Infinitive
• Modal Verbs
• Reported Speech
• Passive Voice
• Definite and Indefinite Articles
• Quantifiers
• Relative Clauses
• Prepositions
• Questions and Negations
• Question Tags
• Language in Use
• Word Formation
• General Vocabulary
• Topical Vocabulary
• Key Word Transformation

News Articles

• Letters and Emails
• Blog Posts and Comments
• Connectives and Linking Phrases
• Phrasal Verbs
• Collocations and Phrases

Listening Comprehension

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Reported Speech Exercises

Perfect english grammar.

Here's a list of all the reported speech exercises on this site:

( Click here to read the explanations about reported speech )

Reported Statements:

• Present Simple Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here)
• Present Continuous Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here)
• Past Simple Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here)
• Present Perfect Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here)
• Future Simple Reported Statement Exercise (quite easy) (in PDF here)
• Mixed Tense Reported Statement Exercise (intermediate) (in PDF here)
• 'Say' and 'Tell' (quite easy) (in PDF here)

Reported Questions:

• Present Simple Reported Yes/No Question Exercise (intermediate) (in PDF here)
• Present Simple Reported Wh Question Exercise (intermediate) (in PDF here)
• Mixed Tense Reported Question Exercise (intermediate) (in PDF here)

Reported Orders and Requests:

• Reported Requests and Orders Exercise (intermediate) (in PDF here)
• Reported Speech Mixed Exercise 1 (difficult) (in PDF here)
• Reported Speech Mixed Exercise 2 (difficult) (in PDF here)

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The rollout of the long-anticipated change will show up on timelines as soon as today..

By Kylie Robison , a senior AI reporter working with The Verge's policy and tech teams. She previously worked at Fortune Magazine and Business Insider.

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X is rolling out private likes as soon as today, according to a source at the company. That means what users like on the platform will be hidden by default, which is already an option for X’s Premium subscribers . Following the publication of this story, X owner Elon Musk reshared a screenshot of it, saying it’s “important to allow people to like posts without getting attacked for doing so!”

A few weeks ago, X’s  director of engineering, Haofei Wang , said the upcoming change is meant to protect users’ public image — because “many people feel discouraged” to like “edgy” content. The Likes tab on user profiles will be gone. Users will still be able to see who liked their posts and the like count for all posts, but they will not see the people who liked someone else’s post, according to X senior software engineer Enrique Barragan. (He also hinted at the launch today in a post.)

“Soon you’ll be able to like without worrying who might see it,” Wang  said last month.

Late last year, Musk told the platform’s engineers that he wanted to get rid of the tweet action buttons altogether and instead place a stronger emphasis on post views (also called “impressions”). Musk’s goal was to remove the section that contained the like and repost buttons entirely because Musk believed likes weren’t important, a source told me at the time.

“Social media in general is shifting away from like counts, so this makes sense,” the source said. “Part of me thinks [Musk] just wants to disassociate from Twitter more and more.”

Update, June 11th:  Added Elon Musk’s confirmation of The Verge ’s reporting.

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Apple announced rcs with a whimper when it should have been a bang, apple gives apple home users something they’ve been begging for, the ipad should fold in half, spreadsheet superstars.

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Reported speech

Reported speech is how we represent the speech of other people or what we ourselves say. There are two main types of reported speech: direct speech and indirect speech.

Direct speech repeats the exact words the person used, or how we remember their words:

Barbara said, “I didn’t realise it was midnight.”

In indirect speech, the original speaker’s words are changed.

Barbara said she hadn’t realised it was midnight .

In this example, I becomes she and the verb tense reflects the fact that time has passed since the words were spoken: didn’t realise becomes hadn’t realised .

Indirect speech focuses more on the content of what someone said rather than their exact words:

“I’m sorry,” said Mark. (direct)

Mark apologised . (indirect: report of a speech act)

In a similar way, we can report what people wrote or thought:

‘I will love you forever,’ he wrote, and then posted the note through Alice’s door. (direct report of what someone wrote)

He wrote that he would love her forever , and then posted the note through Alice’s door. (indirect report of what someone wrote)

I need a new direction in life , she thought. (direct report of someone’s thoughts)

She thought that she needed a new direction in life . (indirect report of someone’s thoughts)

Reported speech: direct speech

Reported speech: indirect speech

Reported speech: reporting and reported clauses

Speech reports consist of two parts: the reporting clause and the reported clause. The reporting clause includes a verb such as say, tell, ask, reply, shout , usually in the past simple, and the reported clause includes what the original speaker said.

Reported speech: punctuation

Direct speech.

In direct speech we usually put a comma between the reporting clause and the reported clause. The words of the original speaker are enclosed in inverted commas, either single (‘…’) or double (“…”). If the reported clause comes first, we put the comma inside the inverted commas:

“ I couldn’t sleep last night, ” he said.

Rita said, ‘ I don’t need you any more. ’

If the direct speech is a question or exclamation, we use a question mark or exclamation mark, not a comma:

‘Is there a reason for this ? ’ she asked.

“I hate you ! ” he shouted.

We sometimes use a colon (:) between the reporting clause and the reported clause when the reporting clause is first:

The officer replied: ‘It is not possible to see the General. He’s busy.’

Punctuation

Indirect speech

In indirect speech it is more common for the reporting clause to come first. When the reporting clause is first, we don’t put a comma between the reporting clause and the reported clause. When the reporting clause comes after the reported clause, we use a comma to separate the two parts:

She told me they had left her without any money.

Not: She told me, they had left her without any money .

Nobody had gone in or out during the previous hour, he informed us.

We don’t use question marks or exclamation marks in indirect reports of questions and exclamations:

He asked me why I was so upset.

Not: He asked me why I was so upset?

Reported speech: reporting verbs

Say and tell.

We can use say and tell to report statements in direct speech, but say is more common. We don’t always mention the person being spoken to with say , but if we do mention them, we use a prepositional phrase with to ( to me, to Lorna ):

‘I’ll give you a ring tomorrow,’ she said .

‘Try to stay calm,’ she said to us in a low voice.

Not: ‘Try to stay calm,’ she said us in a low voice .

With tell , we always mention the person being spoken to; we use an indirect object (underlined):

‘Enjoy yourselves,’ he told them .

Not: ‘Enjoy yourselves,’ he told .

In indirect speech, say and tell are both common as reporting verbs. We don’t use an indirect object with say , but we always use an indirect object (underlined) with tell :

He said he was moving to New Zealand.

Not: He said me he was moving to New Zealand .

He told me he was moving to New Zealand.

Not: He told he was moving to New Zealand .

We use say , but not tell , to report questions:

‘Are you going now?’ she said .

Not: ‘Are you going now?’ she told me .

We use say , not tell , to report greetings, congratulations and other wishes:

‘Happy birthday!’ she said .

Not: Happy birthday!’ she told me .

Everyone said good luck to me as I went into the interview.

Not: Everyone told me good luck …

Say or tell ?

Other reporting verbs

The reporting verbs in this list are more common in indirect reports, in both speaking and writing:

Simon admitted that he had forgotten to email Andrea.

Louis always maintains that there is royal blood in his family.

The builder pointed out that the roof was in very poor condition.

Most of the verbs in the list are used in direct speech reports in written texts such as novels and newspaper reports. In ordinary conversation, we don’t use them in direct speech. The reporting clause usually comes second, but can sometimes come first:

‘Who is that person?’ she asked .

‘It was my fault,’ he confessed .

‘There is no cause for alarm,’ the Minister insisted .

Verb patterns: verb + that -clause

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Fakes and forgeries (Things that are not what they seem to be)

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