Reported speech - 1
Reported speech - 2
Reported speech - 3
Worksheets - handouts
Reported speech
Worksheets - pdf exercises.
- Reported statements - worksheet
- Worksheet - reported questions
- Reported yes/no questions
- Worksheet - reported speech
- Reported speech - exercises pdf
- Indirect speech - exercises
- Reported speech - exercises
- Mixed reported speech 1
- Mixed reported speech 2
- Reported speech 1
- Reported speech 2
- Reported speech 3
- Reported speech 4
- Reported speech 5
- Reported wh- questions
- Reported speech - worksheet
- Reported commands
- Reported questions
- Reported speech 1
- Reported speech 2
- Reported requests and orders
- Reported speech exercise
- Reported questions - worksheet
- Indirect speech - worksheet
- Worksheets pdf - print
- Grammar worksheets - handouts
Grammar - lessons
- Reported speech - grammar notes
- How to use reported speech - lesson
- Tense changes - grammar
Reported Speech with Examples and Test (PDF)
Reported speech is used when we want to convey what someone else has said to us or to another person. It involves paraphrasing or summarising what has been said , often changing verb tenses , pronouns and other elements to suit the context of the report.
Tense | Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
---|---|---|
Present Simple | She sings in the choir. | He said (that) she sings in the choir. |
Present Continuous | They are playing football. | She mentioned (that) they were playing football. |
Past Simple | I visited Paris last summer. | She told me (that) she visited Paris last summer. |
Past Continuous | I was cooking dinner. | He said (that) he had been cooking dinner. |
Present Perfect | We have finished the project. | They said (that) they had finished the project. |
Past Perfect* | I had already eaten when you called. | She explained (that) she had already eaten when I called. |
Will | I will call you later. | She promised (that) she would call me later. |
Would* | I would help if I could. | He said (that) he would help if he could. |
Can | She can speak French fluently. | He mentioned (that) she could speak French fluently. |
Could* | I could run fast when I was young. | She recalled (that) she could run fast when she was young. |
Shall | Shall we meet tomorrow? | They asked (whether) we should meet the next day. |
Should* | You should visit the museum. | She suggested (that) I should visit the museum. |
Might* | It might rain later. | He mentioned (that) it might rain later. |
Must | I must finish my homework. | She reminded me (that) I must finish my homework. |
*doesn’t change
Formula of Reported Speech
The formula for reported speech involves transforming direct speech into an indirect form while maintaining the meaning of the original statement. In general, the formula includes:
- Choosing an appropriate reporting verb (e.g., say, tell, mention, explain).
- Changing pronouns and time expressions if necessary.
- Shifting the tense of the verb back if the reporting verb is in the past tense.
- Using reporting clauses like “that” or appropriate conjunctions.
- Adjusting word order and punctuation to fit the structure of the reported speech.
Here’s a simplified formula:
Reporting Verb + Indirect Object + Conjunction + Reported Clause
For example:
- She said (reporting verb) to me (indirect object) that (conjunction) she liked ice cream (reported clause).
Here’s how we use reported speech:
Reporting Verbs: We use verbs like ‘say’ or ‘tell’ to introduce reported speech. If the reporting verb is in the present tense, the tense of the reported speech generally remains the same.
Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
---|---|
“I enjoy playing tennis.” | She said (that) she enjoys playing tennis. |
“We plan to visit Paris.” | They told us (that) they plan to visit Paris. |
“He loves listening to music.” | She said (that) he loves listening to music. |
“She bakes delicious cakes.” | He told me (that) she bakes delicious cakes. |
“They watch movies every weekend.” | She said (that) they watch movies every weekend. |
If the reporting verb is in the past tense , the tense of the reported speech often shifts back in time.
Direct Speech | Reported Speech (Reporting verb in past tense) |
---|---|
“I eat breakfast at 8 AM.” | She said (that) she ate breakfast at 8 AM. |
“We are going to the beach.” | They told me (that) they were going to the beach. |
“He speaks Spanish fluently.” | She said (that) he spoke Spanish fluently. |
“She cooks delicious meals.” | He mentioned (that) she cooked delicious meals. |
“They play soccer every weekend.” | She said (that) they played soccer every weekend. |
Tense Changes: Tense changes are common in reported speech. For example, present simple may change to past simple, present continuous to past continuous, etc. However, some verbs like ‘would’, ‘could’, ‘should’, ‘might’, ‘must’, and ‘ought to’ generally don’t change.
Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
---|---|
“I like chocolate.” | She said (that) she liked chocolate. |
“We are watching TV.” | They told me (that) they were watching TV. |
“He is studying for the exam.” | She mentioned (that) he was studying for the exam. |
“She has finished her work.” | He said (that) she had finished her work. |
“They will arrive soon.” | She mentioned (that) they would arrive soon. |
“You can swim very well.” | He said (that) I could swim very well. |
“She might be late.” | He mentioned (that) she might be late. |
“I must finish this by tonight.” | She said (that) she must finish that by tonight. |
“You should call your parents.” | They told me (that) I should call my parents. |
“He would help if he could.” | She said (that) he would help if he could. |
Reported Questions: When reporting questions, we often change them into statements while preserving the meaning. Question words are retained, and the tense of the verbs may change.
Direct Question | Reported Statement (Preserving Meaning) |
---|---|
“Where do you live?” | She asked me where I lived. |
“What are you doing?” | They wanted to know what I was doing. |
“Who was that fantastic man?” | He asked me who that fantastic man had been. |
“Did you turn off the coffee pot?” | She asked if I had turned off the coffee pot. |
“Is supper ready?” | They wanted to know if supper was ready. |
“Will you be at the party?” | She asked me if I would be at the party. |
“Should I tell her the news?” | He wondered whether he should tell her the news. |
“Where will you stay?” | She inquired if I had decided where I would stay. |
Reported Requests and Orders: Requests and orders are reported similarly to statements. Reported requests often use ‘asked me to’ + infinitive, while reported orders use ‘told me to’ + infinitive.
Direct Request/Order | Reported Speech |
---|---|
“Please help me.” | She asked me to help her. |
“Please don’t smoke.” | He asked me not to smoke. |
“Could you bring my book tonight?” | She asked me to bring her book that night. |
“Could you pass the milk, please?” | He asked me to pass the milk. |
“Would you mind coming early tomorrow?” | She asked me to come early the next day. |
“Please don’t be late.” | He told me not to be late. |
“Go to bed!” | She told the child to go to bed. |
“Don’t worry!” | He told her not to worry. |
“Be on time!” | He told me to be on time. |
“Don’t smoke!” | He told us not to smoke. |
Time Expressions: Time expressions may need to change depending on when the reported speech occurred in relation to the reporting moment. For instance, ‘today’ may become ‘that day’ or ‘yesterday’, ‘yesterday’ might become ‘the day before’, and so forth.
Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
---|---|
“I finished my homework.” | She said she had finished her homework. |
“We are going shopping.” | He told me they were going shopping. |
“She will call you later.” | They mentioned she would call me later. |
“I saw him yesterday.” | She said she had seen him the day before. |
“The party is tonight.” | He mentioned the party would be that night. |
“The concert was last week.” | She told me the concert had been the previous week. |
Reported Speech with Examples PDF
Reported Speech PDF – download
Reported Speech Test
Reported Speech A2 – B1 Test – download
You May Also Like
100+ Common English Collocations List (PDF)
20+ Example Sentences in the Present Perfect Tense
All English Tenses Test (PDF Download)
- I would like books for studying.
English Grammar Online Exercises and Downloadable Worksheets
- Reported Speech
All downloads are in PDF Format and consist of a worksheet and answer sheet to check your results.
Levels of Difficulty : Elementary Intermediate Advanced
- RS002 - Reported Speech - Questions Intermediate
- RS003 - Reported Speech - Questions Intermediate
- RS004 - Reported Speech - Indirect Commands Intermediate
Online Exercises
- Gerund - Infinitive
- Adjective - Adverb
- Modal Verbs
- Passive Voice
- Definite and Indefinite Articles
- Prepositions
- Connectives and Linking Words
- Quantifiers
- Question and Negations
- Relative Pronouns
- Indefinite Pronouns
- Possessive Pronouns
- Phrasal Verbs
- Common Mistakes
- Missing Word Cloze
- Word Formation
- Multiple Choice Cloze
- Prefixes and Suffixes
- Key Word Transformation
- Editing - One Word Too Many
- Collocations
- General Vocabulary
- Adjectives - Adverbs
- Gerund and Infinitive
- Conjunctions and Linking Words
- Question and Negation
- Error Analysis
- Translation Sentences
- Multiple Choice
- Banked Gap Fill
- Open Gap Fill
- General Vocabulary Exercises
- Argumentative Essays
- Letters and Emails
- English News Articles
- Privacy Policy
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)
Hello! I'm Seonaid! I'm here to help you understand grammar and speak correct, fluent English.
Read more about our learning method
Reported speech exercises PDF
- English grammar PDF
- PDF worksheets
- Mixed PDF tests
- Present tenses
- Past tenses
- Future tenses
- Present perfect
- Past perfect
- Future perfect
- Irregular verbs
- Modal verbs
- If-conditional
- Passive voice
Reported speech
- Time clauses
- Relative clauses
- Indirect questions
- Question tags
- Imperative sentence
- Gerund and infinitive
- Direct | indirect object
- Online exercises
- Grammar rules PDF
English grammar books PDF
PDF book 1: English grammar exercises PDF
PDF book 2: English grammar rules PDF
PDF exercises with answers to download for free.
Reported speech PDF exercise 1
Key with answers 1
- Complete sentences: "It is too late." - I said it was too late.
Reported speech PDF exercise 2
Key with answers 2
- A multiple choice choice test: "Sam may contact you." - He said Sam might contact me.
Reported speech PDF exercise 3
Key with answers 3
- Reported speech to direct speech: She said she lived in York. - "I live in York," she said.
Reported speech PDF exercise 4
Key with answers 4
- Time in reported speech: We will set off tomorrow." - They said they would set off the next day.
Reported speech PDF exercise 5
Key with answers 5
- Correct mistakes: "I have been with Jill since yesterday," said Joe on Friday morning. On Friday morning Joe said he had been with Jill since yesterday. Correct: On Friday morning Joe said he had been with Jill since the day before .
Reported speech PDF exercise 6
Key with answers 6
- All changes in reported speech: Tim said he had worked with them the previous month. - "I worked with them last month," said Tim.
Reported questions + commands exercises PDF Practise questions, commands and requests in the reported speech.
Online exercises with answers:
Direct and indirect speech exercises Multiple choice and gap-filling exercises on reported statements, questions and commands.
Grammar rules PDF:
Reported speech rules PDF Changes of tenses, pronouns, time and place in reported statements, questions and commands.
English grammar PDF All PDF rules with examples on this website to download for free.
The reported speech is used if we want to report what other people said, thought or felt. We use reporting verbs such as say, tell, explain, think, hope, etc. If these verbs are in the past tense, we change the following: a) verb tenses and verb forms b) pronouns c) adverbs of time and place
A) Verb tenses
We change the tenses in the following way.
- Present simple - past simple: "I work in York," Joe said. - Joe said (that) he worked in York.
- Present continuous - past continuous: "We are playing a game," Jane explained. - Jane explained (that) they were playing a game.
- Past simple - past perfect simple: "Sarah came back," I thought. - I thought (that) Sarah had come back.
- Past continuous - past perfect continuous: "I was talking to our new neighbour," Ben told me. - Ben told me (that) he had been talking to our new neighbour.
- Present perfect simple - past perfect simple: "I have eaten all sandwiches," he admitted. - He admitted (that) he had eaten all sandwiches.
- Present perfect continuous - past perfect continuous: "I have been driving for three hours," he comnplained. - He complained (that) he had been driving for three hours.
- Will - would I will wait outside the station," he reminded me. - He reminded me (that) he would wait outside the station.
Note: Some modal verbs change in a specific way, whereas other verb forms remain the same in special cases.
Read more: Direct and indirect speech
B) Pronouns
Personal pronouns
We have to change pronouns in the reported speech to keep the same meaning. "We are in Italy," he said. - He said they were in Italy. "They invited us," Betty said. - Betty said they had invited them. "I admire your new garden," she told me. - She told me she admired my new garden. "You can take my car," Peter said. - Peter said I could take his car.
This and these
This and these are usually substituted. "They will move this year," my mum said. - My mum said they would move that year. "I like these shoes," Tim insisted. - Tim insisted he liked the shoes.
C) Time and place
The time expressions change as follows.
now - then, today - that day, tomorrow - the next day/the following day, the day after tomorrow - in two days' time, yesterday - the day before, the day before yesterday - two days before, next week/month - the following week/month, last week/month - the previous week/month, a year ago - a year before/the previous year
Marion: "I will do it tomorrow." - Marion said she would do it the next day. Dan: "We arrived last week." - Dan said they had arrived the previous week. Judith: "Brian got married a year ago." - Judith said Brian had got married a year before.
Here and there
Here usually becomes there . But sometimes we have to make different adjustments. "I'll stay here till the evening," he said. - He said he would stay there till the evening. In the hospital: "We'll meet here." - He said they would meet in the hospital.
- All PDF exercises and grammar rules from this website.
Reported Speech Exercises (With Printable PDF)
| Candace Osmond
| Grammar , Quizzes
Candace Osmond
Candace Osmond studied Advanced Writing & Editing Essentials at MHC. She’s been an International and USA TODAY Bestselling Author for over a decade. And she’s worked as an Editor for several mid-sized publications. Candace has a keen eye for content editing and a high degree of expertise in Fiction.
In English grammar, reported speech is used to tell someone what another person said. It takes another person’s words (direct speech) to create a report of what they said (indirect speech.) With the following direct and indirect speech exercises, it will be easier to understand how reported speech works.
Reported Speech Exercise #1
Complete the sentence in the reported speech.
Reported Speech Exercise #2
Fill in the gaps below with the correct pronouns required in reported speech. Ex. Mary said: “I love my new dress!” Sentence: Mary said ____ love ____ new dress. Answer: she, her
Reported Speech Exercise #3
Choose the correct reported speech phrase to fill in the sentences below.
Grammarist is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you buy via the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you.
2024 © Grammarist, a Found First Marketing company. All rights reserved.
Homework: Reported Statements
She said she was bored. He told me he was tired. He mentioned it was lost...
Intermediate
With so many tricky rules to follow, reporting what people say in English isn’t always easy. It is, nevertheless, an essential skill to master for effective and accurate communication, so it’s vital that learners get to grips with it. This useful homework sheet helps students to practise Reported Statements through three different types of exercises.
After downloading your PDF: print it immediately or save and print later. Answers are provided for teachers on the second page.
Make your own worksheets with the free EnglishClub Worksheet Maker !
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
Reported Speech. Greg: "I am cooking dinner Maya.". Maya: "Greg said he was cooking dinner.". So most often, the reported speech is going to be in the past tense, because the original statement, will now be in the past! *We will learn about reporting verbs in part 2 of this lesson, but for now we will just use said/told.
A. say and tell with direct speech. 1. say can introduce a statement or follow it. Tom said, "I've just heard the news". or "I've just heard the news",Tom said. Inversion of say and noun subject is possible when say follows the statement. "I've just heard the news", said Tom.
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 and Adverbs - Downloadable PDF Worksheets for English Language Learners - Intermediate Level (B1)
Reported speech 2. Reported requests and orders. Reported speech exercise. Reported questions - worksheet. Indirect speech - worksheet. Worksheets pdf - print. Grammar worksheets - handouts. Grammar - lessons. Reported speech - grammar notes.
Reported Speech (Reporting verb in past tense) "I eat breakfast at 8 AM.". She said (that) she ate breakfast at 8 AM. "We are going to the beach.". They told me (that) they were going to the beach. "He speaks Spanish fluently.". She said (that) he spoke Spanish fluently. "She cooks delicious meals.".
English grammar rules Reported speech Reported statements If we want to report what other people said, thought or felt, we can use the direct or indirect (reported) speech. The direct speech: "I like it," he said. "Irene is late," he thought. "I will pass the exam," she hoped. The indirect (reported) speech: He said he liked it. He thought that ...
We can call this an 'order' in English, when someone tells you very directly to do something. For example: Direct speech: Sit down! In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as a request. We just use 'tell' instead of 'ask': Reported speech: She told me to sit down.
Lesson 36 - Reporting Verbs (PDF)
Reported SpeechR. ported Speech We use reported speech when we wish to report what someone else has said without using. direct quote. This can be useful when reporting on research or. ing a story. When we report what someone else has said we are shifting our perspective. of that speech.Therefore, our language must reflect that shift.
REPORTED SPEECH When we want to report or tell what someone else has said, we have to use the past tense of the verbs "to tell" and "to say". When we use the verb "to tell", we use an object pronoun right after the verb in past tense (me-you-him-her-it-us-them). Examples: She told me the good news. They told me the meeting was canceled.
Grammar videos: Reported speechRe. mber to watch the video first! Then read the conversation between Sophie and David, an English language studen. who Sophie met on her travels. Sophie's helping David unders. and how to use reported speech.We use reported speech when we want to.
Reported speech rules PDF Changes of tenses, pronouns, time and place in reported statements, questions and commands. English grammar PDF All PDF rules with examples on e-grammar.org. Direct + indirect speech. See also: Reported questions + commands. The direct and indirect speech are used to say what other people said, thought or felt.
Reported Speech. All downloads are in PDF Format and consist of a worksheet and answer sheet to check your results. Levels of Difficulty : Elementary Intermediate Advanced. RS002 - Reported Speech - Questions Intermediate. RS003 - Reported Speech - Questions Intermediate. RS004 - Reported Speech - Indirect Commands Intermediate.
After the students have written their questions, have them find a partner. 6. Once the students are in pairs, organize each pair into student A or student B. 7. Student A begins by asking their questions to student B. When student B answers, student A should write down the answer under the column Direct Speech. 8.
Reported Speech (Intermediate Advanced) Exercises and Practice. A. Change each direct speech example into the reported speech. The first one has been done for you. 1. Michelle said, "I love my Chihuahua, Daisy." Michelle said that she loved her Chihuahua, Daisy. 2. Republicans said, "We don't support Obama's plan to raise taxes." 3.
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)
Grammar videos: Reported speech exercisesGramm. r videos: Reported speech - exercises Watch the video on our website and read. he conversation between Sophie and David. Then do these exercises to ch. ck. your understanding of reported. speech.1. Check your grammar: matching Draw a line to match the di. sp. .
worksheets.english-grammar.at KEY 1. He said, " I found the money in the garden yesterday." He said that he had found the money in the garden the day before. 2. The policeman asked me , "What were you wearing last Sunday"?The policeman asked me what I was wearing the previous Sunday / the Sunday before. 3. The teacher explained to us, "The moon takes 28 days to go around the earth."
Grammar rules PDF: Reported speech rules PDF Changes of tenses, pronouns, time and place in reported statements, questions and commands. English grammar PDF All PDF rules with examples on this website to download for free. Reported speech. The reported speech is used if we want to report what other people said, thought or felt.
The twins said that they were five years old. Mum said, "You will have to get up early for the trip tomorrow." Mum said that we (I, they,he,she) would have to get up early for the trip the following day. The teacher told her, "You speak English very well." The teacher told her that she spoke English very well.
Reported Speech Exercises (With Printable PDF) In English grammar, reported speech is used to tell someone what another person said. It takes another person's words (direct speech) to create a report of what they said (indirect speech.) With the following direct and indirect speech exercises, it will be easier to understand how reported ...
mber to watch the video first! Then read the conversation between Sophie and David, an English language student. at Sophie met on her travels. 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.
With so many tricky rules to follow, reporting what people say in English isn't always easy. It is, nevertheless, an essential skill to master for effective and accurate communication, so it's vital that learners get to grips with it. This useful homework sheet helps students to practise Reported Statements through three different types of ...