BBC Learning English

Grammar Challenge
Reported speech

Nuala’s Grammar Explanation:

When we want to talk about what someone said, we can use the exact words. For example,
Agent X said:

Agent X: I’m from Spain

Or we can use reported speech

Diarmuid: She told me she was from Spain.

When we report what someone said we usually put the verb in the reporting clause back one
tense. So, for example, if the direct speech words are in the present tense, in reported speech the
verb is in the past tense. Listen, here’s the direct quote:

Agent X: I own a café

But when it’s reported, the verb is in the past simple:

Diarmuid: She mentioned that she owned a café

In reported speech there are a lot of verbs we can use. We can use ‘tell’ with an indirect object,
‘told me’, ‘told him’, ‘told us’ etc. Or we can use verbs such as ‘explain’, ‘admit’ ‘mention’,
‘say’ and so on

That’s all from me, good luck with your grammar challenge!

Grammar Challenge © BBC Learning English 2007

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In reported speech, we usually put the verb in the reported clause back one tense:

Direct speech Reported speech

Present Past
“I’m from Spain.” She told me that she was from Spain.

Present Perfect Past Perfect

“I’ve been married for years.” He said he had been married for years.

Past Past Perfect

“I stole it.” She admitted she had stolen it.

In direct speech we use inverted commas to show the exact words the person said.
For example:

“I’m from Spain.”

But in reported speech, we don’t use inverted commas.

Grammar Challenge © BBC Learning English 2007

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bbclearningenglish.com