REPORTED SPEECH TENSE CONVERSION RULES

Direct Speech Reported Speech

"I want a holiday" She told me she wanted a holiday
(Present Simple) (Past Simple)
"Bob is annoying me" Jane said Bob was annoying her.
(Present Continuous) (Past Continuous)
"I have eaten too much" He said he had eaten too much.
(Present Perfect) (Past Perfect)
"The class has been interesting" Anne said the class had been interesting.
(Present Perfect Continuous) (Past Perfect Continuous)
"I saw her arrive! He told me he had seen her arrive.
(Past Simple) (Past Perfect)
"The team were playing well" John said the team had been playing well.
(Past Continuous) (Past Perfect Continuous)
"I had arrived before 9 am" She said she had arrived before 9 am.
(Past Perfect) (NO CHANGE)
"We had already been dating for 3 years" Mick told me they had already been dating for 3 years.
(Past Perfect Continuous) (NO CHANGE)
"I will take you out tonight" He said he would take me out tonight.
(will) (would)
"I can easily pass the test" She said she could easily pass the test.
(can) (could)

"You must leave immediately" He told me I had to leave immediately.

(must) (had to)

"We may go out later" She said they might go out later.
(may) (might)
"I ought to come at 7 pm" He told me I ought to come at 7 pm.
(ought to) (NO CHANGE)
"I should have helped you" He said he should have helped me.
(should) (NO CHANGE)
"I would walk the dog at night" She said she would walk the dog at night.
(would) (NO CHANGE)
"You couldn't do it" He told me I couldn't do it.
(could) (NO CHANGE)
"I might arrive late" He said he might arrive late.
(might) (NO CHANGE)
General Rules
Reported Speech is used to express what other people said without repeating the actual words. It is used to
report an interview or a dialogue in writing.

To change direct speech into reported speech, we make the following changes:
- quotation marks disappear.
- personal pronouns and possessives change.
- demonstrative pronouns and adjectives and adverbs of place change.
 CHANGES IN EXPRESSIONS OF TIME AND PLACE:
Direct Speech Reported Speech
Today That day
Tonight That night

Yesterday The day before/ the previous day

The day before yesterday Two days before

Tomorrow The day after/ the following day/ the next day

The day after tomorrow In two day's time/ two days after

Next week/ month/ year... The following week/ month...

The week/ month... after

Last week/ month/ year... The week/ month... before

The previous week/ month...

A week/ month/ year ago A week/ month... before

Now Then/ in that moment

Tomorrow morning/ afternoon/ evening... The following morning/ afternoon...

Yesterday morning/ afternoon... The previous morning/ afternoon...

here there

Changes in demonstrative pronouns and adjectives and

adverbs of place
Direct Speech Reported Speech
this that
these those
here there

WITHOUT TENSE CHANGES

Present tense reports Past tense reports

If the reporting verb is in the present tense, there is If the reported words are "always true", there is no
no change. change.

Brenda says she's arriving at about 6.00. Harry told me that he still likes you.

If a message is being repeated immediately, there

is no change.

Mary said she's too busy to come.

 REPORTING VERBS REPORTING QUESTIONS
Different verbs in reported speech use different Reported yes / no questions
structures.
subject + reporting verb + if/wether + subject + verb
subject + reporting verb + (not) + to + infinitive "Does the airline have a child-friendly policy?" ask the
agree, offer, promise, refuse, threaten passenger.
He agreed to sell me his tent. The passenger asked if the airline had a child-friendly
policy.
subject + reporting verb + object + (not) + to +
infinitive Reported wh- (what, where, how, etc) questions
advise, ask, encourage, invite, order, persuade, remind,
tell, warn subject + reporting verb + wh- word + subject + verb
The travel agent advised us to book tickets in advance. "Where do you usually stay?" asked Glenn.
Glenn asked us where we usually stayed.
subject + reporting verb + (not) + verb + -ing
admit, apologize, deny, recommend, suggest
The receptionist recommended booking a table for REPORTED COMMANDS,
dinner. REQUESTS AND SUGGESTIONS
subject + reporting verb + (that) + subject + verb Commands and requests
add, admit, agree, announce, claim, complain, declare,
deny, explain, insist, mention, predict, promise, reply, We tend to use the verbs tell and ask with the following
reveal, say, state structure:
We complained that we hadn't had clean towels in our
room. subject + reporting verb + object + to + infinitive
"Buy me a magazine," said Clare.
subject + reporting verb + object + (that) + subject + Clare told me to buy her a magazine.
verb
persuade, remind, tell, warn To report negative commands and requests we use the
He told me that he would see me later. following structure:

subject + reporting verb + if / whether / wh- word + subject + reporting verb + object + not + to + infinitive
subject + verb "Don't forget to phone us," said the man to his son.
ask, enquire, question, wonder, want to know The man told his son not to forget to phone them.
She enquired if there were any seats left on the train.

Suggestions
SAY AND TELL
We tend to report suggestions using the verb suggest
Say and tell mean the same, but use different and the following structure:
structures.
subject + suggest + (not)+ verb+ -ing
"I want to go travelling for a year", said Chris to his "Let's go to Florida this year," suggested Isabel.
parents. Isabel suggested going to Florida that year.

say + (to + object) + (that) subject + suggest + (that) + subject + infinitive

Chris said that he wanted to go travelling for a year. without to
Chris said to his parents that he wanted to go travelling "How about camping here?" said Mona.
for a year. Mona suggested that we camp there.
tell + object + (that)
subj+ suggest + (that) + subj + should + inf +
Chris told his parents that he wanted to go travelling for
a year. without to
"Why don't we move to another hotel?" said Daniel.
Daniel suggested that we should move to another hotel.
PRACTICE
1 Rewrite the sentence as direct speech.
a) Graham told Ian he would see him the following day.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Ian", said Graham.
b) Pauline told the children their swimming things were not there.

c) David told me my letter had arrived the day before.

d) Shirley told Larry she would see him that evening.

e) Bill told Stephen he hadn't been at home that morning.

f) Margaret told John to phone her on the following day.

g) Tim told Ron he was leaving that afternoon.

h) Christine told Michael she had lost her lighter the night before.

2 Rewrite each sentence as reported speech, beginning as shown.

a) "You can't park here"
The police officer told Jack that he couldn't park there.
b) "I'll see you in the morning, Helen".
Peter told Helen

c) "I am taking the 5.30 train tomorrow evening."

Janet said

d) "The trousers have to be ready this afternoon."

Paul told the dry-cleaners

e) "I left my umbrella here two days ago."

Susan told them

f) "The parcel ought to be here by the end of next week."

Brian said

g) "I like this hotel very much."

Diana told me

h) "I think it's going to rain tonight."

William said

3 Rewrite each question in indirect speech, beginning as shown.

a) "What time does the film start, Peter?"
I asked

b) "Do you watch television every evening, Chris?"

The interviewer asked
c) "Why did you apply for this job?", asked the sales manager.
The sales manager asked me

d) "Are you taking much money with you to France?"

My bank manager wanted to know

e) "When will I know the results of the examination?"

Maria asked the examiner

f) "Are you enjoying your flight?"

The flight attendant asked me

g) "How does the photocopier work?"

I asked the salesman

h) "Have you ever been to Japan, Paul?"

Sue asked Paul

4 Put the correct form of one of the verbs in the box into each space.
accuse | remind | decide | advise | admit | confess | apologise | doubt | deny | suggest | offer

a) "No, it's not true, I didn't steal the money!"

Jean denied stealing the money/that she had stolen the money.
b) "Why don't we go to the cinema this evening?"
Peter ___________ going to the cinema/that they went to the cinema.
c) "I've broken your pen. I'm awfully sorry, Jack."
David ___________ for breaking Jack's pen.
d) "Don't forget to post my letter, will you, Sue?"
Diana ___________ Sue to post her letter.
e) "Let me carry your suitcase, John."
harry ___________ to carry John's suitcase.
f) "All right, it's true, I was nervous."
The leading actor ___________ to being nervous/that he had been nervous.
g) "I don't think Liverpool will win."
Vanessa ___________ whether Liverpool would win.
h) "If I were you, Bill, I'd buy a mountain bike."
Stephen ___________ Bill to buy a mountain bike.
i) "You murdered Lord Digby, didn't you, Colin!"
The inspector ___________ Colin of murdering Lord Digby.
j) "It was me who stole the money," said Jim.
Jim ___________ to stealing the money.
k) "Right. I'll take the brown pair."
Andrew ___________ to take the brown pair.

5 Rewrite each sentence, beginning as shown. Do not change the meaning.

a) "Sue, can you remember to buy some bread?"
Paul reminded Sue to buy some bread.
b) "I don't really think it'll snow tomorrow."
I doubt

c) "I'm sorry I didn't phone you earlier."

Jill apologised

d) "Yes, all right, I'll share the bill with you, Dave."
Brenda agreed

e) "No, I'm sorry, I won't work on Saturday. Definitely not!"

Catherine refused

f) "Let's go out to the café for lunch, shall we?

Wendy suggested

g) "It's not true" I have never been with Anna."

Larry denied

h) "If you like, I'll help you do the decorating, Bob."

Ann offered

6 Look carefully at each line. Some of them are correct, and some have a word which should not
be there. Tick each correct line. If a line has a word which should not be there, write the word in
the space.
Satellite television
When my parents decided that to get a new that
satellite television, I asked them why they
thought this was a good idea. I doubted it 1) ___________
whether it was really necessary, and told to them 2) ___________
that I had thought they spent too much time 3) ___________
watching television. They agreed they didn't 4) ___________
go out very much, but were insisted that they 5) ___________
had had thought about the matter very carefully. 6) ___________
"We enjoy television," they said me, "and when we 7) ___________
asked you, you said that you agreed with us." 8) ___________
I replied them that I didn't remember being asked, 9) ___________
and that I would have tried to stop them. Then 10) ___________
they were admitted that they had asked me while I was 11) ___________
watching my favourite programme. I asked them 12) ___________
what was I had been watching, and they said 13) ___________
it was a football match. "You told us that 14) ___________
to keep quiet, so we thought that you agreed!" 15) ___________