B1Reported speech

Reported speech

Report statements and questions by changing viewpoint, tense, pronouns and time references, while using statement word order inside reported questions.

Overview

What this grammar does

Report statements and questions by changing viewpoint, tense, pronouns and time references, while using statement word order inside reported questions.

Form and rules

How it works

After a past reporting verb, present forms often backshift: present → past; past/present perfect → past perfect; will → would; can → could.

Change pronouns and possessives to match the new speaker and listener.

Time/place words may shift with the reporting viewpoint: now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, here → there.

Reported yes/no questions use if/whether + statement word order: She asked if I was ready.

Reported wh- questions keep the wh-word but use statement order: She asked where I worked, not where did I work.

A closer look

Meaning and use

Reported yes/no questions use if/whether + statement word order: She asked if I was ready.

Reported wh- questions keep the wh-word but use statement order: She asked where I worked, not where did I work.

Examples

See the pattern in complete sentences

He said he was tired.

She told me she had finished.

They said they would come the next day.

He asked if I knew the answer.

She asked where I lived.

Common mistakes

What to avoid

"I am busy." → He said he is busy.

"I am busy." → He said he was busy.

After a past reporting verb, present be commonly backshifts to past be.

"I finished it." → She said she has finished it.

"I finished it." → She said she had finished it.

Past simple commonly backshifts to past perfect when reporting from a later past viewpoint.

Ready to practise?

The test combines multiple choice, gap completion, error correction, and sentence building so students have to recognise and produce the grammar, not simply reread the rule.

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